Who is known as the Mother of Pride?
ANNUALLY, the month of June is known as LGBTQIA+ Pride month. There were a number of advocates who passionately fought for gay rights in the mid-sixties. Brenda Howard was given the nickname "Mother of Pride" for her work coordinating the first LGBT Pride march in 1970 after the end of the Stonewall Riots. She is a bisexual rights activist, sex-positive feminist and polyamorist. Howard was an important figure in the modern LGBT rights movement. Following Stonewall, she coordinated the Liberation Day March, and then the year following, organized the the one-year anniversary of the Christopher Street Liberation Day march. 4 Brenda Howard was a gay rights activist and feminist Credit: The Legacy Project  She sparked what is now known as the annual Pride parade. You needed some kind of help organizing some type of protest or something in social justice? recalls Howards partner, Larry Nelson, to advocate.com. All you had to do was call her and shell just say when and where.  Born and raised in the Bronx, she was passionately involved with the antiwar and feminism movements. She was an in-your-face activist, Nelson told the outlet. She fought for anyone who had their rights trampled on.  Her lifelong advocacy, which spanned three decades, ended when she died in 2005  during New York Citys Pride Week. Many people worldwide are fully vaccinated or received at least one shot of the two-dose vaccines by now, but some organizers still prefer to hold their events virtually as the world goes into the second year of the pandemic. Some of the virtual events taking place this year include Brooklyn Pride in which organizers said they will not have a parade this year but will host a week of live and virtual events starting June 7, according to their schedule. The Denver Pride Parade will also be virtual and live-streamed on Facebook on DenverPride.org. Last year, the virtual event attracted over 400,000 viewers on social media and across broadcasts. The Twin Cities Pride in Minneapolis is hosting the Ashley Rukes LGBTQ Pride Parade which will go virtual this year as part of Covid-19 related precautions, according to IGLTA. Find out more about the listed events in is their Pride Month calendar for this year. Biden was slammed for using taxpayer money to offer transgender veterans gender confirmation surgery. Speaking at a Pride Month event in Orlando over the weekend, Secretary Denis McDonough said: "Were making these changes not only because they are the right thing to do, but because they can save lives." He noted that his decision stems from the "recommendation of our clinicians, so this is a health care decision that has very real physical health care impacts as well as significant mental health impacts." According to McDonough, the change  which will likely undergo a yearslong federal rulemaking process  was helpful in overcoming a "dark history" of discrimination against LGBTQ service members, the Associated Press reported. 4 President Joe Biden Credit: Splash  McDonough, the Biden administration's secretary of veterans affairs, explained the new move is just the first step in expanding VA health benefits to cover the gender confirmation surgery. Time is needed to "develop the capacity to meet the surgical needs" of transgender veterans and allow for vets to have the VA "by their side" during the full gender confirmation process, McDonough said. Despite the motion to help veterans, not everyone is in agreement with the Biden administration's move. Most read in News Breaking MALL 'SHOOTING' 'Active shooter' reported at New York mall prompting lockdown SHOOTOUT Moment woman, 19, killed by cop near Juneteenth parade after shooting at officer DEADLY 'EXPLOSION' Springfield oxygen tank explosion in Massachusetts 'leaves one man dead' Graphic Warning DOG DEATH-ROW Inside Yulin Dog Meat Festival's 'kill farm' where puppies are boiled alive DOUBLE MURDER Man, 52, charged with double murder of couple that left son orphaned JARRING SIGHT Tucker Carlson accuses Don Lemon of having a 'symbol of hate' in his kitchen  "President Biden and Secretary McDonough should be less focused on winning the culture wars and more focused on helping the veterans who are suffering from the actual wars," Rep. Mike Bost, a member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, told Fox News. "Congress has been waiting for months for them to come to the table and help us deliver care and benefits to toxic-exposed veterans who are sick and dying. We have gotten no response. Yet, somehow they found time to decide that taxpayers should pay for gender transition surgeries at VA medical facilities." Additionally, Montana GOP Rep. Matt Rosendale doesn't agree taxpayer dollars should be used for surgery costs.