Annual Events
The Rainbow Rose Center holds numerous events annually.
This page features the various celebrations held throughout the year to uplift and support the LGBTQIA+ community.
Our organization and events are proudly SMOKE FREE!
We aim to create a healthier and longer lived community. We do not accept sponsorship or vending applications from tobacco, vaping, cigarette or other similar companies.
Valentine’s Day and Love-is-love day – February 14/15
A day to celebrate affection and relationships, the Love-Is-Love day celebrated the day after the traditional and hetero-normative Valentine’s Day is a special day for LGBTQIA+ relationships.
International Transgender Day of Visibility – March 31
A day to show support for the transgender community, this event brings attention to the accomplishments of transgender people around the globe while fighting cissexism and transphobia by spreading knowledge of the trans community. It often involves marches, speeches, and celebrations.
Day of Silence – April (date varies year to year)
A student-led national event that brings attention to anti-LGBTQIA+ name-calling, bullying, and harassment in schools. Students from middle school to college take a vow of silence in an effort to encourage schools and classmates to address the problem of ant- LGBTQIA+ behavior by illustrating silencing effect of bullying and harassment on LGBTQIA+ students and those perceived to be LGBTQIA+.
Lesbian Visibility Day – April 26
A day to celebrate women-loving-women, it provides a platform for lesbian role models to speak out on issues facing the female-identified sexual minorities. It is also a day to promote equality and fair treatment in all environments.
International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia – May 17
A day to draw attention to non-heteronormative culture. Helps to raise awareness among the media, the public, political and opinion leaders, and local authorities to the situation faced by LGBTQIA+ people and those who do not conform to sexual and gender norms.
Pansexual and Panromantic Awareness and Visibility Day – May 24
A day to celebrate the pansexual and panromantic community and an opportunity to promote education about the community.
LGBTQIA+ Pride Month
June is Pride Month, which honors the Stonewall Riots and marks the month that same-sex marriage was legalized in the United States in 2015. This month presents a great opportunity to show your support for the community by hosting fundraising activities and/or participating in York County Pride!
York County Pride
Formerly known as Equality Fest, York County Pride is a celebration of the LGBTQIA+ community in York County. York County Pride is the signature event of the Rainbow Rose Center. Inspired by the 2014 historic passage of marriage equality in Pennsylvania, we encourage full inclusion of all citizens in all aspects of civic life. We join forces each year with like-minded organizations, faith communities, retailers, artists, politicians, and committed citizens to create a festival that builds connections, raises awareness, and inspires cooperation and activism across the beautifully diverse citizenship of South Central PA.
The event features:
- Inspiring speakers
- Exciting virtual performances and entertainment
- Fully interactive children’s activities
- Retail vendors
- Informational and organizational messaging
This important event is the only one of its kind in York County and provides a safe space for the LGBTQIA+ community to celebrate and for the community at large to come together to advance the mission of making York a welcoming place for all.
In 2020, for the health and safety of our guests, the Rainbow Rose Centre hosted the event virtually. Due to the ongoing pandemic, we will again hold the event virtually in 2021 on June 5th via a live YouTube stream. The event will be recorded for future viewing. You can watch the 2020 event by visiting the Rainbow Rose Center YouTube channel and Past Events webpage.
The Stonewall Riots were a series of spontaneous demonstrations by members of the LGBTQIA+ community in response to continual police raids on safe spaces. While there had been other protests throughout the US, this was the first time the full community united behind a common cause, sparking a new wave for the gay rights movement.
Non-binary, also known as genderqueer, is a spectrum of gender identities that are not exclusively masculine or feminine — identities that are outside the gender binary. This day celebrates the non-binary community and promotes education about those who may identify as having two or more genders, having no gender, moving between genders, etc.
Coinciding with the Celebrate Bisexuality Day on the 23rd of September, Bisexual Awareness Week is an annual celebration to accelerate the acceptance of the bisexual, pansexual, fluid, and queer community.
LGBT History Month
First celebrated in 1994, October became the official national history month by President Barack Obama in 2009 to encourage openness and education about LGBTQIA+ history and rights. There are many minor holidays within the month to help spread awareness as well as celebrations and so it presents a great opportunity to hold an event and fundraiser.
National Coming Out Day is an annual LGBTQIA+ awareness day observed on October 11th. Celebrated throughout the country since 1988, this event presents a great opportunity to create safe and affirming places where LGBTQIA+ individuals can have a good time whether their out of the closet or not.
A day millions wear purple in a stand against bullying and to show their support for LGBTQIA+ youth. Purple symbolizes ‘spirit’ on the rainbow flag.
Celebrated to commemorate the first public demonstration by intersex people in North America.
An international campaign that seeks to educate about asexual, aromantic, demisexual, and grey-asexual experiences and to create materials that are accessible to the asexual community and allies around the world.
Memorializing those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice, this event often honors those killed in the past year.
An opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV, show their support for people living with HIV, and to commemorate those who have died. World AIDS Day was the first ever global health day, held for the first time in 1988.
In addition to these major annual events, the Rainbow Rose Center hosts and co-hosts multiple smaller events that often do not show up on our website. These will often include rallies, vigils, fundraisers, and more.
To keep informed about all the events we are part of in the community,
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