To say the first six months of 2012 have been epic for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights in the U.S. would be an understatement. It might be just our imagination, but the Rainbow flag seems to be standing a little bit taller this year than ever before -- lifted, perhaps, by state-wide marriage equality victories in Maryland and (hopefully) Washington state, as well as President Obama's historic endorsement of same-sex marriage.
In honor of Pride 2012, HuffPost Gay Voices asked its readers to submit personal photos of themselves celebrating -- and truthfully, we couldn't have predicted the amazing response we got!
The following slideshow represents the best photos we received over the course of the month. Of course, many known LGBT meccas are represented, from New York to Washington D.C. to Los Angeles. But we were thrilled to receive photos from cities with lesser-known LGBT communities, such as Columbus, Ohio and Indianapolis, Indiana, as well as shots from Pride festivities around the world, including Zurich, Switzerland and Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Take a look at the best reader-submitted photos from LGBT Pride celebrations below.
Gay Pride Around The World
And we're still taking contributions, too! Please end us a photo of you, along with your significant other, family and friends, celebrating LGBT Pride in your city, along with some details.
ALL ENTRIES MUST include your first name and that of your friends (if applicable), along with the date and location of the Pride event you're attending.
A short (6 lines or less) anecdote telling us about the experience would be great, too!
Send your submissions to GayVoices@huffingtonpost.com and have your Pride photo featured on the HuffPost Gay Voices page!
DISCLAIMER: By sending us your photo and anecdote, you are giving us permission to consider publishing them on our page, as well as distributed via our Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and Instagram accounts.