Why Pride?
That’s the topic of my latest YouTube video.
Don’t forget to subscribe while you’re there!
As always, here’s the breakdown if you don’t want to watch.
Why is it the Pride movement? What’s there to be proud of?
Talking to a friend a few months back and they said something along the lines of “I don’t get Pride Month. I’m not proud of my sexuality. It’s part of who I am, not something I created or earned. What, therefore, is there to be proud of?”
A lot.
But before we go there, I do want to say that I get it. I get that sexuality is not something to be proud of.
When people march on during Pride parades, they’re not there because they’re proud of being gay. That’s not what the celebration is about.
Why Pride? Because of Resilience
It’s about being proud of the resilience the LGBTQ+ community has had throughout the years. The resilience of LGBTQ+ individuals who face ridicule and bigotry in many places even in our modern world.
It’s about the bravery of those men, women, and all in between who were able to stand up and come out, even though they knew it was going to be a harder path. The bravery it takes to be authentic to one’s self, even when you know you may lose so much.
These folks risk everything to live the life that so many of us take for granted. They risk everything to say this is who I am and I will not live a lie. They risk it all for love.
Why Pride? Because It Matters.
So, to me, Pride isn’t about being proud you’re LGBTQ+. It’s about being proud you can say your gay. Or trans. Pan. Asexual. Whatever. It’s being proud you can live as who you are and be authentic to you. Something many of us struggle with, regardless of our sexuality or gender.
And it matters.
Because it’s not easy to come out and it’s scary AF for many.
There are high schoolers sitting in lunch rooms around the world, not yet out, who hear their peers say things like, “I don’t support LGBTQ rights. The Bible says gay people go to hell.”
There are teens who come out to their parents and get put in therapy to “right” what others see as their “wrongness.” There are the countless number of people who are told something’s wrong with them. That they’re broken. Disgusting. Deviant.
You’re not. You’re normal and perfect just as you are.
It matters because of Matthew Shepard. Because of all those lost and traumatized at the Pulse nightclub.
Because “gay panic” is still a fucking thing. Sure seems funny to me that a woman can’t physically harm a man because he comes on to her, but a man kill another man because he “panicked.”
Shut. The. Fuck. Up.
So Be Proud.
Because love is love as long as it’s safe, sane, and consensual.
Be proud. Celebrate Pride. Hang a flag. Walk in a parade. Be you.
And never shrink yourself because other’s think you’re too hard to digest.
Let them fucking choke on your sparkle.
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Pride Month: 5 Ways to Celebrate Even If You're Not Out · at
[…] Pride Month is a fabulous recognition of the trials the LGBTQ+ community have gone through, as well as the celebration of what they’ve overcome, it can feel supportive, yet isolating when someone isn’t yet out. They may want to celebrate Pride, but have no idea who to do it when no one knows what it means to them. […]