The audience for this newsletter is comprised mostly of a wide array of sexual and relationship explorers. Among them are many LGBTQ people along with an assortment of people and communities that don’t always fit neatly into the LGBT acronym but are encompassed by the word queer.
Many of my seemingly heterosexual friends and acquaintances describe themselves as queer because their sexualities, identities, and communities in which they navigate are seen by many as fringe and, well, queer. I’m not going to argue who and who doesn’t belong under the queer umbrella in this post. Right now, I’m happy to have every advocate we can in these treacherous times.
Someone asked me yesterday what Pride Month and Pride generally means to me. So, here’s my personal perspective.
Pride means I and other LGBTQ people can be our authentic selves in as many social environments as possible and not worry about harm or verbal attacks.
Pride means that I embrace the entirety of the LGBTQ spectrum (LGBTQIA+ and so on), and not gatekeep who gets to “belong” to my community if they self-identify within it.
Pride means that it’s incumbent upon me to not only fight for my own rights but the rights of everyone within the LGBTQ community.
Pride means I don’t just give lip service to LGBTQ civil rights, but I actually take action and get engaged to further our rights.
Pride means that while I’m a gay man in the LGBTQ community I also see the power and importance of aligning with every marginalized group because there is social and political power in numbers.
Pride means that I understand the significance of giving my money to queer-owned or ally-owned businesses whenever I can. That also means not giving my money to businesses who don’t respect an LGBTQ person’s right to thrive in our society.
Pride means I do not engage in the verbal circular firing squad that often happens within progressive movements because ultimately diminishing one aspect of the community diminishes the entire community.
Pride means I vote, always, in every election, not just to ensure my own rights and a better life, but the rights of others to live freely and have a better life too.
Pride means I welcome honest and good faith dialogue with others wrestling with acceptance of LGBTQ people.
Pride means that I believe every LGBTQ person (well, every human being) deserves unencumbered access to employment, housing, and health care.
Pride means that I espouse love not only for LGBTQ community members, but for everyone who returns that love to me and the community.
Pride means I honor the LGBTQ people and allies who came before me and fought for the rights I have today.
If you are LGBTQ, you may have additional things about Pride that are important to you. Regardless, when Pride rolls around every year, let’s use it as time to actively put forward in real action terms our deserved LGBTQ civil rights. If the LGBTQ community is strong, organized, and free to live their lives, then we can use that strength and cohesion to pull other marginalized people along with us. There is great power in numbers. There are far more decent and good people on the planet than there are immoral and bad people. I truly believe that.
Happy Pride everyone.
You can use this link to access all my writings and social media and ways to support my work. My content is usually open and free to view, but for those who are able your paid subscription (click the Subscribe button) or patron support are always appreciated.