Why I Need Pride
Jun. 14th, 2016 12:16 am![[personal profile]](http://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
daemonlunaI got militant on Facebook, friends. So I decided to share here, too, even though I think there are only three or four of you still reading.
My library's been hosting some events for Pride this month. Weekly movies, an author event, a meet-up play date for the local queer parent group. Last Wednesday, we went out to watch Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. The Pride Fest organizers had a photo op set up with the festival banners, and a white board to finish the sentence, "I need Pride because..."
And we got there just on time, and I didn't have a snappy phrase ready. And the movie ended, and it was late and I was tired, and my half-formed thoughts about inclusiveness and visibility hadn't come together yet.
We need Pride. We need Pride because fifty people are dead in an Orlando gay bar. Because last year, someone shouted "fucking fags" at the crowd during the Pride flag raising at City Hall. Because I spent Thursday afternoon drafting an email with a coworker to respond to a customer complaint about the Pride display at the library branch, and the library's endorsement of homosexual propaganda, and she was indignant, and I was just tired. Because when my wife and I held hands across the table at IHOP last year, we got a heartfelt note from our server on the back of the receipt, because he didn't feel brave enough to hold hands with his boyfriend in public. Because my wife felt that she needed to tell the B&B owners in Drumheller that we were a gay couple when she made the reservation for a trip last weekend.
We need Pride because the outrage and sorrow at the Orlando shootings has been, in the mainstream media I've seen, free from any implied blame of the victims' "lifestyle" for their deaths. Because at the flag raising last year, the crowd was several hundred people strong, and one of our elected officials was speaking at the time. Because I know that I'm not defending the library's participation in Pride events to our CEO and board, that my colleague could call the City's diversity and inclusion officer for advice, that my coworkers will be walking with me (on work time) in the Pride parade. Because I didn't think twice about holding my wife's hand at IHOP, and the B&B owners didn't bat an eye and were incredibly friendly and accommodating.
Because it wasn't always this way.
It gets better because we're making it better. It's hard. Some days are harder than others, and in the aftermath of tragedy, it's easy to lose sight of how far we've come. But, my friends and dear ones, please, keep showing up. All identities and orientations, keep showing up. We need to know we're all in this together. Stop and listen to your friends who are angry and heartbroken by violence, and tell them you love them. Come to Pride, to the parade and party, or the movie, or the author event, or anything else, and show that you think it's important and that our community is part of something bigger. Speak up when you see hate or ignorance. Speak up in the face of indifference.
Because you are, and you do, and you will. And I have to believe, it will get better, because we've made it so far already.
My library's been hosting some events for Pride this month. Weekly movies, an author event, a meet-up play date for the local queer parent group. Last Wednesday, we went out to watch Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. The Pride Fest organizers had a photo op set up with the festival banners, and a white board to finish the sentence, "I need Pride because..."
And we got there just on time, and I didn't have a snappy phrase ready. And the movie ended, and it was late and I was tired, and my half-formed thoughts about inclusiveness and visibility hadn't come together yet.
We need Pride. We need Pride because fifty people are dead in an Orlando gay bar. Because last year, someone shouted "fucking fags" at the crowd during the Pride flag raising at City Hall. Because I spent Thursday afternoon drafting an email with a coworker to respond to a customer complaint about the Pride display at the library branch, and the library's endorsement of homosexual propaganda, and she was indignant, and I was just tired. Because when my wife and I held hands across the table at IHOP last year, we got a heartfelt note from our server on the back of the receipt, because he didn't feel brave enough to hold hands with his boyfriend in public. Because my wife felt that she needed to tell the B&B owners in Drumheller that we were a gay couple when she made the reservation for a trip last weekend.
We need Pride because the outrage and sorrow at the Orlando shootings has been, in the mainstream media I've seen, free from any implied blame of the victims' "lifestyle" for their deaths. Because at the flag raising last year, the crowd was several hundred people strong, and one of our elected officials was speaking at the time. Because I know that I'm not defending the library's participation in Pride events to our CEO and board, that my colleague could call the City's diversity and inclusion officer for advice, that my coworkers will be walking with me (on work time) in the Pride parade. Because I didn't think twice about holding my wife's hand at IHOP, and the B&B owners didn't bat an eye and were incredibly friendly and accommodating.
Because it wasn't always this way.
It gets better because we're making it better. It's hard. Some days are harder than others, and in the aftermath of tragedy, it's easy to lose sight of how far we've come. But, my friends and dear ones, please, keep showing up. All identities and orientations, keep showing up. We need to know we're all in this together. Stop and listen to your friends who are angry and heartbroken by violence, and tell them you love them. Come to Pride, to the parade and party, or the movie, or the author event, or anything else, and show that you think it's important and that our community is part of something bigger. Speak up when you see hate or ignorance. Speak up in the face of indifference.
Because you are, and you do, and you will. And I have to believe, it will get better, because we've made it so far already.
