~Pokemon SW&SH: Raihan X Listener SFW: Together~

If we can't work together and support our fellow Queer people, then what is the point?

Contains: Advice, Comfort, Encouraging Message

At the start of Pride month, I really just wanted to remind people that at the end of the day, whoever you are in the Pride Community, and however you celebrate, you are valid. Infighting is bullshit and it needs to stop because that's exactly what those who want us gone want, because it makes us easier to take down. Together is how we get through this.

(also please ignore that I said "eradification" and not "eradication" lol)

~Audio Transcript Below~

Raihan:

How you doing?

*pause*

Oh.....well that's a shame.....why?

*pause*

*hums*

I see.......

*deep sigh*

I know with all of the commercialization and commodification of Pride, you might think that you need to be loud and combative and angry with everything.....but....that just ain't true.

*pause*

Look, we as a community need to stick together if we're ever gonna make it outta this. The infighting that's going around ain't making anything easier. Being prejudice and exclusionary and 'holier than thou' ain't the vibe, it's childish and roo  ted in the same shite the people who want us gone spout out their fucking face holes.

It ain't going to just stop at trans people. It ain't about that. Just like it wasn't about marriage all those years ago. It's about the systematic eradication of who we are and our way of life, just because it's different from what the people in power think it should be.

That's partially what Pride is really about you know? Living and thriving in a world where in a lot of places we aren't wanted and are openly persecuted.

It don't mean that you have to be loud and proud and shout it from the rooftops to be valid in your identity and to be considered a member of the Queer community. Anyone who says different, is a right arsehole. There ain't no 'right way' to be Queer. Again, the idea that there is, just comes from the same puritanical bullshite our elders worked so hard to get away from.

You decide how to celebrate your Pride. Whether it's just privately to yourself at home or in your heart, or if it's in a glamorous get up riding on a parade float. However it is you do it, is exactly how you should be doin' it. And don't let anyone tell you differently. This world, as much we wish it weren't, is a scary thing, especially with the persecution that's trying to break us down and break us apart and turn against one another. The whole, "there's power in numbers" thing ain't just a gag. It's a real fucking thing. Together is how we get through this.

And in a world so afraid and hateful of things they don't understand or don't care to understand...... what better way to rebel, then to keep on living? Keep on thriving......living as your truthful self......authentically.....whatever way that might be......

We gotta be there for each other....because we do understand. Maybe not exactly, because all experiences are different in some way.....but they're similar enough, and that's enough.

*pause*

You are enough.......I hope you know that.

*pause*

Pride is whatever you need it to be, and I'm here if you need me too.