Happy Pride!

I assume most of my Patreons are either part of the LGBTQ+ community, or you’re allies, so I want to wish you a truly happy and safe Pride weekend, and I hope you have enjoyed Pride month all June.

I know there are a lot of things wrong in the world right now, and recent developments may be causing you to feel vulnerable or even attacked. Yes, there is a terrible amount of injustice in the world today, and much of it can be found here in the United States, sadly. But Pride began as a riot, let us not forget. The queer regular patrons of the Stonewall Inn had been pushed around and abused so much that they finally had enough, and they pushed back. Those “faggots and dykes and trannies” that had been stepped on by society decided they weren’t going to take any more abuse and injustice. In a time when NOBODY considered marriage equality a possibility, when it was possible to be jailed just for being queer, those marginalized people (many of whom were People of Color) had finally had enough, and they started a movement that still resonates to this day.

That is a history to be proud of. We are very fortunate that we live in more accepting times, but we must never, ever forget the difficult path our predecessors had to take to create this world for us. We must never take for granted our hard-won rights, and we must NEVER forget how easily they could be taken away from us.

Pride is about ownership of your own life. It’s about saying “I don’t care what anyone says, there is NOTHING wrong with me being the person I am”. It’s about spitting in the face of the people who would hold us back or tear us down. Pride is a celebration, yes. But it’s also a battle cry.

I know how exhausted we all are. These last few years have been completely insane for all of us, with so much going on in the world. It’s okay to take a break, to step back and rest, to practice self-care. But we cannot, for one moment, bury our heads in the sand or pretend that things are fine. The US Supreme Court just decided that women do not have the right to bodily autonomy. State legislatures and elected officials all over the country are constantly attacking trans people, from bathroom bills to bills designed to exclude trans athletes from participating in sports. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas openly declared in his opinion striking down Roe v. Wade that he thinks the Supreme Court should next look at reversing Griswold (the legal right to purchase and use contraceptives), Lawrence (which overturned sodomy laws) and Obergefell (the decision that allowed nationwide legal same-sex marriage).

The queer community is absolutely under attack. AFAB people are under attack. People of Color are under attack. But the rainbow flag was chosen to represent Pride because it shows that we are all one community, one family. We must remember that, we must cherish it, and we MUST continue to stick together and support each other and other marginalized communities. There is room enough for all of us. And that unity is how we fight back against those who want us to feel ashamed. We will not feel ashamed. PRIDE CONQUERS SHAME.

Happy Pride, everyone. I love you.