During the month of June, the LGBTQ community celebrates Pride Month. Pride, that feeling of enthusiastic proudness to be part of a family! A family of all colors, backgrounds, and national origin; brought together through the unity of a single characteristic – we are not straight.
I’ve seen comics satirizing the coming out of the gay community, and pointing out how ridiculous it would be for a straight person to come out as heterosexual. Is it true? Is there something wrong with being able to celebrate your sexuality? I don’t think so. And in fact if a straight friend were to come out to me as being straight, I wouldn’t find that offensive.
Growing up, I always knew that I was different. From playing with Barbie dolls, to wanting to be the female during playtime, to fantasizing about shirtless musclemen, from what I had gathered I knew that other little boys didn’t have the same desires. At what age do you begin to have sexual feelings? I read somewhere that gay boy’s begin much earlier. Whether it’s true or not, I was probably as young as five years old… if not younger. Daddy loves to recall a story of me at a bookstore, at age 3 I went over to the muscle magazines, and gently stroked the covers. When Billy Cyrus’ “Achy breaky heart” was a popular tune, I astutely remember having a crush on him. Kissing the TV screen. And when it came to Disney, Prince Eric and Aladdin had my full sexual attention.
Many years later, I continued to collect Barbie, play Disney princess dress up, portray the Disney heroines “on stage”, and lust after men. And with all that, I did not come out until I was 18 years-old. I had heard too many horror stories of gay children being kicked out of their homes, so I waited until I was legally an adult in case anything were to happen. No one was truly surprised that I was gay…except Grandma. My coming out journey was well planned out. It was senior year, and the first person I came out to in the whole wide world was a friend that I had known for only about two years. It was after school when she and I were talking, and I suggested that I might be bisexual.
“Ok,” as her response.
I turned and then dramatically twirled back around, bounced back to her, and jumping up and down I exclaimed “I am gay!”
“I know.”
I shouldn’t have been surprised. It was after our conversation that I told my long time friends. That whole day we passed notes back-and-forth during classes. And it was later that week that I sat down with my mom to tell her the good news – she had a gay son. I don’t think she was surprised either, but she didn’t say so. I told grandma and grandpa that same summer, and my step mom, at the time, and daddy a few weeks later. My step mom had always been encouraging. Unbeknownst to me, she had basically been preparing Daddy, my biological father, for this talk for many, many years. She became a PFLAG member when I was very young, and always made sure to reference gay culture and ensure that I knew it was not something wrong.
After you first come out, you’re all about rainbows and pride! Then the novelty begins to wear off. You’re no longer the former damsel in distress turned mighty, outspoken activist in protest of persecution! Now you can be just like everyone else: working, going to school, dating, and just trying to fulfill your dreams. Like any other minority, the gay community has its tales of heroism, ill-fated plans, terrorism, segregation and inequality. Let’s not forget the significant events in #gayhistory such as the Orlando #Pulse shooting, #Stonewall, and the #marriageequality struggle.
“The month of June was chosen for LGBT Pride Month to commemorate the riots held by members of the LGBT community against a police raid that took place at the Stonewall Inn in New York City on June 28, 1969. The so-called Stonewall riots were a “tipping point” for the gay liberation movement in the United States, according to the Library of Congress. The uproar also paved the way for the modern fight for LGBT rights. Previous presidents of the United States have, on several occasions, officially declared June as LGBT Pride Month.
The rainbow LGBT flag is prominently displayed throughout the month. Gilbert Baker, an American artist, gay rights activist and U.S. Army veteran, created the flag in 1978 as a new symbol for the gay and lesbian political movement, at the suggestion of his friends and colleagues, including Harvey Milk, a San Francisco city supervisor and the first openly gay elected official in California. Milk was assassinated later that year. According to Baker’s website, the colors of the LGBT flag each have a meaning: red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sunlight, green for nature, blue for harmony and violet for spirit. Baker died at the age of 65 on March 31, 2017, though his rainbow flag remains an iconic, powerful symbol for LGBT pride.”
(https://www.google.com/amp/s/abcnews.go.com/amp/US/lgbt-pride-month-2018-history-events-parades/story%3fid=55414438)
So as we continue to fight for justice and the right to be a truly free people, we will continue to wave are colorful stripes high and declare, “We’re here. We’re queer. Get used to it!”
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