A treatise on Pride Month

Happy pride month, y’all 🏳️‍🌈

These words will be spoke many, many times in the next few weeks. Both casually, and in a way that recognises pride month as a country, not an island. What this means is the recognition that pride isn’t just Stonewall. It isn’t just Marsha P. Johnson. It isn’t just Lesbians and Gays Support The Miners. It’s the centuries of history, culture, and protest that we put into changing society to value, see and respect us as we are, without wanting to change us. It’s a time to recognise the achievements made by us - ALL of us. And of course, it’s an ongoing protest. It’s a movement of resistance against the 64 countries where it is still illegal to be gay. Resistance against the aggression being incited against all people under the trans umbrella. Resistance against the members of our community who have turned against some or all of us; who campaign for us to have fewer rights or to be silenced; who forget their history. There are many things that I would like this month to be, but firstly, I would like this to be a month of protest.

Let this be a month of celebration. Celebrating our milestones so far, how well we’ve done. To be proud and take joy in who we are. To cast aside shame and embrace openness, excitement, weirdness. To remain attached.

Let this also be a month of reflection, for all our queer, gay, bi, trans, pan siblings that we lost, no matter how long ago it was. To untreated disease, to violence, to falling through the cracks. To recognise the past that capitalism has played in our pain. To remember that Stonewall was a fucking riot, and black trans women fought for us. To push back against the whitewashing of our history.

Let this be a month to build. To strengthen our movement, especially in support and solidarity to our trans siblings. To push back against the hateful, divisive transphobic and queerphobic agenda that defines a neoliberal world. There’s no LGB without the T, and there never will be.

Let this be a month of recognition, to accept and acknowledge our siblings who fall on lesser discussed areas of the queer spectrum. To be with them, to stand shoulder to shoulder with them, and to platform all of us. To show the world that people on all parts of the queer spectrum deserve respect, recognition and love.

Let this be a month of protection. To shield our siblings who are under the trans umbrella from the violent, hateful transphobia dominating our society. To stand up for them, but also to amplify their voices. To speak against bi and pan erasure. To advocate against the harmful “banter” that impacts people under the aro/ace umbrella. To campaign against the reprehensible homophobia that gay people still face. To defend ourselves, and each other, from all prejudice.

Lastly, let this be a month to love. To find each other where we are. To embrace each of our rainbow siblings, wherever they are on this vast and diverse spectrum. To take each other’s hands and dance into the night. To hug until we’re numb. To smile and laugh until it hurts. To use joy as an act of resistance. To be. To exist. To inspire. To remember that nothing changes until everything changes. In love, in life, and always.

Happy Pride, beautiful people. 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️❤️🧡💛💚💙💜