After all these years, I’m not sure if y’all still need the disclaimer, but just in case, here we go…
Things on this page are about to get really gay. So, pull out your rainbow flags and buckle up. But as I’ve mentioned in years prior, if you intend to send me hate, tell me I need Jesus, or call me names, you may as well not waste your time or mine. I’m immune to it at this point. But, in the interest of honesty, you should know that I’m just about to break 20,000 karma on Reddit, and I’m not above using your nasty-grams to push me over the edge. Fake internet points are fake internet points, and I’ll take ‘em how I can get ‘em.
Let’s start with a little history, shall we?
According to the Library of Congress, “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month (LGBT Pride Month) is currently celebrated each year in the month of June to honor the 1969 Stonewall riots in Manhattan. The Stonewall riots were a tipping point for the Gay Liberation Movement in the United States. In the United States, the last Sunday in June was initially celebrated as ‘Gay Pride Day,’ but the actual day was flexible. In major cities across the nation, the ‘day’ soon grew to encompass a month-long series of events. Today, celebrations include pride parades, picnics, parties, workshops, symposia, and concerts, and LGBT Pride Month events attract millions of participants around the world. Memorials are held during this month for those members of the community who have been lost to hate crimes or HIV/AIDS. The purpose of the commemorative month is to recognize the impact that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals have had on history locally, nationally, and internationally.”
I’ve often debated back and forth on whether not I need to keep writing about Pride Month. I’m not a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I can’t claim to know, or understand, everything about all those who classify themselves as LGBTQ+, but I do classify myself as an ally. But as usual, just as I start to think, “Dude, we are making progress! Arguably, things are better than they have ever been. What can I add to this conversation?” something epically stupid happens in this country that makes me go, “Oh, yeah! That’s why!”
In this particular case, there are certain rights for certain people in our country that are on the verge of being stripped away. Rights that protect women and their rights to make medical and personal choices about their bodies. And while this issue isn’t directly related to LGBTQ+ rights, it does make you take a good hard look at how rights that have been on the books for decades can be taken right back in a single pen stroke. That’s why I will continue to advocate for LGBTQ+ rights because I know that those same people will help advocate for mine as a woman. To me, that’s one of the things that makes our country great; when people come together, we can all work to make each of our lives better, safer, and more inclusive.
At the end of the day, it’s like this. We have so many, many things to worry about in our country and world. Insane inflation, skyrocketing gas prices, war, food insecurity, everything costing more than ever before, mass shootings, kids not being safe at school, the list is endless. How does who your neighbor or co-worker is in a relationship with even register on your list of things to worry about?
We should never be discouraging love. Love who you want. As long as that relationship is safe and consensual, who you love, like, or choose to have a sexual relationship with should be no one’s business. As always, if you don’t like gay relationships, don’t have one. But you don’t, nor should the government, get to decide that because you don’t believe in it or because you feel God doesn’t like it, that no one should get to experience the love that their hearts tell them is right for them.
At the very least, if you can’t be supportive, which is absolutely within your red, white, and blue rights, at least be quiet.
I’ll end with a little food for thought: “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.” (Romans 13:8)
