Pride Month: The Reason For The Season

Hello fellow members of the alphabetmafia and allies,

This episode of To Gay or Not to Gay has many inspirations. But I want to call out specifically a conversation that I had with a co-worker today (05/31/2022). The conversation began with a question of why we have to “Flaunt” our sexuality for all to see, what the purpose for it is. This lead into a discussion of education, and serves a a reminder on the misunderstanding and general lack of knowledge that surrounds pride. Therefore, as we approach pride month I think that it is a good time to reflect on the “reason for the season.”

While it is fun to get caught up in the capitalistic, marketing ploys of organizations that add rainbow colors to their logos, sell pride products, sponsor parades and events as a sign of support, we have to ask ourselves, are these organizations true allies? Are they working to educate their employees, fostering an environment supportive of the LGBTQIA+ community, and standing up for us where it matters. My organization just launched Employees Resource Groups and I am the leader of PRISM, our LGBT+ group. While organizing and generating ideas for the group I realized just how many LGBTQ+ individuals may not understand the full impact and history of pride month.

This honestly is no surprise due to the white-washed hetero-normative history that we are taught in the American school systems, and how much worse it is becoming with the introduction of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation such as the “Don’t say Gay” bills and bans on books that have Queer content from schools.

Education begins within the community. This year in particular we have seen huge attacks against us and for this purpose we need to be sure to stand up in the way that our queer elders, our queer fore-parents, and countless allies of the past have.

We must remember the reason we have parades, parties, and celebrations and use these platforms to spread knowledge and education.

So what is “The reason for the season?”

In the summer of 1969 there was an event that changed the course of the LGBTQIA+ Civil Rights movement. The Stonewall Inn, a mafia owned gay bar in New York City’s West Village began to regularly experience raids where individuals were arrested for simply being gay, not wearing gender conforming clothing, or simply being themselves. This was not limited to occurring in New York; this was occurring nationwide. As tempers and temperatures climbed, resistance and rebellion reached a breaking point.

One of the most severe and lengthy events, the Stonewall Inn Riots became a turning point in the fight for the freedom from prosecution for existing. June 28, 1969, police raided the Stonewall in, and tired of the constant threat from the police, thousands of people in the community, from different demographics, sustained the uprising for six nights. It was a radical event, one that became a “powerful symbol of global proportions. (Doberman, Martin - The Nation : Reclaiming Stonewall)”

There are many different stories and recollections of that night, who was there, who was not. Some of the more popular people that were present were Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, transgendered women of color that resisted and fought.

There are many resources available on Stonewall, and I will provide links for a few different items, as well as the title of a few books that I have found (and will be adding to my own library).

Pride month is an anniversary of those riots. In June 1970, thousands of LGBTQ+ individuals and allies marched through the streets of New York to commemorate that night. Thus the marches we attend today were born; however, the pride “parades” that many cities and states throw have become a party and celebration where many people do not even know about the reason for the parade.

This year, we have seen a plethora of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, the re-i regency of bigotry from the heterosexual conservative members of government. We see individuals proposing and creating laws based on religious beliefs and fervor, instead of following the constitutional right to freedom of and from religion and separation of church and state. Members of our judicial and legislative parties are forgetting that religious beliefs are not a basis to create laws.

We see the erasure of cultural learning from our schooling systems. The erasure of the LGBTQ+ identity from schools. We see states telling children that their same-sex-parents are second-class citizens and that their family is invalid. We see laws that are requiring teachers to out children that confide in them, or even just on suspicion to their parents, an action that could be dangerous to children. These states are outlawing gender affirming care for LGBTQ youth, taking it as far as investigating parents and doctors that are providing the care for child abuse and neglect.

The education system is growing increasingly white-washed and hetero-normative. BIPOC, LGBTQ+, JEWISH, and any history that is non-Christian and puts negative light on the CIS- white heterosexual demographic is being removed from schools.

I recently wrote a post about Dr. Anonymous, the APA psychiatrist that gave the speech credited for the removal of homosexuality from the mental illness list in 1973. Additionally, 1973 was the year that we saw the Supreme Court rule on Roe V. Wade, A landmark case that established privacy and bodily autonomy for women. This case is also the precedent that a lot of additional rights and laws are based off of, including being part of the foundation for HIPAA privacy laws. This is a case that we are currently waiting to see if the Supreme Court is going to overturn the decision of, an action that would set women’s rights back 50 years, as many states are already establishing abortion bans and strict anti-abortion laws. These laws would go into effect when the Supreme Court reverses the Roe V Wade decision, and it is established that their next overturn is the decision granting same-sex couples the right to marry.

This is a dangerous precedent that we do not want to see happen. These laws and rulings being created are based on the religious beliefs and radicalism of those that write them. Beliefs that religion is used for a basis, while no foundational evidence is present stating that the religion or bible indicates that this should be the case.

Pride is more than a celebration. It is more than a party and having companies feign support with rainbow colors and logos. We need to remember that we are fighting for our trans-brothers and sisters, we are fighting for the BIPOC community and the systematic racism that they face, we are fighting for the right for ALL WOMEN to choose what will happen with their bodies, we are fighting to keep our marriages, our families, and reduce the number of Queer and LGBTQ youth that are taking their own lives due to lack of representation and support.

We are fighting globally to extinguish the criminalization of homosexuality in the 68 countries that you can be arrested in.

We are fighting for the right to live, we are fighting for the equity that is non-existent. We are fighting for the normalization and representation that is deserved.

We have a voice, a voice that deserves to be heard.

We are one race, the human race and until we can respect all beliefs, all cultures, and all human’s right to exist, our society will forever be stuck and moving in a backwards momentum.

I challenge all of my readers to research, to think critically, and to not be disillusioned by companies that are marketing to just get your money this year. To remember and advocate for the above mentioned injustices, and to show support for all communities.

We need more love in this world. Share love and light with everyone that you interact with, and engage in conversation and education.

Love and Light to you all,

-Joey C.

To Gay or Not to Gay

Resources

The Nation - Reclaiming Stonewall: Welcome to the Celebration-and the Struggle by Timothy Patrick McCarthy, June 25, 2019. Thenation.com/article/archive/stonewall-1969-progress-paradox

What Stonewall Sparked. Charles Kaiser. Time International (Atlantic Edition). 7/1/2019, Vol, 194 Issue 1, p38-43.
Retrieved from Library Database: Accession Number 137100144.

Takin’ It to the Streets. By Darryl Grabarek. School Library Journal (SLJ.com) June 2015.

BBC. Homosexuality: The Countries Where it is Illegal to be Gay. HTTPS://www.bbc.com/news/world-43822234. 05/12/2021.