Pride Month is over and it’s time to return everything to the closet. Except ourselves. Put away the rainbow flags and roll-on glitter, stack the leftover gimmicks, hang up the skimpy outfits, and close the door shut on the closet for another year. Pride Month is the month when the LGBTQIA (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transexual, Queer, Intersexed, and Asexual) Community celebrates our heroic histories through documented centuries of genocide and subjugation. It’s also when we do groundbreaking activism in the continued fight for our civil and human rights. Queer joy and resistance, who wouldn’t want in?
Belonging to the alphabet soup has drastically changed in recent years. Although I’m not intentionally trying to give away my age – usually said by someone over the age of 30 – in my generation, there were three stifling boxes that society would forcefully drive us into. If you’re a man who enjoyed bedding other men, you’re gay (or a faggot, or a raging homo, depending on who’s screaming it as they’d beat you unconscious), and if you’re a woman who’s strictly on a diet of being with other women, you’re a lesbian (or a dyke, or a carpet muncher, which was slightly more tolerated until heterosexual men realized they weren’t invited to the party). Either way, society nudged us into our gay or lesbian boxes, hoping we’d just quietly perish. Then there was the elusive mystery box solely reserved for bisexuals and transexuals.
Bisexuals, in my generation, weren’t often recognized by either side of the fence. On the rare occasions that they were acknowledged, they were often considered an abnormality and shunned from both hetero and queer communities. If you think the irony of our queer community damning bisexuals and excluding them has whooshed over my head, you’d be wrong. And don’t get me started on our trans community; they were often considered fascinating or disgusting hybrid creatures – again, depending on which side of the hedge you were ogling from - who were expected to live quietly in the shadows. Nevertheless, those were the rules contrived by society. It was all quite simple really: be quiet and file into your oppressive boxes or else. Oh, and don’t forget to pack your shame with you. You’ll need it.
Since my generation and the generations before me, the LGBT+ community has greatly advanced. We’ve released ourselves from our boxes and in doing so, we’ve flourished. Before I’m accused of reviewing the LGBT+ world through rose-tinted glasses, stop. I’m unequivocally aware of the insufferable violence and inequality that our community encounters, including the brutalization and execution of our people. Our mere existence is criminalized in 72 countries, and we’re executed in at least 6 of those countries. Our sexual orientation and gender identity, which are integral facets of ourselves, have pivoted us to experience outrageous assault and discriminative abuse on an international stage. We continue to face the severity and omnipresence of legal, political, and social discrimination and economic marginalization. Thanks, Christendom. So no, I’m not missing the bigger picture: we remain an endangered community.
LGBTQIA Rights are Human Rights. Fact. Growing up in an era where heteronormative values were even more harmful than they are today, and when there wasn’t an invitation to authentically be oneself without unavoidable and detrimental consequences, was exceptionally difficult to navigate. I didn’t escape persecution, and I didn’t escape unharmed. In fact, I paid a high price for being who I am. The thatched scars, ugly and painful, from my grand crime of – wait for it – loving another human being who happens to be born with the same genitalia, have agonizingly impacted my life. Unfortunately, I spent a third of my life hating myself, hiding myself, and allowing others to punish me for who I am. Thankfully, the LGBT+ community has progressed since the blinkered 80s. And I’ve got to tell you, it feels incredible to witness the making of this part of our history.
Momentarily ignoring all the incessant threats that we continue to face, and instead, focusing our viewpoint on the impactful accomplishments that we’ve achieved, today’s community is in a much better position than ever before. Especially for those living in LGBT+ “friendly” countries, such as Europe and America. In fact, in 1791, France was the first country to decriminalize homosexuality. Although that isn’t to imply that we’ve been safe, seen, or existed comfortably with our human and civil rights intact since the 18th century, it does record the beginning of a post-Christendom change. In fact, it was considered a rather radical and scandalous amendment at the time. Ma tigresse!
In 1897, the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee, founded in Berlin, was recognized for its pioneering work on LGBT+ rights, and more specifically, transgender identity. 27 years later, the Society for Human Rights, founded in America, was born. It’s the first documented Lesbian and Gay Rights organization since the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee. 31 years after that, Daughters of Bilitis (DOB), a revolutionary Lesbian Rights organization, was founded. Since then, it has been a steep climb to obtaining civil equality, advocating for space and representation, and decriminalizing non-heteronormative sexualities, identities, and reproductive rights. But despite the vertical and rocky hike, our community walks onwards; ascending through challenges, stigmas, and persecution, while striving for a better world for the next generation of LGBT+ youth.
Today’s world in the Western Hemisphere is still perilous for LGBT+ people, and the challenge of protecting our rights is upon us. However, there’s hope too. More than ever before, we exist, and we exist openly. The laws that once prohibited consenting adults from having same-sex relations have had their own Berlin wall moment; crumbling the heteronormative doctrine to smithereens. Nowadays, LGBT+ people can openly serve in the military, government, and even in the clergy (including contemporary Christian denominations, such as Anglican churches, the Evangelical Lutheran Church, and the Methodist Church in Britain). And one of the most important, exciting, and noteworthy changes that have revolutionized our community is the right to legally marry our same-sex partners, as well as legally adopt children.
We’re here. Proud. Bold. Interracial, intercultural, intersectional, cis-gendered, and non-binary; accepting our multidimensional identities and triumphing in our truth. We’re finally able to seek sufficient care from physicians that are LGBT+ conscious, offering a protected place for LGBT+ people to receive unbiased healthcare. We’re able to procure from companies that are supportive of our rights (The Coca-Cola Company; IBM; PayPal; Converse; Estée Lauder; Levi’s; Progressive; and Ralph Lauren, to name a few) as opposed to brands that actively have an agenda against us (Exxon; Chick-fil-A; Salvation Army; Hobby Lobby; Cracker Barrel; Urban Outfitters, etc.). We’re able to see ourselves represented in mainstream media, sports, government, and all aspects of life; regularizing our existence. Progressive schools are adopting diversity policies too, embracing both LGBT+ families and/or LGBT+ children. Although there isn’t adequate LGBT+ social studies, histories, and sexual health and reproduction education present in academic curriculums, it’s something that remains a debatable topic and is an achievable goal. Keep your eyes on the equality prize, people.
So yes, change has come. A great change. A change that has swept those of us born as millennials, and the generations before, off our feet. In my 41 years of life, my queer existence has gone from terrifying and bleak to embracing and inspiring. Somewhere in my journey, I became empowered by the social and political normalization of my lesbianism. Although once said aloud, it does sound weird, since we are just that: normal.
In short, we’ve come far. No, the fight isn’t over – there’s far too much yet to be done in the name of civil and human liberty – but yes, we should celebrate ourselves. Every single day. We should protect our history, ensuring it’s neither doctored nor erased. And no, the retelling of our history shouldn’t be squished into one month, which has largely become derailed by rainbow-washing and corporate marketing. We should honor ourselves and each other with the unsurpassed determination to liberate those of us around the world who are forced to live in assigned boxes. Most importantly, we must remember to continue fighting hate with love, because it’s our capacity to love that threatens them the most.
(Artist Ann Powell @ abstract - art- Color Block Square Digital Art by Ann Powell - Fine Art America)
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