Why “Pride” Month?
Happy Pride Month, ya'll! An interesting thing happens during events that honor groups because of their ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation/gender identity. While the group-in-question celebrates, others who are not part of that group sometimes shrug their shoulders. During Hispanic Heritage Month, for example, Latinos and many non-Latinos get together to remember and to dream. However, some people out there merely blink as the month goes by.
Pride month for us is no different, particularly as we recall events such as Stonewall, celebrate recent victories such as the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," and anticipate the eventual legalization of gay marriage (it's gonna happen!). There's much to ponder and much more to be active about . . . but what about the other people out there who are merely blinking as the month passes them by? As a college instructor, I'm sometimes asked what I think about events like Women's History Month or Pride Month. Someone will inevitably say something like, "We don't need Black History Month now that African Americans have full equality. I mean, Obama's in the White House." When I hear comments like this, I squirm.
The truth is that we NEED commemorative months for any group that has been—at some time or another—on the fringe. Groups that have been subjected to hateful speech, action, and legislation. Groups that might be "more equal" now, but who still must shout, scrounge, and scuffle to reach real equality. Martin Luther King famously wrote, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." These are great words that can be applied to people in many situations, not just African-Americans in the 1960's. First and foremost, we need pride for us—to commemorate our fallen, our trailblazers, and our dreamers. But we must also do our part to educate our non-LGBT friends, so they can remember and dream with us.
Together in Pride,
Richard Farias
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