by caleb rainey
What Are You PROUD Of?
“For me, ‘Pride’ means being unabashedly LGBT in all its varied forms and refusing to closet, temper, or disown any part of our glorious queer selves.”
June tends to be considered the true kickoff to summer and for LGBT
folk, summer equals Pride. Pride means many different things within the LGBT community, but for this month’s issue I want to meditate on the reasons, as a young gay man, I have for being proud. Indeed, the ques- tion worth considering is, “What are you proud of?” While there are many things about being part of the LGBT community that I am immensely proud of, those things are not necessarily reflected in the pageantry that composes Pride with a capital “P.” As it is traditionally known, Pride is a time of parades, heavy drinking,
sexual bounty, intense commercialism and fun. There is nothing wrong with these things in and of themselves; but for this young man they do not reflect most of what we as a community have to be proud of. Some of the things that traditionally come along with Pride are arguably destruc- tive, such as the commercialism; the intense pressure to consume more and spend ever-increasing amounts of money, funds that some in our community just do not have. For me, “Pride” means being unabashedly LGBT in all its varied forms
and refusing to closet, temper, or disown any part of our glorious queer selves. Pride means knowing where you come from and where you’re going and also gives us the ability to celebrate others in all their wonder- ful variations. We as LGBT people have so many reasons to be proud. Here are just a few of the personal reasons that make my chest puff out a little.
1. As a community we have tended to support feminist causes.
Historically, the LGBT community has sided with women on a variety of issues such as reproductive rights, equal pay and a woman’s right to be free from violence. Our connection to feminism was much more pronounced in the early days of our movement, but our commitment to women has remained strong over the years. This commitment is some- thing I celebrate and am absolutely proud of.
50 RAGE monthly | JUNE 2014 2. We survived a plague and came out stronger. From 1981
onward HIV/AIDS has plagued our community. During the early years of the epidemic, those infected were left to die by their families and government. Instead of allowing unjust treatment to go unchecked or giving into the voices claiming that AIDS was a “divine judgment” for supposed perversions, we fought back and worked hard to treasure queer life. Lesbians organized blood drives to help gay men living with the illness, gay men mothered and fathered each other as they were sick and dying and our artists committed themselves to telling the story of the epidemic. ACT UP refused to allow government indecision and ho- mophobia to go unchecked and engaged in activism that helped define the ‘90s. We as a community did not only survive, we were able to thrive in the direst of circumstances. It is this spirit of survival that I relish each day and that gives us all something to be proud of. 3. We have developed an ethic of care that privileges relationships
and choice above blood and destiny. What I mean by this; historically and still presently, we value chosen families as much, if not more, than our families of origin. Something rather remarkable about our commu- nity. As a young gay man who has very few ties to his family of origin, I have found this aspect of our LGBT heritage comforting, rewarding and awe-inspiring. The fact that we as a group refuse to distinguish and rank loved ones based on legal or blood ties, instead insisting upon flexibility and creativity when defining family, is something wonderful and truly makes me proud. We have redefined what it means to be family, what it means to be loved and what belonging means.
This pride season, consider taking a moment to come
up with your own reasons for being proud. Knowing why you are fiercely proud, can make Pride even that much better!
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