Pride Today and Everyday
PRIDE. A word that can mean so many different things to so many different people. To me, PRIDE means fully embracing and accepting myself for who I am, being proud to be part of the LGBTQ+ community, and being brave enough to show the world exactly who I am on my own terms and no one else’s.
Being gay has allowed me to view the human experience uniquely and to see my peers in a special light that I feel I would not get to see or experience if I was straight. I have learned so many lessons over the past few years on my journey to self-discovery. The most important lesson I have learned on my journey of coming to terms with being a member of the LGBTQ+ community is the importance and the necessity of self-love. So many of my gay peers and I have talked about this. Even though we are all on our own unique and widely different paths to figuring out how we fit into this straight, CIS-centered society, we have all agreed that being gay has at one point or another made all of us feel extremely isolated, misunderstood, left-out, and overall unaccepted by our peers. However, I have learned that in these dark moments when I have felt indescribable pain and sadness, if you are able to lean on self-love and really hone self-compassion, it will be a lifesaver. It is an absolute necessity in order to survive in a straight-dominated world to have strong feelings of self-love and a strong sense of self in order to make it in a society that isn’t fully accepting of gay people yet. Even when your straight peers try but can’t (and never will be able to) understand your experience, or you’re faced with people who actively try to tear you down for your mere existence, if you practice and truly have this self-love, the outside voices won’t be as painful or as loud. And you will always have YOU at the end of the day to lean on. And that’s more than enough.
Putting in the work to sharpen and truly feel this self-love inside of you as a member of the community is a grueling process. It is an exhausting process to have to correct your friends, loved ones, and peers whenever they say something slightly offensive or tone-deaf regarding the LGBTQ+ community. It’s hard work and exhausting at times to fully love yourself in a world and in a society where there are still people who think your existence is “invalid” and “disgusting” (an actual quote said to me, to my face). But I promise that through the journey, through the process, the lows, the tears, the sadness, the isolation: it feels SO worth it in the end. I have learned that there is power in owning the fact that you are different. It’s brave to love yourself despite what the outside world says. It’s brave to wake up every morning, strut outside in a world where you don’t know how you will be perceived, yet still be exactly who you want to be without anyone else’s opinion in mind but your own.
It’s so vital to let your LGBTQ+ friends know they are supported, safe, and are loved by you. Remind them of this constantly! I’m so thankful for my friends who have encouraged me endlessly over the years. I’m so wildly thankful for the older inspirational gay figures and icons who have been role models for me to look up to, who have fought hard for equality, and who have paved the way for me to be able to live my truth freely and without any hesitation today.
Who you love and how you identify should not leave you feeling alone, broken, or hold you back in life. Everyone, regardless of who they love or how they identify, should be allowed to live to their fullest potential, achieve their dreams, and at the bare minimum, feel comfortable in their own skin. At the end of the day, no matter who you are or what sexuality you identify with, all everyone really wants is to feel loved, celebrated, and accepted. I’m so grateful to be a member of such an inspiring community, and I would never, ever, in a million years, wish for it to be any other way. :)
Happy Pride Month to everyone!!!