Pride celebrations are quite a controversial issue in 2017. And I can see why a lot of the time, because as part of the LGBTQ+ community, I don't feel so estranged all the time. Even though biphobia is still a big issue (we'll talk about this another time), I'm surrounded on YouTube,Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram by people sharing things about their boyfriends and girlfriends, and gay fathers, and marriage equality legislation. People aren't afraid to come out, and be who they are anymore. So it's a legitimate question - why do we still need a whole month dedicated to Pride? Why do we still need massive festivals and celebrations for something that has become an every day part of life?
Well, for some people, it hasn't. As long as there are people in the world who are still oppressed, we will always need Pride. As long as there are people getting attacked and murdered over their sexuality, we will always need Pride. As long as there is still a group of people who need Pride, the whole world still needs it.
The reality of the situation is that there are still people who are singled out and targeted and forced off this planet because they are simply trying to be who they are. Whether you agree or not that being part of the LGBTQ+ community was something we were born with, it still remains that it's not something we can change. It's like targeting people with ginger hair simply because you don't like an aspect of their character or singling out people who are vegetarian because you don't like the way they live their lives. When we put it that way, it sounds ridiculous, right?
The same goes for hate attacks on gay people. As we deal with more hate crimes, such as Orlando last year, and a whole list of others (you can find a lot of notable cases here), we realise that actually, Pride is more and more important.
So overt hate crimes (that have actually gone up since the Brexit vote - what does that tell you about Leave voters? But I digress, that's for another post) are one reason why we still need Pride. But if you needed anymore convincing, I can carry on.
"As we increase in visiblity, we increase in vulnerability" one article from the Metro reads. And it's extremely true. We open ourselves up to hate crimes and homophobia, but that's because heteronormativity is still massively ingrained in our society. So if we give up the fight now, if we become complacent, we'll never be accepted.
Homophobia shows itself in very small ways, even in societies such as ours in the UK where the LGBT community have full social, legal and political equality. There are still barriers we have to overcome. For example, sex and relationship education is compulsory now in secondary schools, but only heterosexual ones. Teaching young people about gay sex and relationships still isn't compulsory. In my county the council blocks the Google Search on school computers for "homosexual" or "gay" as it's classified as an "alternative lifestyle. YouTube's restricted mode allows parents to filter out LGBTQ+ content. And furthermore, we have politicians to contend with - Trump cutting trans rights, Pence and Theresa May refusing to outlaw gay conversion therapy and Leave voters perpetuating homophobic violence.
But Pride isn't even just for that. Pride is for the LGBTQ+ community itself. It's for the new members of our community who are maybe struggling to come to terms with their new identity and need somewhere where they can feel fully comfortable with themselves, and where they can feel completel accepted. It's for the older members of the community who have tirelessly and relentlessly fought for the rights we now have such as marriage equality, and are still fighting to outlaw conversion therapy and expand adoption rights and work for full global equality. Pride opens doors to new possibilities. Pride is living, real proof that gay love is just as valid and just as real as heterosexual love. Pride is our weapon against the governments who still believe we are wrong. Pride is evidence that we have won our battles and we still continue to win those battles and we will continue in the future. Pride shows people that we don't and won't give up.
Pride is for everyone, no matter who you are. Pride is still needed, because there are still inequalities. And as long as those inequalities are still hanging around, we still need Pride.
Emilia xx
