It’s Pride Month! And you know what that means: everybody is scrambling to taste the rainbow.
Yes, it’s that wacky time when corporations and celebrities who might otherwise not give us a second thought haul out their rainbow flags and dust off their claims to allyship in the pursuit of the all-sparkly queer dollar – or at least the added social media cred.
At least that’s how things usually happen. This year we have an extra treat!
Rainbow Capitalism was such a cute little worry. [Image description: Businessman tearing off his shirt with a rainbow and dollar sign on chest. Credit: DepositPhotos. Arranged by Faerywolf.]
In the vein of “a little bit of history repeating” (tip of my fancy hat to the Propellerheads featuring the vocal stylings of the fabulous Miss Shirley Bassey), this year we get to experience our Pride party like it’s 1999 (my sincere apologies to the spirit of Prince). I don’t mean like living in fear of Y2K. (Such a simple time!) No, I mean under the threat of violence.
That’s right! The Christofascists have brought back some of their old tried-and-true favorites like threatening violence and weaponizing politics. Ahhh – the classics.
In the United States, there have been a record number of anti-LGBTQ bills proposed this year, many aimed at preventing discussion about our community in the educational system. Under the thinly veiled pretense of “protecting the children,” these bills make a criminal offense the mere mention of LGBTQ identities or a gender expression that differs from what the religious right has deemed “the norm.”
Whether it’s “Don’t Say Gay,” book banning, or criminalization of drag performances and gender-affirming medical care, the Republicans have turned away from their previous mantras of “smaller government” and “states’ rights” and have doubled down on their deranged attacks on queer people.
Trying to portray us as a threat to children has been a time-honored method in their playbook. And why not? It has historically been effective. There’s not much difference between the accusation of queer people abusing children and witches being accused of eating babies. (Won’t somebody please think about the children?)
Witches and their devilish childcare options in 1720.
Unless, that is, it’s to do something to actually protect the children, like enacting better gun control laws or allowing better access to unrestricted healthcare. The hypocrisy isn’t a bug; it’s a feature.
Words matter, especially those of our political leadership, whose platforms enable them a much farther reach than the average citizen. And what begins as rhetoric often morphs into something far more dangerous. Along with a record number of hateful bills, we have seen hate crimes against our community increase. And these threats are no longer aligned with some fringe group but are squarely aligned with the values of the Republican party.
One can argue that their party has been “hijacked” by the fringe group that is MAGA/Trumpism. But his was only the most recent (and most orange) face to portray this movement composed of racists, bigots, misogynists, homophobes, transphobes, and other “deplorables,” so aptly named by a certain Hillary we all know. (“But her emails!”)
Basically, the religious Right and their accomplices have declared war on anyone not white, straight, or sufficiently male by their “standards” (and I’m using that word ironically). Angry protests have been staged outside of schools to demand that queer folk once again be silent (or we’ll get what’s coming to us).
One of the truest statements I have ever read. [“To be visibly Queer is to choose your happiness over your safety,” @DaShaunLH]
Most recently, retail giant Target has pulled back from openly displaying Pride-themed merchandise, caving to threats from right-wing extremists. In some stores, these products were moved from the front to the back of the store in an effort to make them less visible and so (hopefully) less likely to inspire threats or acts of violence, both of which have been reported (often by the very people who commit them).
All this makes for a tense Pride season.
In the spirit of “the old becoming new again,” maybe now is a time to remember that Pride isn’t just a party. Sure, it’s fun. We can celebrate being alive with our friends and chosen family in a space that allows us to (finally) be who we truly are. But it was a struggle to get here and, gurl, that struggle is still going strong. The first Pride was a literal riot. In response to threats, raids, violence, and even death, we as a people stood up and said, “No more.” We hit a breaking point.
We’re here. We’re queer. And we’re sick of this sh*t. [Pride Fist, Depositphotos]
And for a while, things seemed better. More and more queer people began coming out and speaking up. And though the anti-woke crowd tried to demonize and dehumanize us, we rose up to seize the moment, that arc of morality bending ever toward justice, and we began to thrive. And that is what they are really against.
This isn’t about bathrooms, sports, or even protecting children. This is about state-sponsored terrorism. This is what the descent into fascism looks like.
But it’s not all bad news. For all those years of deranged and hateful sputtering, for Pat Robertson to die during Pride Month – well, it was just so considerate. Like a deathbed conversion, this final act of allyship should not go unnoticed, so I’d like to offer him the posthumous A**hole to Ally Award.
We chose “A**hole to Ally” because “Fanatic to F*g-Lover” was already taken.
Thank you, Pat. Though you were the literal worst of the worst that humanity had to offer; you went out in style. We know the real reason you were always obsessed with us. You could have had such a happy life had you just come out and enjoyed it with us. But by dying during Pride Month, we can just let bygones be bygones. And now you’re gone. So, bye!
While some say it’s in poor taste to speak ill of the dead, I find it just charming. It can be quite cathartic for those who have been harmed to speak in such a way about their abusers, taking their power back from those who were the architects of our torture. And no one gets to tell us how we can heal.
So, with all this current unrest, what’s a queer person to do? Well, we need to be the very thing that they are afraid of: our true selves.
That’s what they truly fear: a world in which they are no longer at the apex of the social hierarchy, no longer able to control and exploit others for their own amusement. Being authentic and visible in the face of such terrible threats is nothing short of heroism.
If you feel safe, be out. Be vocal. Be LOUD. The only reason we have had the gains and protections that we have had so far is because of the older generation of queers that laid down the groundwork by stepping up and into the public eye. Newsflash: straight people didn’t just give us our rights because it was “the right thing to do.” They fought us — tooth and nail. We demanded equal rights, and when they still turned a deaf ear to our plight, we disrupted society and engaged in civil disobedience.
Only then did the political machinery even begin to move in the direction of equality. And while we have come far, we are nowhere near done.
We need to be visible for the next generation of kids so that they know that there is a place for them in this world. For that small percentage of children who are destined to be queer, our visibility can be a shining beacon of hope that can make the difference between giving up and hanging on for another day.
So this Pride, be as queer as possible. You don’t owe the world your conformity. It owes you its respect. It’s time to be extra gay. But don’t just do it for yourself. Do it for the children.
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