Pride 2022!!!

Hello June! Hello PRIDE!!!!!

I can’t believe how fast this year is flying by. Every time I look at the calendar, a whole month has passed.

This June will be a little different than other Junes for me. I’ve decided not to treat Pride like a branded gay holiday.

Pride allows many of us queer folks to see our experiences reflected, validated, and shown to be as beautiful as we are.

I’m a little tired of everyone smacking a rainbow on their product and thinking the lgbt+ community will rush out to buy it. The lack of actual support corporations give the society, but the fake allyship during June has started to annoy me. And we know it’s a queer-baiting scam, yet we still let corporations get away with it.

I will join the Long Beach Pride Parade because I always enjoy the parade. And after not attending one for the last two years, I think it would be nice to participate in one again.

The parade is enough for me. I don’t need to go to the festival. The last festival was long. It was a day of fighting through crowds to walk down the sidewalk (which stressed me out) and being the mom friend. There were many of my friends drinking while I stood in a corner watching my friends. I don’t think drinking my face off while listening to crappy music did anything to pay homage to LGBTQ history or different social causes.

Let’s take more time to celebrate what pride is about how LGBTQ people and allies address the ongoing work for acceptance and equality, which ultimately brings us to the Stonewall Riots of 1969 in New York City. Fed up with being harassed and targeted, LGBTQ patrons of the Stonewall Inn, who were predominantly people of color, fought back against the police. It resulted in four nights of rioting.

There’s a difference between celebrating “Pride” and being proud of who I am. I’m still hanging my bisexual flag in my front window. I’m hosting a tiny little gathering with friends.