How to Remain Optimistic This Pride

With an onslaught of hate and loosely veiled threats, it might feel difficult to be optimistic this month. However, Pride month is always a time for celebration. Celebration of our queer identities, what makes us special, what makes us important in society at large. Representation. A refusal to back down.

What makes Pride 2023 a bit more strained is the onslaught of laws and proposals that have been hounding us for years, coming into what seems to be a new apex of negativity for us. While this may sound like a doomer sort of mindset, there is still a lot of love resonating in our community.

We live in a time of endless, constant information flooding our phones and laptops and permeating our days. We see headlines on our social media feeds and feel a need to immediately engage. Being socially aware and politically active is important in these times, but not every minute of the day has to be dedicated to stressing about things that are sometimes beyond our immediate reach.

Now don’t get me wrong; advocating can do wonders. But if you’re commuting to or from work, feeling burnt out, or feeling socially drained, you simply must remember one thing: Your identity matters. Your sense of personality, what makes you, you. Our LGBTQ forebearers fought to bring our community to the forefront of social justice. We are not here for one singular purpose, but that’s what makes us so righteous in the long run.

The main thing that unites us as a community is not our underrepresentation, but our resilience. We were not necessarily the target audience of much of the media that impacted us as children; we may have been stereotyped, pigeonholed, and laughed at. Yet we persisted, and slowly, we’ve crept into the mainstream.

Empathy is the true uniter in our community. Just because you may not immediately understand someone else’s struggle does not mean you can’t empathize with it. Even if bans on drag and gender-affirming care don’t directly affect you, you can still rise up to say that it isn’t right. To bring this into a more positive light, though, I must affirm a few things:

1. Pride can still be a celebration while being angry or impassioned. We don’t give up; we power through. We turn the negative into empowerment and passion. We go against the grain and challenge a heteronormative/cisnormative society. 
2. Educating those who are not members of our community is crucial. Education can take on so many forms. It can be in the discernible classroom in grade school, but it can also be in polite discourse in a public setting. Let people know that we have existed since the dawn of time, and our existence is not “by choice.” Being LGBTQ is a beautiful thing and should be respected everywhere.
3. Kindness and empathy are the goals. Fight bigotry with unfettered kindness and an “above all that” sort of mentality. Rise above the sadness. Stand up for what is right, but do not stoop to negativity or let it infiltrate your outlook on life.
4. Talk your heart out with good people. The connections we make in life can affect our mindsets and teach us patience. Our feelings are legitimate, and we deserve happiness and freedom to be ourselves.
5. Reach out. Resources are available if the good people from the aforementioned point are not easily accessible. Click here for youth resources with The Trevor Project. Head right here for the Trans Lifeline. And here is another list of credible resources from GLAAD. I promise you you are not alone. We can get through this as a strong community!

Happy Pride Month from all of us at OFM!