Pride Month: Thoughts, Hope, and a Message

So...this has been a pretty painful Pride Month for us.

I've written a couple articles about the effects of homophobia that can be found HERE and HERE. Faced some heavy backlash for it, but you know what?

For the first time, I am sick enough of this shit that I don't care about backlash.

For the first time in YEARS, I am standing up for my community. I have been called so many names in the last two days by strangers who disagree with my opinion, who want to defend homophobia because they don't want to admit to being part of the problem.

And fuck it. I am not afraid of people calling me names or trying to prove me wrong. I am not afraid of being insulted or belittled. This is fucking IMPORTANT to me and after what happened at The Pulse I am absolutely DONE standing on the sidelines for the rights of my own community.

I've even gotten ballsy enough to get into a gun control debate a couple times, but fortunately they didn't get too heated.

I feel good about saying what I believe. I haven't felt that in a long time. It feels more like who I'm supposed to be and I'm glad I can finally do it.

I posted a thing on WordPress, too, that I'd really love for you all to read. It's this post, about what gives me hope--about the tens of thousands of people who have come together to help. (For the record, the GoFundMe mentioned/linked in that article has now raised $3.3 MILLION for the victims and families of the Orlando shooting.)

Beyond that, I teared up yesterday just thinking about the LGBT community. Sometimes it's very divided--bisexual people are shunned by gays and lesbians, asexual people are shunned by the whole community, transgender people get thrown under the bus, and people of color, people with disabilities, and other intersectionalities are often not represented as they should be within the community.

But now, we unite.

We have all felt pain, and fear, and uncertainty, and we all want to make sure there is a home and a safe space for every other person who has faced or is facing it. And that is the most beautiful goddamn thing.

Finally, I wrote an article today that was a HUGE risk and may end up outing me if it somehow gets back to my family, but it's important enough to me that I still want the article posted everywhere it possibly can be, so shares would be appreciated.

It's called "For the Closeted Kids During Pride Month," and it can be found HERE. Please share it anywhere you can (without tagging/outing anyone) where someone who needs to hear this might hear it. I want to make sure every single person who is in the closet for their own safety and well-being knows that they are loved, valid, and valued.

All right, this has been a very long and very queer post. I now return you to your regularly scheduled heteronormativity.