PRIDE 2021

As we enter another PRIDE month, I think a few things are always worthy of being talked about each year.

Supporting LGBTQIA+ people and communities is important year round. ALWAYS!

Don’t fall for the rainbow-washing that will pop up everywhere. What is rainbow washing you ask? It is the phenomenon of companies jumping on the rainbow merchandise bandwagon to cash in on this month, without ever doing anything meaningful to support LGBTQIA+ people in general or their workers in particular.

Make an effort to buy from LGBTQIA+ people directly, or from organizations and companies that actively work to support LGBTQIA+ people and communities.

A friendly reminder that the reason for PRIDE is due to the very real barriers, discrimination, and oppression that LGBTQIA+ folx still experience. This is doubly true to POC members of the community, trans and non-binary members of the community, and disabled members of the community. PRIDE is meant to help counteract the cultural and historical narrative that there is something bad, less than or shameful about LGBTQIA+ folx. It is a reason to celebrate the accomplishments of LGBTQIA+ folx, to celebrate the joy of community, to celebrate the type of world that is possible LGBTQIA+ folx can live fully and authentically for who they really are.

And finally, it is useful to remember that the original PRIDE was an up-rising against the oppression and harassment of the community and it was led by black and brown trans women and sex workers. These voices and experiences should not be white washed out of PRIDE, they are the heart of what PRIDE means.