Do we still need Pride? Yes

June 28, 2015 · found by

Every year the same question comes up, why do we still need Pride. The simple answer is yes. The reasons may have changed but the need to hold the annual event are no less important than they were 30 years ago. We need Pride to celebrate and to remind us that no matter how far we’ve come gaining equality, we’re not done.

The question is asked by all the gay men who’ve won all the rights they want—a safe workplace, equal marriage, ability to adopt—and live in peace in their suburban homes with their husbands and children. But can that couple hold hands and walk down the street in their particular bedroom community? Unlikely. Then again this isn’t all about them, it’s about everyone else who can’t march, don’t feel safe in their community, can’t even be their chosen gender on facebook or face discrimination everyday for who they love.

Pride is born out of a political movement. Each year we fret about the decline of activism, the creeping corporatization and remaining an inclusive event for all. We have Pride every year because we can and we should never forget. We should hold Pride for all the countries in the world where it is legal to be gay and where trying to hold a parade is a death sentence. It doesn’t mean every LGBT person should attend, but that doesn’t mean the majority of the community should do without.

It’s easy to think the big corporate sponsors are just there for our wallets, but there are LGBT people working at those companies making sure they stand up for LGBT rights. To see Google and Apple march is actually impressive; these global companies are also being courageous by saying they stand for equality even if it damages their business in homophobic countries. Sometimes doing what’s right is far more important than doing what’s profitable.

There is nothing wrong with these common complaints and the debate that happens every year. In many countries where rights have been successfully won, Pride has become less political; it’s now a major celebration of the freedom to love. Not everyone wants to be an activist or should be expected to, but we (especially we gay men) owe a lot to the LGBT community for standing up for our rights and getting us this far. But we’re not done. We can’t simply sit down and let the transgender community fight for their equality after they stood by the community.

The anger and courage to stand up against our oppressors was not done solely by a group of gay men. The Stonewall Inn catered to lesbians, drag queens, transgendered people and gay men; it was the only ‘safe’ place in New York City and when it came time to defend it, everyone stood up together. Since first nights in 1969 and every year and around the world since, the community has come together, and stood together.

pride-parade-london-2015-bigben2
Thousands marched through London on June 27, 2015, walking passed historic sites including Trafalgar Square before heading down Whitehall toward the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben.

That courage still exists today. It may be easy for us to march or stay home, but there are many places where LGBT people have no choice. At yesterday’s parade in London, one young Ethiopian gay man marched behind a mask. He’s begun amazing and courageous work in Ethiopia and was invited to be a flag-bearer. He has no parade to march in back home, but he could march anonymously in London, and hopefully he’ll take the strength of the thousands of LGBT supporters home with him.

So we march for that young man. And for the previous LGBT generations that risked arrest and being publicly outed when they marched. We march because the struggle to get here means more than just the right to walk a parade route but represents all the rights that have been won. And for the rights still to be won.

Friday’s decision by the US Supreme Court set up a tidal wave of joy across the US and around the world. #Lovewins was trending, brands were getting onboard showing their support and the homophobes were threatening to move to Canada. The reaction from President Obama says it all, the joy from the country’s leader that equality wins is a power statement. The decision is just and we should celebrate the achievement, and Monday we need to continue to fight for all equality, both for the rights of transgendered persons, and for the people around the globe still fighting for survival. The community has done so much and shown how strong and powerful we are, so let’s show the world.

While it may be easy to argue that the founding fathers couldn’t have considered what the US would be like some 200 years later, they were high minded enough to know equality and the law would evolve. Friday’s decision also saw the sharing of a famous quote by Thomas Jefferson. “I am not an advocate for frequent changes in the laws, but they must go hand in hand with progress of the human mind.”

The White House is lit with the colors of the rainbow in celebration of the Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage, June 26, 2015. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)
The White House is lit with the colors of the rainbow in celebration of the Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage, June 26, 2015. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

Full disclosure, these words come to you from the UK, a country that’s had civil same-sex unions for years but did only recently extend full marriage rights to same-sex couples (a law endorsed by a right-wing government). Strangely enough equal marriage is not universal in the all of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland. Ireland may have overwhelmingly passed its’ constitutional change, but their divided neighbours still can’t marry, leaving it the only UK ‘nation’ unwilling to do so.

Canada has had equal marriage federally for ten years now, while in some provinces it’s been 12 years. Denmark and other Scandinavian countries lead the way, and in many other parts of Europe equal marriage is a reality. But look at Germany or Australia where leaders have resisted equal marriage and been unchallenged. We have a long way to go still. It should be troubling for the UK especially; a country that shares its’ head of state with 53 countries, mostly former colonies, as part of the Commonwealth. Never mind marriage equality, in 41 of those countries it is illegal to be gay, and in 11 of those LGBT people risk death. Just as the US has a role to play in bringing international attention, so should the UK, and it can start in its’ own backyard.

So as we celebrate Pride for another year, we should participate or at least be supportive because we could so easily lose our rights. The struggle is not yet over, but while Pride doesn’t need to be about activism, the act of marching, of being proud of our diversity, we set an example to the world that it gets better. There will be those that stand at the front lines of the struggle, but the whole community needs to come together, if for only one day, and lend our presence and voices. If not, when we remain away and silent, the homophobes win.