This is supposed to be a month of Pride. a month where the LGBTQIAP+ community stands up collectively to celebrate our identities, our worth, and our communities bravery as a whole. It’s a month to remember LGBTQ history, the things they don’t tell you in the history books: the Stonewall Riots of 1969, the assassination of Harvey Milk, the AIDS Crisis, the legalization of same sex marriage in various countries, people killed for loving someone, and most importantly: the worth of each queer individual and the validation of their identity. Instead I have kids on the internet and in real life (who barely understand who they are, who were just coming to terms with their identities) scared that they will be the next victim of hate. I have mainstream media ignoring the fact that this mass shooting, one of the deadliest in US history, took place at an LGBTQ nightclub on Latinx night. Instead they focus on the shooters ties to “extremist Islam”. They ignore the bravery that the victims held in choosing to go out and celebrate their truth, despite hatred still very real within the USA; the bravery the rest of the community has in still finding something to celebrate this Pride month. I have friends and strangers around the world banding together to spit in the face of this hate. So much love has gone around, but we are all so tired. Now people have to once again decide if their identity is worth dying for. Is it worth going to a Pride Parade if there’s a chance you could die?
Next time someone asks why there isn’t a Straight Pride, why “the gays” still need pride “they can get married now, what more do they need?” I want them to be gently reminded of this day where over 50 people lost their lives, and even more were injured physically and psychologically due to one man’s hatred of people he didn’t understand and did not want to understand. I want them to be reminded of the decades of persecution: from Oscar Wilde, Roger Casement, the LGBTQ victims of the Holocaust, the Lavender Scare, and now Pulse in Orlando (and this is just in Western culture, just a brush with the suffering those in the LGBTQ community have faced). To any of you still reading who are LGBTQIAP+, I applaud your bravery of living your truth, even if it is only with yourself. Stay brave, keep loving the world and especially yourself, and know that it has to get better because you and I and individuals like us are the future.
My deepest condolences to the victims and their friends and families, rest in peace and know that you are loved by many.
– Adrienne
I'd Much Rather Have a Dragon 