Pride

It's here again, despite the rain, the GBLT Community prepares to celebrate Pride weekend. Tents are being erected, the clubs have extended their liquor orders, bartenders are resting for a weekend of non stop pouring, and everybody is a buzz about where they are going and what's going on. The celebration this weekend of course is a tradition in commemoration of the historic Stonewall Riot of June 28, 1969, when the GBLT community of Greenwich Village defended themselves against the bigotry and raids they had been experiencing for decades.

The gay community was so ostracized that the only place where they felt they could be open about who they were was in bars, like Stonewall, that were more or less underground. Stonewall in fact was owned by the Mafia, and not even a gay. Liquor was kept in secret panels and in cars outside in the event that the police were to raid them, and seize the liquor. Those weeks in late June of 1969 changed all that. What followed was the formation of Gay Rights Organizations across the nation. Most importantly, what began was the formation of a cohesive, organized, community that transcended generational, racial, and cultural differences.

Now it is 2009, and every year we organize this huge weekend long party to celebrate who we are. To celebrate "Pride". I often joke every year, "what are we so proud of?" At pride we are not saying that we are proud to be GAY, we certainly are not ashamed, but Pride runs much deeper then that. We celebrate the accomplishments of a community that went from hanging out in shady underground, mafia run bars, to what we are today. A community that boasted about equal rights and liberation in a time when African Americans were still fighting for rights. The women's movement was still in the final stages of earning their last few rights. Lyndon Johnson's "Affirmative Action Program" was working out some of it's kinks. For the Gay Community to explode across such a volatile nation took courage, strength, and pride.

Pride is also a time when we remember the rest of the hardships and victories that were to come in the following years. The HIV epidemic of the 80's, which left so many countless lives forever touched, also marked the beginning of a new battle. The murder of Matthew Shepherd in the late 90's reminded us that the whole world is in fact not accepting of Homosexuality, and there are still miles to go before true equality is accomplished. Equality however is not something that is legally achieved. Its not a bill that has to be passed in a courthouse or a statehouse. Equality is when I can walk down the street holding hands with my boyfriend and no one will look twice, because the love between us is just as legitimate as the love between the straight couple walking past in the other direction. It is not a legal movement, its a movement in the hearts of those who cannot bring themselves to understand that God created us all different...different, but equal.

This weekend as the parties tear on into the late hours of the night we remember. Those of us who are of younger years often forget the challenges faced by earlier generations. It's very easy at 19 years old to realize that you are gay, and dive into a fairly large club world, and yell and scream for equal rights. The struggle that each of us go through in the coming out process is different to be sure, but remember the generations before who literally had their freedom, and at times their very lives at stake by setting foot in bars like Stonewall. We have the benefit of walking into an established community. This weekend is about allot more then a parade. We are not trying to rub our homosexuality in the straight world's face...rather we are celebrating an inheritance that had been handed down to us from decades before.

We celebrate ourselves as individuals, perhaps even beyond our homosexuality. It's a part of what makes me who I am but it is not the summit of my being. We all have hopes and dreams, family and friends, a life history and experiences that make us who we are. Our sexuality is woven through those things. That's why Pride is such a special weekend. We see those faces that at one time may have been a regular part of our lives, and we run into them at pride and share that brief, but moving encounter. "Oh my god how have you been?? Where are you living now???" Etc etc etc. Those who are celebrating their first Pride undoubtedly will establish memories that they will remember for years to come. Those of us who it isn't our first Pride will undoubtedly do all the remembering..."Remember last year when we did this, or we did that."

Pride is about so much more then a parade. It's about us, as individuals...because individuals are what makes up a community. So this weekend celebrate YOU. Celebrate the past that has made you the person you are, celebrate the people who have come and gone. Celebrate the people who have come and STAYED....because those people seem to be so few. Celebrate your lover, and the difference he/she has made in your life. That line from Queer as Folk comes to mind, "Mourn the losses because there will be plenty, but celebrate the victories, because there are so few." The losses however, are what makes the victories so sweet. So maybe we should celebrate those too, because they too played a part in the reality we live in.

Whatever you do this weekend, have a safe, and happy (despite the threat of rain) Pride 2009!!