title: "Pride Month 2022" summary: "The collection of activist/educational posts made during Pride 2022. Edited for clarity and change of format." date: "2022-06-04" description: "A collection of posts made during Pride Month 2022 that aim to improve either visibility or education. Originally these were shared individually, but they've been consolidated here and edited for clarity." tags: ["queer","pride","june-thoughts","sapphic","fb-rants","extra-long","compilation"] words: 1132 img: "/images/PrideLogo.png"

Pride Month 2022

My annual attempt at educating folks about Pride and why it matters. June 2022 was filled with all sorts of distractions. Some were good, while others were not. And due to those distractions, I stopped early in my efforts Still, here's what I got.

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Day 1

Today's the day!

Let's talk about flags!

The Pride flag we know and love today wasn't always the preferred version. There were at least two prior versions, each with its own history and special significance. But the first rainbow Pride flag was adopted in 1978.

With 8 colours (hot pink, red, orange, yellow, green, turquoise, indigo, violet [shown below]), it was meant to symbolise many positive things/concepts that were important to the queer community of the time. Sex, life, healing, sunlight, nature, magic, serenity, and spirit.

What I find fascinating is that each of these things still has its place in the queer community today in some capacity. Heck, there's even a trope that encompasses all of them in a single queer character in TV, movies, and books.

In a way, though, using the flag to symbolise those things feels like a way to recognise the most important things about the queer community: our diversity and our love of each other (we are, after all, a community). It's through that diversity and love that we're able to come together and make change in the world.

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And here at the end of this post about flags, I want to voice a reminder.

I don't care what kind of queer you are. I don't care if you're out and proud, loud and visible, or stuck in the closet. I love you. I see you. And I'm here if you want/need someone to talk to.

And if you're not queer, but you're still here, I love you too.

Let's freaking go y'all.

Day 2

Here we are. Day 2.

Let's talk symbols.

Did you know the rainbow flag is but one of many symbols used by queer folks throughout the ages? From shapes and objects to plants and even animals, queer folks have found so many ways to share with each other one simple message: "See me. Know me. You are not alone."

My favourite symbols are the ones that are so niche, only a small subset of a small subset of queer folks use or even know about them. For example, a friend of mine wears bracelets to show their current gender feel to folks who also use said bracelets. I have another friend who wears a purple, black, white, and grey A on their backpack everywhere they go. One of my former coworkers wore a small rainbow pin with only red hues.

The important thing is that you wear a symbol that means something to you. If you're queer, find something that is central to that queerness, and show it off. Worst case, you have something that makes you feel like part of the community. Best case, you become the next Oscar Wilde with a green carnation, starting a trend of using that symbol.

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Queer friends, how do you share your queerness with your community?

Day 3

Happy Pride, Day 3.

The first Pride was a riot. That's something we often forget with our fancy parades and extravagant parties and very "respectable" gay events.

Change isn't made by people who just sit about and hope for it. Change is made by the trouble makers and the outspoken. It's brought about when someone who is tired enough to do it throws the first brick. When someone who has been patient for as long as they can, and they've reached that point of "well it certainly can't get worse", they make the choice to do something.

A lot of people will say "Violence is never the answer", but they forget that the violence came to us. We didn't start it. "Well, that doesn't give you free reign to do whatever you want." No, but it does give us the right to stand up for ourselves, whatever that looks like.

Making waves is going to look different for everyone. For some folks it's active protest. For others it's art or writing. For others still, it's simply existing in a world that doesn't want them.

For me, it's sharing information to my slowly increasing following, educating those who make the choice to stick around and listen. Up to a point, that may feel like an echo chamber effect, only reaching those who already know or already want to hear, but it's what I can do with what I've got. And what I've got is a LOT of information and access to even more. So I'll go on educating folks.

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Get out there. Make waves in your own way. Be the riot that you wish would change the world for the better ... or something like that.

And make sure to take care of yourself out there. Because you matter.

Day 4

What's today? The fourth? Sure let's go with that.

One of my Facebook memories in the last few days was me sharing a story about when I wasn't publicly out. I had travelled to San Diego for the Joint Mathematics Meetings in 2013, and I went to a gathering of queer mathematicians. The important bit that I shared last time was about how some people don't have a choice about visibility if they want to come out, but this time, I want to talk about Melanie.

Melanie was one of the folks who went to the JMM with me. I was planning to go to the gathering mentioned above with one of the other folks who were with me, but the day of, she was unavailable, and I got really upset. So Melanie volunteered to go with me, knowing it was a queer gathering, and made sure I got to go. She saw what it meant to me to join the queer folks, and she a (presumed) straight girl said "heck yeah, I'll support you".

We went, and she was for me then what Opal and Vyper and Auric and David and Seven [all friends who have looked out for me in similar ways] and many others have been. She was a buffer to the folks around me, a friendly face in an unfamiliar environment, and a support that I needed to be me in a world I wasn't fully prepared to join. She was an ally.

When a queer person needs support, sometimes it comes from the community, and sometimes it doesn't. Those outside the community who provide that kinda support are allies in the truest sense. We need you sometimes. Be there for us. It could change our lives.

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Y'all. Take care of yourselves. But importantly, take care of each other.

Happy Pride, y'all.