It's June and Pride Month. In 2023 it is clear why Pride is needed more than ever. Anti-LGBTQ sentiment seems to be everywhere. A number of politicians want to make it impossible to function in society as a gay/bi/trans person with all kinds of absurd laws. Random hateful people scream with rage if a company has items that express support for LGBTQ individuals and it's disturbing. Bigots feel emboldened to shoot up Budweiser beer cans or tear down displays at Target and their disgusting statements of loathing are said with little concern for others.
Some people ask why we need Pride, and I tell them to just look at the state of the World today. It would be nice if being LGBTQ was just another aspect of a person in the same way some of us are left-handed, and some of us have different colored eyes--just an interesting fact about people. However, our LGBTQ friends continue to face persecution so we have to fight harder than ever to help them fight against the tide of hate. I've been asked why a cisgender and straight male like myself cares about LGBTQ folks and the simple answer is I'm a human with empathy and not a jerk. I guess there are just a lot of people out there who'd rather hate anything different from them than try to understand and empathize, and that's quite a tragedy.
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