by Alex Houston, Staff Writer
I want to begin by saying that I myself am LGBTQ. That being said, in my ideal world, Pride month doesn’t exist. In my perfect world, nobody throws parades about men being able to kiss men, because honestly, let’s stop and think about that: that is a fucking weird thing to throw a parade over. “Love is Love” is one of the best defenses of LGBTQ relationships, in my opinion, because, regardless of gender, Love is Love. So why is there an entire month dedicated to this specific kind of love? “Trans men and women are real men and women,” agreed, so why do we have celebrations for these particular men and women? The fact that we exalt these differences underpins the fact that they are differences, something removed from the norm, even though that mentality is the very thing that we need to fight against. I don’t want to be proud of the fact that I like to kiss men; I want to be able to kiss men without anyone thinking anything of it. I don’t want to be exalted for being myself, because that implies I am different from everyone else, that I am something separate, and I don’t want to be; I want to be an individual.
I understand that in today’s age, especially given the current political climate, things like Pride Month are necessary things to aid in the destigmatization of being LGBTQ+, and that probably isn’t going to change for a while. However, sometimes in conversation or online spaces, I see a weird “us versus them” mentality that is both harmful to everyone involved and actively misses the point. Being gay or straight or cis or trans shouldn’t matter; there should never be a reason to oppose being gay or being straight, or being cis or trans. I mean, c’mon, it’s just being cis with extra steps; get a hold of yourself.
It is my greatest dream that everyone can live in equality, without fear of oppression. But that’s just it, I dream of an equal society. The moment I am done being harassed, stigmatized, and oppressed, I also want to stop being exalted, because then I will simply be, and that is all I want. To be. I dream of a world where Pride Month is seen as the unnecessary event that it should one day be. I dream of a world where owning a pride flag is just as weird as owning a straight flag, and the only reason to own a pin is to skip the awkward “what are your pronouns” step in a conversation. I dream of a world where the pedestal of one’s identity is brought just as high as anyone else’s and brought no higher. The only things worth celebrating are the accomplishments that someone achieves, not the fundamental aspects of themselves.
