The first Pride Rally and March I attended was both life changing and life affirming. I will never forget the overwhelming sense of inclusion and belonging. To arrive at a park in central Brisbane surrounded by hundreds of LGBTI people and their straight allies was nearly impossible to comprehend. For the first time ever I was part of the majority. Everywhere I turned there were people simply being themselves and knowing they were part of the whole on that day. There are no words to describe how freeing it feels when day in day out you are part of a minority. The best part of celebrating Pride is that the feeling of inclusion doesn't go away in subsequent years. It's a day of paradise. I expect that may sound particularly over the top yet it's not, for me that is precisely how exciting the day is. The camaraderie and kindness is palpable.
That's what Pride means to me but what is it and why is it held?
A quick online search reveals the following questions and I would expect the majority of LGBTI people have heard the question or been on the receiving end of a similar question.
"Why do you have gay pride parades? We don't have straight pride parades. (And isn't pride a sin?)"
"You never see parades with people almost naked, wearing body glitter, on floats, celebrating how awesome it is being straight do you?"
"So recently in Australia there was a Gay pride parade. And that made me think so they have a gay pride parade because they're proud to be gay, but if it's all about equality and everyone's the same then why not a straight pride parade also.
P.S I am not discriminating against anyone I think everyone is they same"
What are these special occasions and celebrations all about? On the surface they may appear to be celebrations of being gay and free which in part is true. There is however a long and deeply painful history that has been experienced by the people of the LGBTI community who came before us. It is this history and the way our forebears suffered and fought for the freedoms we have today that is recognised and celebrated during these events. The final part of the celebration and protest is that we are not yet experiencing full equality and these events provide the community with channels to highlight where there remains discrimination and inequality.
The most well known of these events internationally are Pride events. These are generally held in June although there are some areas that alter the dates due to poor weather. Why June? In the early hours of June 28th 1969 there was a police raid of The Stonewall situated in New York City. Previously police had raided this and other venues where gay people gathered, drank and socialised and usually the venues opened again quickly. On this night however riots began and they continued for 6 days. Remember this was a time when it was illegal to be homosexual and homosexuality was considered a mental illness. There are stories of corruption within the police force and the mafia ownership of the venue. More Info
What the people at Stonewall chose to do that night was to take a stand, to no longer be invisible and attempt to demonstrate that they were everyday people who should be free to enjoy the company of friends without risk of harassment and persecution for simply being who they were. The following June a parade was held to commemorate 12 months since the Stonewall riots and that was the birth of Pride marches.
In answer to why is there a gay pride event and not a straight pride event therefore the answer is both rational and simple. Straight people do not share this history and are not continuing to this day to seek full equality to varying degrees throughout the globe.
There is another day, for many a less known one and it's a day which is held to increase awareness and specifically target discrimination, hate crimes and human rights issues for LGBTI people. This day is called
International Day Against Homophobia & Transphobia or IDAHO for short and is celebrated on 17 May. This year is the 10th year of IDAHO and it has continued to evolve since it started in 2004. There is current consideration to expanding the name to something that relates to Gender Diversity. Events for IDAHO are held in over 120 countries and take many shapes and forms. With IDAHO being just around the corner you can show your support on 17th May by posting the below image to your social media sites.
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Copyright Adele Fisher 2014
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