Close to my heart and mind is the LGBTQIA+ community, especially during the month of June when Pride Month is on full display.
Growing up, my father revealed to me that he was gay, while later, another family member did the same. As the years went on, so did several friends of mine, some of whom I assisted in their battle of whether or not – and when – to tell their families.
Since my teenage days, thankfully all of my friends have grown to have their families love them, regardless of sexual identity, but they still look back on those days of profuse worry of whether their families would accept them, or not.
Since I was raised in a rather religious part of the United States – specifically smack in the middle of the Bible Belt – I was brought up to view any sort of ‘homosexuality’ as sin.
For the longest time, I actually went along with what my church was teaching me, and thought less of people in the LGBTQIA+ community. Looking back, I am wholly ashamed of my thinking, and even more ashamed that the teaching of hatred against anyone identifying as homosexual is still going on constantly in my hometown.
As I grew older, and my father came out to me as being gay, it opened up an entire different side to my heart and mind that I didn’t think was there before.
We should strive to celebrate everyone, regardless of sexuality or gender, and show our love to the people who make this world a better place, by the diversity they give.
When in church, I was taught that being gay was evil, or it would make you a wicked person, and by finding out about my father’s sexuality, I realised that my church upbringings could not have been more wrong.
My father certainly wasn’t an evil or wicked person just because he loved the same sex. Additionally, him being gay did not change the fact that he had raised me with compassion, love, and had every good quality that a father should possess.
From that moment on, I realised the fight that each person with a sexuality different than the run-of-the-mill straight person has — a fight for acceptance, for marital rights, and to simply love whomever they love.
Years later, when I was in high school, my two best friends ended up telling me that they were gay. For them, this was a difficult matter, especially since one of them is had a very religious upbringing. Their major worries were telling their families, their friends, and how to transition this secret from inner to outer.
Even for them to tell me was a major worry for them, even with the family background I had, so for them to imagine telling their families made them exponentially anxious.
Eventually, they both were able to embrace their sexuality, allow their families to digest their long-hidden secrets, and were able to move ahead in life, with nothing that they felt they had to hide.
Although their situations have come and passed with ease among the circumstances, it is insane to think of all the people who have had their sexualities ridiculed, seeing them cut-off from family members, and ostracised by their community.
Check out footage of the Los Angeles Pride Month celebrations:
While those friends have been what we’d call lucky, some of my friends did not have it so easy when it came to ‘coming out of the closet’. Their families teased them relentlessly, many friends decided that they couldn’t be close to them anymore, and for some, it led to bullying in the school.
This hurt my heart tremendously, but it was nothing compared to the anguish that they felt, especially because they were doing nothing wrong, but expressing who they loved.
It is currently Pride Month, and it’s a month to celebrate the ever-growing, diverse community of people whose sexual identity differs to the ‘norm’ of everyone else.
Yes, we’d love a day where we don’t have to have labels, but it is ever important to continue on the celebration of this diverse group of individuals because people are still struggling with the stigma behind being gay, and the fact that still not everyone will accept them.
While Pride Month is when it is celebrated the most, we should strive to celebrate everyone, regardless of sexuality or gender, and show our love to the people who make this world a better place, by the diversity they give.
This hurt my heart tremendously, but it was nothing compared to the anguish that they felt, especially because they were doing nothing wrong, but expressing who they loved.
To me, it is insane to even think about the phrase “coming out of the closet”. I certainly didn’t have to reveal my sexuality at a certain age, and for us to put that much focus on another’s sexuality now is absurd. It should not matter who loves which sex, or what sex they identify as, as long as they are living their life with love and compassion.
I’d love the day when we don’t have to hear any news about so-called controversy because of the addition of a gay couple to a children’s television show, or a day when I don’t see a post on Facebook about my friend struggling with living back in my hometown, and the constant criticism for who they love.
With it already being 2020, and many major countries removing the ban on same-sex marriages, it would seem that the stigma on the LGBTQIA+ community is beginning to change, but there is still much work to be done in celebrating the diversity around us.
Check out tips on how to celebrate Pride Month from home this year:
