Pride Month – What It Means, and What That Means to Me

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By now, you’ve most likely heard of Pride Month, which is celebrated throughout the entire month of June every year. But what exactly is Pride Month and what does it represent? Well, Pride is mainly to acknowledge the impact that gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer people have had on history over the years. This can include at the local level, national level, and beyond. Digging deeper, Pride Month originated from the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York, which were a huge turning point in the movement for LGBTQ rights in the United States. Now, June is seen as a month to commemorate that milestone and what it means to the LGBTQ community. 

Aside from its cultural relevance, Pride is also seen by many as a time to celebrate and embrace who LGBTQ individuals are as people; what they believe, who they love, what they want the world to be like. As the term “pride” implies, this is a time to accept who you are, and even better, to be confident in yourself and your sexuality. Pride Month is a flag for all those who identify with or support the LGBTQ community, flying high and proud in a rainbow filled sky. Pride means that people are free to express and maintain their sexualtiy and gender, whatever they may be. 

For individuals, Pride Month can have many different meanings and purposes. It can also cause a range of emotions to surface. Whether it’s frustration over lingering homophobia, happiness from embracing and flaunting who we are, or melancholy from all the changes we still need to make, Pride resonates with people for different reasons. For me, I take joy in celebrating a group I’m proud to be part of and support. I feel happiness in knowing my own sexuality and accepting it, accepting who I am. 

While I’m still figuring things out, I know deep in my heart that I don’t completely identify with heterosexuality. That just isn’t me, and I’m okay with that. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking over the past couple years, and I believe I identify most closely with bisexualtiy. Looking back, I’ve been attracted to all different types of people, of various genders. It doesn’t really matter to me if a person identifies as male, female, non-binary, or something in between or beyond. Deep down, I know that gender or identity won’t matter if I meet and fall in love with someone. It will be their personality and inner beauty that matter the most to me. 

Moreover, I’ve readily accepted that I’m not strictly straight. I know this, and I’m fine with it. I’m very comfortable with different types of sexuality and gender, especially since I’ve grown up with many friends who also fall into the LGBTQ community. And over the years, I’ve had many candid conversations with those friends about what they believe, who they’re attracted to, and so on. Most of my closest friends are part of the community, or at least support it. So I like to think that I’m surrounded by great and understanding people. It makes me wonder if perhaps we instinctively sought each other out, knowing we identified in certain ways, as well. But that’s a discussion for another time.

Honestly, I’ve never been too concerned with gender. When I was little, I dressed in cute, girly clothes and used nail polish and hair clips, accessories that are often seen as strictly female. For the time, this was perfectly normal. People didn’t question anything outside of the usual norms, and especially as a child, gender wasn’t necessarily something you thought about. I can safely say that I never so much as questioned my female gender throughout my whole childhood. I still don’t question it much. 

However, I don’t feel particularly attached to my gender, either. I will acknowledge that I’m female, and I’m fine with people using female pronouns for me. But once again, I’m not very attached to a certain gender. People could refer to me as male, female, or gender-neutral, and I wouldn’t think much of it. For me, gender isn’t something that plays a vital role in my identity. Man or woman, I’m still me. 

These days, I even dress in mostly men’s or unisex style clothing. I don’t like the form-fitting clothes that often make up the female fashion industry. Those clothes just aren’t comfortable for me, so I don’t wear them. I wear whatever is safe and comfortable for me, regardless of what gender it might flag me as. In addition, I’ve barely ever worn makeup or used beauty products, largely for the same reasons. Makeup isn’t very comfortable to me, and I don’t see it as something I personally need to wear. I’m perfectly fine with others wearing makeup, though, and I actually think it’s neat to see the different designs and styles people come up with. 

To sum things up, I’m bisexual and gender-fluid. I have the potential to be attracted to any gender, and I’m comfortable with being viewed as any gender. As such, Pride Month is a celebration that resonates with me deeply. I feel pride in myself, along with all my friends that identify as LGBTQ. I’m proud of all those that identify with and support this wonderful community, despite what other people might say or think. I feel both hopeful and determined for the individuals that deserve to enjoy equality and human rights, all days of every year. 

The world has made strides in acknowledging and accepting LGBTQ people and groups. Right now, the world is probably the most progressive it’s ever been in that respect. That said, there’s still so much work to be done, so much to still fight for. Personally, I wish for the day that sexuality and gender are no longer targets for hate and prejudice. I long to see a day where a lesbian couple can hold hands in public, or men can hold each other and share a kiss, without being looked at with judgmental eyes. I truly hope that day comes soon. 

The best way to make that happen, is to continue what we’re doing now and go even further. Support the LGBTQ community and its supporters. Donate to or volunteer for groups that work to spread awareness of LGBTQ individuals and rights. Try to educate others who want to be educated on different types of sexuality and gender. Even if you don’t identify as part of the community, encourage your friends and family who do. Make sure they know they’re supported, loved, and accepted, always. Most of all, be kind to each other and support one another.  

💗💛💚💙💜

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This post is part of the The Blog Brew Collab, a monthly collaboration between eight other amazing, talented bloggers and myself. Every month, we all create one post each and publish them throughout the first several days of the month. For June, our collaboration theme is awareness days, weeks, and months. Because of this, our collab schedule is a bit different this time, and posts will be spread throughout the month to match with their respective awareness days. My awareness topic was over Pride Month. Thanks so much for reading this post!

These ladies are seriously talented, and very kind, too. The schedule below has links to all their posts and when they’ll be scheduled. Make sure to follow along and support their posts and blogs as well! They truly deserve the support!

6th  June – This was my post! Thanks so much for reading!  

8th June – Head over to https://chimmyville.co.uk

10th June – Head over to  https://perselem.blog

14th June– Head over to https://wondererandtraveller.wordpress.com

17th June – Head over to https://talesofbelle.com

18th June – Head over to https://kirstymarie.co.uk

24th June– Head over to https://themakeupbybeth.com

27th June – Head over tohttps://mrssleejones.com

30th June– Head over to https://mybreakingviews.com

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