Pride Is More Than A Flag

Pride isn’t just a monthly thing. Pride isn’t just parades and rainbow cookies. It’s not just flags and pins and cute pictures. Pride is also standing up for yourself in a classroom when people are barking society’s norms at you. Pride is looking in the mirror and smiling at yourself even if there are tears escaping your eyes. Pride is picking yourself up when you’ve been pushed down by loud ignorance. Pride is walking around the men’s aisle without feeling like you don’t belong there or walking down the women’s aisle without feeling paranoid about the other shoppers. Pride isn’t just slogans and catchy slang. It’s building a community of us to support each other. Pride is daring to take up space when others are screaming about how you shouldn’t exist. Pride is swallowing that fear and living in your truth. It’s stepping out into the world and not letting other people put you in a box. Pride is living, not just surviving. It’s not just a month; it’s life.

Everyone wants to grab a pin and slap it on their shirt or their backpack. The pride parades are loads of fun and a great chance to meet new, exciting people. The special cookies and the flags are great to have. However, none of this means anything if its only on the surface. It doesn’t mean a thing if you’re not willing to stand up when they pass an anti-trans bill or when they try to reverse same-sex marriage. The fact that you had an amazing time being an alley at a pride parade doesn’t mean anything if you choose to be a bystander when someone is getting bullied or harrassed when they try to use the bathroom. The flags and the cool pins are meaningless unless you actually mean it.

Pride is like a foundation to a house. It has to be built. Only after its built is when you can begin to build onto it. Without a sense of pride, everything is more likely to fall apart. We have to look ourselves in the mirror and remind ourselves of how amazing we are. Sometimes it can be hard if you don’t necessarily like what you see in the mirror, but that person is still you. Pride is like armor. Pride is what shields you when you walk into the men’s department and people give you weird looks or when you step into the men’s changing room to try on a shirt. Pride protects you when an ignorant person starts to jab inappropriate questions in your direction. It might still sting, but you’ll realize that their actions are a reflection of them and their insecurities rather than you.

Pride isn’t just about the rainbow or the specific colors assigned to whatever label you feel fits you best. Pride is not allowing the outside world to rip you to shreds. Pride is living in your truth no matter who tries to make you pretend to be something you’re not. Pride is daring to be you.

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