Celebrate the light that shines

June is Pride Month. This is a month when we celebrate the light that shines upon our LGBTQ+ community, embracing our unique differences and celebrating our common truth, that we all just want to be loved and accepted for who we are. During this month we like to spotlight V Teamers who are making an impact in the LGBTQ+ community.?

Meet Anchia Kinard (Chi-Chi). Chi-Chi has been a proud V Teamer for 10 years currently working on the Business Transformation - Global Operations with Verizon Connect.?Within PRISM, she is the Global Program & Events Lead, responsible for coordinating meaningful and beneficial virtual and in-person events throughout the year for the Global PRISM Members. Learn more about Chi-Chi’s story from this editorial.

Q: How do you identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community?

A: I am a proud, black, gay woman in the LGBTQ+ community and an ally within the community for all subsets of the LGBTQ+ community.

Q: One of the most difficult challenges for any LGBTQ+ youth is family acceptance. Did you have to “come out” with your family? Can you share what that was like?

We have a series called “comingOUT”, where PRISM partners from various ERGs chronicle the experiences of coming out in various cultural communities because of this very question. I came out at the age of 18 during my first year of college in 2002. I know exactly what it’s like to come out as an LGBTQ+ youth. There is a coming out process that you do with yourself where you start to understand more about your own identity and what that means for how you navigate situations, environments and people. Many people, like myself, also experience the fear of potentially losing important people in our lives because of how we identify ourselves. The idea that you might lose some of your support system, loved ones and friends is enough to keep many people in the closet for years. For some people, the emotions associated with these fears can be so overwhelming that being in the closet turns into a denial of self.

When you get to a place where you feel comfortable enough in yourself to come out to your family, friends, and co-workers, you’re waiting for the initial response from the listening party. You’re watching their body language, their facial expressions and listening to every word that they say. You’re hoping that your life won’t change for the worse. You’re hoping that after that conversation you still have that person in your life, that they can see you in the same light that they saw you before and that they will ease your fears. I went through all of this. I remember it like it was yesterday and there were some relationships that I had to continue to work through some challenges, but I was overwhelmed by the amount of people who didn’t look at me any differently.

One thing that I will say about family acceptance is that even if you don’t have that acceptance immediately, keep working on it. Everybody processes things differently. Coming out is an environmental change. It’s an experience that we go through individually, but it’s also an experience that opens up journeys for everyone in our lives who will eventually recognize our romantic partners, gender identities and gender expressions.?

Q: How do you celebrate Pride and what does it mean to you?

This year is a different year for me because I am planning multiple global virtual events for PRISM and I am driven by the ideals of togetherness, community, discussion, understanding, wellness and hope.?I celebrate Pride by being an ally to my community and ensuring that we all feel seen and heard.?In a local sense, I like to go to the Charlotte Pride Parade which will be in August. Each year, I try to find a way to share my story to provide hope to people who need it the most and for our allies who are on a continuous journey to understand how they can stand with us.

When I think about Pride, I stand taller because of people like my Uncle Kenny, who was diagnosed with HIV at the age of 19 and who passed away from AIDS at the age of 31. I think about the courage that it took for him to be exactly who he was during the 70s, 80s and early 90s before he passed away in 1995. I think about how he didn’t flinch about being different, how much my family loved him and we still lift up his name today, almost 30 years later after his death. I think about how his legacy is being carried on through our latest generation with a little cousin who is nicknamed after him.

When I think about Pride, I make myself more visible and I talk more because of people like my friend KJ Morris who was killed at PULSE Nightclub on June 12, 2016. She was a light and she was also someone who helped several people exit PULSE before her life was taken from her. She could have never known that her death would symbolize the importance of not practicing hate and embracing people for who they are. I’ll never stop talking about that because she’s not here to do it.

We get somewhere together and only together can we rise beyond hatred and adversity.?Together, we can celebrate being our authentic selves and together we will overcome any hurdle put in front of us.?That’s what Pride means to me.

Q: The most common misconception you found about the lgbtq+ community?

We are challenged on a daily basis by stereotypes that help to fuel negative perceptions of who we are as people and how we contribute to various parts of society. Being in the LGBTQ+ community means that we love different people, but we don’t love differently. We can’t. We love people for who they are.?We embrace identities whether that is regarding gender or sexuality.?We know that who someone is and who someone loves determines nothing about their professionalism, capabilities, possibilities, opportunities, success, morality, or how they will treat other people.

Q: If you could leave one piece of advice to the people reading this, what would it be?

Be kind to each other. We are living in a world where we attack each other verbally and physically because we don’t spend enough time listening. We don’t spend enough time respectfully discussing and communicating with each other. We are quick to react because defenses are high, but we don’t get anywhere when we berate each other to express our opinions. We have opportunities throughout all of our days to be better to each other. We are all living in this world together and we have to figure out how to do that with respect, care and humanity. Let’s try a little bit harder each day to create the civility in our society that we need. Pausing to collect your thoughts, to soften your tone, to speak “with” instead of “at”, can save lives and create light in dark times. Let us each learn to find our inner pride so that we can walk together in our greatness.

We are all living in this world together and we have to figure out how to do that with respect, care and humanity.