Celebrating Pride Month

Tomorrow marks the end of Pride Month, the time each year when we commemorate the struggles, sacrifices, and successes of the trailblazers who fought for recognition and civil rights for LGBTQ+ people.? This year, those in Estonia, Greece, Liechtenstein, and Thailand will be able to celebrate legislation that either has recently or will soon legalize same-sex marriage.? In other countries, including the United States, the recent record has been more mixed, with homophobic and discriminatory laws and behaviors on the rise.

As a lifelong introvert, I find it challenging to participate in the parades and parties that often accompany Pride Month, but over the years, I’ve recognized how crucial it is for LGBTQ+ people and their allies to be visible throughout our community.? Exactly 55 years ago, protests following a police raid at a bar in New York’s Greenwich Village served as a flashpoint for the modern gay rights movement, shifting its goal from seeking a marginalized and often hidden co-existence to demanding the same rights to assemble, love, and live as our straight counterparts.? Pride celebrates the idea that we should not be embarrassed or ashamed of who we are but confident in our right and our ability to be our authentic selves.

This idea of acceptance and inclusion shouldn’t be controversial, and yet it is.? In many places around the world, we are seeing increasing vilification of and instances of oppression against not only LGBTQ+ people but also based on gender, race, and religion.? This often seems to stem from zero-sum thinking; the idea that if someone else is getting ahead that it must be coming at another's expense.? But the Pride movement shows how ridiculous this argument is.

Unless you believe that there’s a finite amount of love in the world (which would be a very sad existence indeed), my ability to love my husband doesn’t in any way diminish your capacity to love your wife.? Granting me the ability to marry doesn’t impinge on your notion of marriage any more than the fact my favorite color being red doesn’t invalidate you preferring blue.? Even a sometimes cited economic argument - that granting rights to same-sex couples results in increased costs or moral hazard to society is not only cruel but specious.? Research briefs from the RAND Corporation have concluded not only that the LGBTQ+ couples in the United States benefited from improved mental health, productivity gains, and social integration as a result of same-sex marriage but that legalization had no reliable adverse consequences to the population as a whole.? Indeed, there was even some evidence of a positive shift in attitudes towards marriage generally after states legalized marriage for same-sex couples.

Again and again, we see that celebrating diversity and promoting belonging expands the proverbial pie for everyone.? Immigration has been well documented as a driving force of national prosperity, supplying labor and particularly entrepreneurship for a growing economy.?Studies have shown that Fortune 500 companies with diverse boards outperform their less diverse counterparts.? Understanding how native peoples lived in harmony with their environments can give us new tools for tackling the impact of industrial development and climate change.? And consideration for those with disabilities have led not only to medical breakthroughs but everyday conveniences like captioning on television or ramps that make the world easier to navigate not just for those in wheelchairs but also parents pushing strollers and people carrying heavy loads.

The challenge, of course, is that these benefits may not be equally distributed.? The creation of stable, high-paying jobs in alternative energy might be of cold comfort to someone losing their livelihood as a coal miner.? Alternatively, for someone who believes that they lost their place on a sports team to a trans athlete, it can be convenient to focus on that other’s transgenderedness rather than their training or athletic skill.? As a society, we need to recognize that economic or cultural change doesn’t necessarily come easily, and fear and division are powerful and instinctual motivators.? Rather than give into these baser emotions, though, we must support and encourage the raising of all boats through effective regulation, community investment, and most of all, awareness and education.

Which brings us back to Pride Month.? Although the principles behind the Pride movement are important year round, it’s nonetheless valuable to have a time where we can come together with our allies to celebrate who we are and what we offer to our communities.

A recent Ipsos survey found that nearly 9% of the population across 26 countries identified as LGBTQ+. Yet that same survey found that in no country had more than 1/3 of respondents attended a public event in support of LGBT people, and none of the countries had a majority of respondents say that they had ever spoken out against someone who was being prejudiced against LGBT people.? Only about half of respondents supported “LGBT people being open about their sexual identity or gender orientation with everyone.”? It was even less in the US, Canada, Germany, Singapore, Japan, and several others.? These findings were despite a majority of respondents in every surveyed country feeling that LGBTQ people should be protected against discrimination in housing, employment, and access to businesses.? (The US ranked closer to the fourth quartile for the questions about discrimination.)

We won’t be able to change these attitudes unless and until queer people are seen as integrated, vibrant, and vital members of society.? We are first responders and teachers, caregivers and parents, laborers and entrepreneurs. We’ve entertained the world,? explored the stars, built economic policy, and pioneered the arts and sciences.? In fact, if you’re reading this on any kind of device, you’re benefiting from some of the many LGBTQ+ researchers, scientists, and executives that have brought you the iPhone, the ARM chip, and even computer science itself.

The Pride movement has certainly come a long way since the Stonewall Riots in 1969.? But rising social conservativism and growing backlash against diversity and inclusion threaten the fragile progress we’ve achieved to date.? In these waning days of Pride Month, I hope you will take a moment to recognize and celebrate the many contributions great and small that LGBTQ+ people have made to our lives.? Attend a Pride event to show support for the community if you’re able (and not too introverted).? And commit to supporting diversity in all of its forms.

Together we can honor the spirit of Pride this month and every month.