Farewell, Pride 2022.

As Pride month winds down, many people ask why the LGBTQIA+ community needs a month focused on us when there isn’t a “straight Pride month.” So far this year, state and local legislative bodies have introduced more than 240?bills designed to restrict the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community. Many of these bills target our trans brothers and sisters with an even greater focus on trans youth. And last week’s decision regarding privacy by the Supreme Court does not give any sense of relief. Justice Thomas’ concurrence was quite clear.[i]?If that doesn’t answer the question, I’m not sure what does. With nearly 75% of the U.S. population supportive of the LGBTQIA+ community, the fact bills are still being written to limit the rights of a community that has a majority support of the population should be concerning for all.[ii]

Having been out for the last 18 years, it seems as though the coming out process never ends. From having to answer where my wife is to asking if I’m the man or woman in same-sex relationships, I’ve concluded that the mystery around the LGBTQIA+ community is based in either fear or intrigue. Unfortunately, the fear-based mystery lends itself to a greater chance or stereotyping and bias in the workplace and in the community. So, for my heteronormative friends and colleagues, I leave you with a few research-based facts regarding the community and what we experience every day.?

• We are targeted because of who we love. The United States averaged more than 240,000 hate crimes each year from 2005 to 2019, 20% of the victims were sexual minorities and 56% of the attacks were committed by strangers.[iii]
• The negative stigmas associated with our community are mentally taxing. Structural stigma at the national level is shown to increase depression and suicide in sexual minority men.[iv]
• We are more likely to be victims of sexual assault. Bisexual women are 1.75 times more likely than both heterosexual women and lesbians to be sexually assaulted. Bisexual men are more than twice as likely than heterosexual men and 1.5 times as likely as gay men to be sexually assaulted.[v]
• Our heterosexual male counterparts are almost nine times more likely to be sexual predators of children, yet the stigma remains: gay men are pedophiles.[vi]
• Many of us are not accepted by our biological families, so we often choose or create our families through strong connections with friends and allies.[vii]

In addition to the hills we climb, the impact we have on society may come as a surprise. Here is a list of some of my favorite LGBTQIA+ community members who have changed the world in their own way.?

• Leonardo da Vinci – Art, science, and engineering remain his claim(s) to fame
• Alan Turing – He broke the code for Nazi Germany’s Enigma machine and helped end the war. He was later arrested for the crime of homosexuality.?
• Barbara Gittings – 10 years before Stonewall, Gittings fought to change the APA’s designation of homosexuality from a disorder. She also founded the New York Chapter of the Daughters of Bilitis
• Sally Ride – America’s first female astronaut. She and her partner were together for 27 years.?
• Oscar Wilde – Playwright, author, and lecturer
• Christine Jorgensen – Singer, actress, and recording artist who was also one of the first publicly out transgender people (1950s)
• Billie Jean King – Professional tennis player and the first openly gay athlete

Although the month is quickly coming to an end, the need to support the community never does. As the LGBTQIA+ community marched the streets this week with our friends and neighbors regarding the overturning of Roe, we may be calling on our allies in the coming weeks, months, or even years to do the same as our rights continue to be eroded.?

I leave you with a quote from my favorite author and longtime community ally, Dorothy Parker, “heterosexuality is not normal, it’s just common.”?

References

[i]?https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/19-1392_6j37.pdf

[ii]?https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2020/06/25/global-divide-on-homosexuality-persists/pg_2020-06-25_global-views-homosexuality_0-01/

[iii]?https://www.ojp.gov/sites/g/files/xyckuh241/files/archives/pressreleases/2021/hate-crimes-motivated-race-ethnicity-or-national-origin-bias

[iv]?Pachankis, J. E., Hatzenbuehler, M. L., Br?nstr?m, R., Schmidt, A. J., Berg, R. C., Jonas, K., Pitoňák, M., Baros, S., & Weatherburn, P. (2021). Structural stigma and sexual minority men's depression and suicidality: A multilevel examination of mechanisms and mobility across 48 countries.?Journal of Abnormal Psychology (1965),?130(7), 713-726.?https://doi.org/10.1037/abn0000693

[v]???Edwards, K. M., Mauer, V. A., Huff, M., Farquhar-Leicester, A., Sutton, T. E., & Ullman, S. E. (2022). Disclosure of Sexual Assault Among Sexual and Gender Minorities: A Systematic Literature Review. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse. https://doi.org/10.1177/15248380211073842

[vi]?https://www.childmolestationprevention.org/_files/ugd/4b2901_d91e1a1c004d4e68b7d2b45157971961.pdf

[vii]?Hailey, J., Burton, W., & Arscott, J. (2020). We are family: Chosen and created families as a protective factor against racialized trauma and anti-LGBTQ oppression among African American sexual and gender minority youth.?Journal of GLBT Family Studies,?16(2), 176-191.?https://doi.org/10.1080/1550428X.2020.1724133