Growing up and coming out in the Midwest, Gay Pride to me was a big street festival for gay people. Booths with people hocking wares and supporting causes you might never see elsewhere and a park-like area filled with fun people pretty much summed it up for me. The Parade was an excuse to show off your gay-rights group, pretend to be a politician who cared, or just be… well, gay. These were the only things that seemed to come from Gay Pride.This year, I learned differently.
This was my first year living in New York, and also my first NYC Gay Pride. I was expecting the mass insanity of the parade crowds, and basically, a much bigger version of all the Prides that I had seen in the Midwest. How wrong I was.
This year, I finally learned what Pride is supposed to be.
In New York, we have an entire week of Pride. During this time, I saw what pride really could be: a celebration of the diversity that gay people bring to a community at home, work, and in the cities we live in.
Walking down Times Square, and seeing the Hard Rock Café change their video board to honor Pride was completely unexpected. Many companies (including MTV, thankfully) had town halls both for their LGBT co-workers and for their company at large concerning gay issues. This effort showed that companies are doing more than what they need to get by. They are showing the value of the people that work for them. I smiled when I saw the shy co-worker wear his rainbow bracelet for the first time, just simply showing that he was comfortable and proud of that part of himself. I got a kick out of "allies"
that made a concerted effort to show their support for their friends and family.All of these examples showed me that we could use this time to celebrate an aspect of our lives in the same way that many cultures and religions do on their holidays. For them, it is more than a specific day on the calendar, it is a time for them to celebrate that part of who they are, and watch as the people around them celebrate it too.
I would never want to give up the parties, parades, or festivals that come with Gay Pride, but knowing now what can truly come out of this time, I would never want another pride without this deeper, more meaningful aspect. It is my hope that as the new additions to our Family come out, that they get the chance to realize what being Proud of who you are is all about. Hopefully, the community around them shows them how Proud they are that they are a part of it too.
