Pride Month: More than the Festivities

Wow, it’s June already. The months seem to pass faster every year. June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month, a joyful time of remembrances, celebrations and parades. I hope you join in on the fun and excitement.

But Pride Month is about more than festivities. It serves to remind the larger community to reflect on the importance of an inclusive society. Whether LGBTQ+, Latino, Black, persons living with disabilities, immigrants or generations-long Americans, our country is better for our diversity.

Contributions of the skills and talents from each of those communities come together to enhance our society. For example, have you read writings by Walt Whitman, Langston Hughes, Tennessee Williams, Oscar Wilde, W.H. Auden? All famous gay authors. Surely you’ve seen performances by Wanda Sykes, Jodie Foster, Neil Patrick Harris, George Takei, Jane Lynch, Bowen Yang, Elton John, Laverne Cox, and Lilly Tomlin – all famous LGBTQ+ stars.

It strikes me as interesting that in the year 2023, we still must have a Pride Month and call out the names and achievements of the LGBTQ+ community…why we still need to convince people that different isn’t a deficit…why we still need to urge others to reject labels and the assumptions and judgements those labels bring.

But in truth, we still do need it. The ACLU contends that more than 120 bills restricting LGBTQ+ rights have been introduced in state legislatures in 2023. I don’t despair because I believe that Love Wins…always. It has for me. Learn a little about the love in my life by watching this video.

I invite you to join the fight and be a part of the win by supporting UWDE’s Pride Council. Learn more here. https://uwde.org/how-we-work/affinity-groups/pride-council/

All Good Things,
Dan