The sense of Pride you are missing is “pride as the opposite of shame,” a shame the world has long imposed on members of gender and sexual minorities.
That’s what the first Christopher Street March in 1970 was about, as people took to the streets to declare that they refused to be ashamed of themselves any longer. And that’s actually explicitly what many of them said.
And while some of us may no longer feel that’s necessary, living in communities where we feel relatively well accepted, that acceptance is far from universal.
Three weeks ago, 12-year-old boy killed himself because of the shame he internalized after coming out at school. He’s not alone. That kind of imposed shame happens a lot.
That’s why we celebrate Pride. To reject shame and claim ourselves as equally dignified to anyone in the world. The photo of that 12 year old boy and links to his story are in the article below.
