Gayming Month- A final word

 As we close Gayming Month in the final days of Pride 2022, it pays to remember why Pride is celebrated.

I remember my GamerGate days, how I'd sometimes see fellow GGers question the need for Pride, quoting Morgan Freeman on how Black History Month is ridiculous as well. The question of why Pride is celebrated, however, is quite easy to answer. To put it simply, Pride is celebrated so that people can learn to live with and accept LGBT+ folk.

"What's the deal with gay pride?" I'd often hear people ask. "What's there to be proud of?" Now, the issue is that we're thinking of pride as that feeling you get when you accomplish something. And yes, that is the dictionary definition. But pride also has a colloquial meaning, which is to feel good about oneself, to hold oneself in good esteem. Pride is knowing you have dignity.

A simple truth is that, for much of the 20th century, LGBT+ people were held in extremely low esteem. It was common to treat nonstraight people with shame and disgust, with HATE even. LGBT+ people were very often jailed, institutionalized, even KILLED just for being themselves. The great hero of computation, Alan Turing, was killed for being a homosexual. Let me rephrase that: the man who advanced computer science into what we know of today, who may well have made the GREATEST contribution any individual ever made to stopping the Nazis, was killed for being gay. He's not alone in that regard.

A quick study of hate crimes against LGBT+ folk is enough to churn one's stomach. 

So, why Pride? Because for one month of the year, we acknowledge a simple truth: LGBT+ people deserve dignity and respect. Not respect as in authority, but respect as in giving due regard towards another's feelings and rights. For one month of the year, we celebrate and honor those whom, barely two decades ago, were treated with scorn.

We celebrate Pride because it's been about a little over a decade since the USA has ruled that it was legal for homosexual couples to marry. We celebrate Pride because it took a TV show (Modern Family) to convince regular folk that a same-sex couple could love each other dearly and raise a child together. We celebrate Pride because too many people are STILL treating trans women as if they were men. Because trans men are also treated like they're still women. Because too many kids are thrown out of their homes, disowned by their parents, all for crushing on the wrong person.

But don't limit your education on LGBT+ issues to just the month of June. I STRONGLY urge you, my readers, to continue learning about LGBT+ issues. I urge you to listen to Queer voices when they speak up on the injustices they face. And, if you can, I urge you to lend your aid.

Let's be allies all year round!