I Got Pride

Happy Pride Month!

June is such an important month for me due to various birthdays that grace this month. But it's also important to me as a queer-identifying, cis female.

Unlike Black History Month or Juneteenth, many times my pride for being a member of the LGBTQ+ community is not so easily seen, I am not able to wear my membership on my shoulders. I am in a cookie cutter, heteronormative family unit, for example.

It's important to remember this everyday and especially at work. Being a member of any group should give you pride. You belong. But that also means you don't belong in other groups, ERGs, social norms. And it also means you may sometimes feel you have to prove yourself to your own group that you belong.

I've felt this way many times and I understand the frustration. It's the same frustration that darker-skinned Black Americans may feel when they encounter a person who "passes," someone with fairer skin complexion.

The work that the diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) professionals do is so very special and so very needed for this reason. We should share in our pride of being gay, queer, trans, nonbinary, and everything in between. And we should allow others others that space as well without infringing on their rights or safety.

Happy Pride Month to all of my fellow community members and to my advocates as well.