June is Pride Month.
For those in the LGBTQ2S+ community visible awareness can be a lifeline. Others may support it, others may ignore it, and others may be bothered by it.
If seeing a Pride flag makes you uncomfortable, however, that's a 'you' problem.
Recently, a social media post by a local school celebrating Pride Month got some backlash in the comments. Though the majority were supportive, I was still surprised by the number of blatantly ignorant and narrow-minded commenters.
It's 2024 and an awareness month for a persecuted minority is still seen as "shoving it down people's throats"? Or sentiments like, "It's fine if they want to celebrate but I don't want to see it." Really?
Giving those people the benefit of the doubt, I'll assume they're generally kind and well-intentioned people and when they see a Pride flag or a rainbow sidewalk they are reacting like that because they feel uncomfortable.
They feel uncomfortable because it reminds them about something they don't want to think about, and they don't want to think about it because it's not something they understand and they don't want to deal with it.
People don't like being confronted by an opposing perspective; that's human nature, unfortunately. The thing is, your desire to feel comfortable does not override another person's right to safety.
The good news is we can learn and choose to react differently.
Where people often go awry is assuming that uncomfortable feelings are always something negative and to be avoided, but uncomfortable feelings are not the enemy.
Uncomfortable feelings can just be signals that there's something there you need to take a closer look at to identify the source of your discomfort.
You may have uncomfortable feelings because you have an unconscious bias that you need to address. You may feel uncomfortable because your conscience tells you that you have been bigoted in some way. You may feel uncomfortable simply because you lack understanding and part of you recognizes that.
When we allow ourselves to sit in uncomfortable feelings we open ourselves up to truly listening to one another and exploring where those feelings come from and what they're trying to tell us.
When you avoid uncomfortable feelings you also avoid personal growth.
You may feel uncomfortable because Pride doesn't align with your own sense of morality. That is still a you problem. A person's value system doesn't supersede any other person's.
We live in a world with other people. We can't just erase or ignore the existence of people who are different from us.
In history, great evil has already tried to do that time and time again with horrendous and tragic results.
Every single individual person on this planet has a different lived experience. So, you don't know what it's like to be in their body or in their mind and therefore, you can't judge.
So, develop some understanding or at least a measure of compassion.
There is historical significance to Pride Month you should read up on if you're not aware. It seems to me it's more about the right to exist without threat of harm and celebrating how far LGBTQ2S+ rights have come more than anything.
The Pride flag is a symbol that says, "You are safe here. You are accepted here. You are valued here."
I'll say it again: If that makes you uncomfortable, that's a you problem. Individuals, businesses, or schools don't have any less right to display Pride flags because of how you choose to react to it.
The golden arches of McDonald's are also a symbol. They say, "There is food here," but we wouldn't ask meat-serving restaurants to take down their signs because it makes vegans uncomfortable because that wouldn't make any sense.
Why don't we have a straight pride month? Because straight people have never been a persecuted minority. To even ask that question reveals how much that person is speaking from a place of privilege and ignorance.
When you haven't had to hide who you are to avoid being ostracized or to not be assaulted and targeted by hate crimes you can't understand the significance of a visible symbol that says, "We see you and you are safe here."
Local Pride events have a positive impact.
At the first Pride flag raising in Ponoka a couple of years ago one of the speakers said Pride is important because there are still kids out there who believe that they'd be better off dead than gay.
That hit me. I had never thought of it that way before.
Pride isn't about being in your face. It's about saying, "It's okay that I'm here and I don't need to be quiet about it to keep you comfortable."
If you don't want to support Pride Month, that's your choice, but it doesn't harm you or cost you anything to allow others the freedom to take up space, have a voice and feel represented — except maybe your comfort.