For starters I would like to say Happy Pride. I have found in the past ten years I have been living the proud life of an openly gay man. I can sense those that appreciate that statement, and those that just hear it and then dismiss it. I get chills even today, when I see and feel the latter of those two.
As with everything else in life, pride starts within yourself before anywhere else. You cannot appreciate or accept anything, until you appreciate and accept yourself. In realizing this I now, more than ever, can appreciate the importance of being proud of who I am and what that represents within the gay community. When taking off the saturday before the upcoming NYC pride celebration, I wrote down "family gathering" as the reason for me needing the time off. Whether that is "technically" true or not and regardless of how many people I will actually know when I walk the streets of NY, I understand the struggles and accomplishments within the LGBT community more than any other. That to me signifies family.
The hardest struggle for any one person walking this earth is the struggle for simple acceptance. Throughout history there have been these struggles, and while great stride has been made in many aspects, ignorance will always live and be heard louder than reason. The importance of pride within any community is to put ignorance aside and let that pride be seen and heard louder and brighter than the usual blanket of ignorance, discrimination and hate.
Many proud LGBT individuals do not have the luxury to live day to day completely open to the world. Regardless of their reasons , Pride allows them to open up and exhale. This lifestyle is no more a choice than my gender being male. I was born who I am and live proud everyday.
Simply put, pride is a celebration of life, love and the rebirth of community.