Pride Under Pressure
Your rainbow merch won't help when the Supreme Court comes for gay rights.
(Written by a human)
Dearest gentle reader: It’s almost time to don your rainbows and sparkles and head downtown for Seattle’s 50th annual Gay Pride Parade! I’ve watched Pride celebrations evolve rapidly over the last 20 years from fringe ‘gay neighborhood’ marches to massive downtown parades sponsored by Delta and T-Mobile. Nowadays allies line confetti-covered streets with toddlers on their shoulders, cheering and waving ever more inclusive Pride flags. It’s a mainstream, family-friendly scene. Converse is selling rainbow Pride shoes, Chipotle is selling Pride t-shirts designed by their LGBTQ+ coalition. There are even special Care With Pride Listerine bottles! It’s so corporate and mundane that you’d almost think we’ve already won, we’re through the storm, and we can relax now.
Yet, all the Mac Pride rainbow eyeshadow palettes in the world can’t keep the conservative Supreme Court from coming for LGBTQ+ rights by overturning Obergefell (the Supreme Court decision that granted same sex couples the right to marry). Scholars at the Human Rights Campaign believe it could happen as soon as next year. And if you think the right to gay marriage is settled law, look no further than the decision to overturn Roe for signs that Obergefell is next on the agenda. (I’ll let you google that rather than attempting a dive into constitutional law.)
This Pride, let’s stop asking what we should wear and start asking what we can DO.
Donate your rainbow money to the ACLU or the Human Rights Campaign. Take the budget you had for fun gay pride apparel and put 100% of it toward organizations that fight for LGBTQ+ rights; they need money to show up. They need lawyers and campaigns and focus groups and more to do their job and defend or expand gay rights. So, consider wearing last year’s ‘Love Is Love’ t-shirt to the march and putting your pride money where it actually matters this year.
Come out! At least think about it, because it’s easy to dehumanize anonymous masses, but it’s pretty tough to dehumanize people you already know. Every person who comes out of the closet puts a face to the movement- maybe a friend, an aunt, a cousin, a parent. When someone they already respect as an equal comes out, even those leaning conservative often rethink, wanting equal rights for those they care about.
Read about Project 2025. If you’re not shaking in your Kate Spade rainbow wellies yet, take a moment to educate yourself about Project 2025. It’s the conservative agenda put forth by the influential conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation, and it outlines the conservative playbook for transitioning our government to a Christianity-based autocracy in 2025. This should mobilize you for #4.
Fucking vote for candidates who support LGBTQ+ rights. No seriously. There has never been more at stake for LGBTQ+ or democracy than in the 2024 election. If you don’t vote you better burn every rainbow flag and feminist t-shirt you own because you’re a false ally and a rot on the soul of the movement. SNS.
Pride started as commemoration of the Stonewall Uprising and has become a celebration of progress for LGBTQ+ rights. Whether you’re LGBTQ+ or an ally, don’t just celebrate. We need you to become an activist for the cause and prepare for the fight ahead so we can maintain those precious victories.