Opinion: Why there is gay pride, not straight pride
LGBTQ+ Pride Month takes place in June because that is the month where most of the Stonewall riots of 1969 and 1970 took place. These riots protested the discriminatory nationwide policies that banned homosexual acts in most of the states. According to the Library of Congress online, “The Stonewall Uprising was a tipping point for the Gay Liberation Movement in the United States.”
Today, protesters and celebrators alike come together during the month of June to express pride for gay, lesbian and transgender pride. Despite the enormous progress that this ongoing rights movement has made, the LGBTQ+ community faces many challenges and opposition. Homophobic hate groups have targeted businesses, individuals and pride celebrations for years, and many attacks have resulted in casualties. Many of the rights that this minority group deserves are not protected by federal law, making lives for gay citizens more difficult than for straight citizens.
This is precisely the reason why gay pride exists and straight pride should not.
Straight, cis-gendered members of society have nothing to fear when it comes to expressing their sexuality or acting proud of who they are. Straight pride does not exist because straight people do not need a community, a club, message-board or proper representation to feel safe, accepted, and well-rendered in the media. Gay pride is necessary to inspire change and make the youth feel safe.
There’s nothing wrong with being straight, white or cis-gendered, but it is wrong to denote all the hard work and sacrifice minorities have faced for going against the norm. Straight is seen as the default because it’s the majority, and when the majority feels threatened or uncomfortable, many like to get defensive. But similar to the “All Lives Matter” movement, the majority is overshadowing the hardships of the people that are actually suffering.
LGBTQ people are denied healthcare, ostracized from their families, treated unfairly in schools, jobs and businesses, and bullied into depression, self-harm and even suicide. An article by Tim Fitzsimons for NBC News in 2020 spoke about the tragic effect of being an LGBTQ youth can do to children and teens. It stated that anxiety and depression are about 40 times more likely to be considered by gay youth than heterosexual youth.
Coming out is dangerous, but it’s even more dangerous to live explicitly as gay even in some of the most sexually free cities and countries. Straight people face no such fear or danger, and therefore do not need straight pride to celebrate a heritage that has not been deemed as “the default.” Gay people still do not have full rights in the United States, and the discrimination that still follows LGBTQ members, people of color and all other minorities should not be overshadowed by any “me too” or “all of us matter” groups because while that is true, if we only ever look at the majority, we’ll never see what our minorities truly suffer through.
Gay Pride Month is an opportunity for gay youth to know that they are not alone in a straight majority world where it’s great to be straight and where your parents won’t abandon, shame or abuse you if you are gay or transgender. Gay Pride month is to help people that are suffering, not help those who feel left out one month of the year. June is a time where rainbow flags can fly and oppressed citizens can be themselves, but even then, hate crimes are imminent and freedom is not achieved. It’s not fair, and we have to remember that everyone deserves to love who they love, no matter what.
Megan Cowdell is a sophomore opinion columnist studying for a bachelor’s in Communications. She loves music, reading and wants to write books for a living.
megan.cowdell@usu.edu