Something I Need To Say

A friend recently came to me, upset with his college’s LGBT group and, in particular, an event they were holding. In celebration of the beginning of LGBT history month, the group held a picnic of sorts in a well-traveled area of campus, with drag shows, a ‘priest’ wandering around, draped in a rainbow shawl, and games such as ‘Pin the Tail on the Bigot’. My friend, a gay man, was disgusted by the display. In his words, “What are straight people supposed to think of this? What am I supposed to think of this?”



Well, I don’t know what straight or gay people are ‘supposed’ to think. All I know is how I feel about it. I understand having pride in who you are and wanting to show it off. Really, I do. I respect that we are all different and that it is those differences that make us unique. But do we really need to run around shoving our differences in peoples’ faces? I have several very close gay friends. None of them come anywhere near the stereotypical gay person that society perpetuates. Yet, that stereotype – effeminate, cross-dressing, scarily thin, promiscuous, etc. – is what is constantly perpetuated. I feel that it is events just like my friend experienced that continue the stereotypes. Gay men aren’t all the same, just like any other subset of a society. So why do we continually create this box for them? And, even worse, why are they doing it to themselves?

Now, bear with me for a moment. My intent is not to offend, and I apologize if my words do so, but there’s something I need to say. Why is there an LGBT history month? I cannot fathom the need for an entire month to be focused on the history of one group of people. Not because their history is unimportant. That’s not it at all. Rather, their history should not be separated from the rest of history. This goes for women’s history, black history, Native American history, et al. We as a country are in the midst of a war for equality of our people. And yet, just as we are striving to overcome boundaries and fully unite, we are creating the very boundaries we’re trying to tear down. The very groups demanding equality are the ones forcing themselves to be viewed as separate. Seems awfully counter-productive to me.

I’m all for equality. I look forward to the day when I can see my best friends marry the men they love in their home state. I just don’t see how categorizing and stereotyping people will get us closer to that point of complete equality. For any race, sexual preference, gender, or other segmentation of our population. How does it benefit anyone to constantly force people to confront our differences? Be proud of who you are – every facet of yourself. Have gay pride. Or straight pride, as it may be. But also have pride in your work, your family, your home. There’s absolutely no reason any of us should be limiting our pride into one part of ourselves, because no single part of us defines us. And don’t judge others for what they have pride in. Just because they do not have the same beliefs or pride that you have doesn’t make you right. It makes you different. And different, believe it or not, is okay.

7:02pm 10.17.10