A Meme from the Internet

It’s Pride!
We March!
We Dance!
In Celebration of our Freedom!
It takes Courage Every Day
And we Dance in Celebration of the Courage to Be Who You Are!
For many Young People, it is a time for Dance Parties and showing off the Spectacular Toned Bodies of their Youthfulness!
Their Beauty and their Fire… So Full Of Wonder!
But there was a time when we danced in low-ceiling basements, hidden from the mainstream, without corporate sponsorship, and with way fewer folks lining Fifth Avenue.
We fought against Oppression and Marched Proudly for our right to exist
And our Right to Love!
And So Many People came together to Support us
Gay, Straight, Black, White, Old, Young… All Races, Religions, Genders, and Sexualities… I am So Grateful to all who fought
And to all who stood with us!
And Today’s Celebration is a testament to the Power of the People
When we stand together for what is Good
and Right
and Fair!
The Pride March (It was called a March then) usually started somewhere uptown and often made it a point to get to the StoneWall Inn,
Or we just congregated there afterward.

Sylvia Rivera from the Palabra Series by Angélica Bacerra

The StoneWall Inn, June 1969,
Forty-Nine Years ago,
When the Cops went in to Bully Gay People
Because Gay People were Marginalized Citizens,
And they Could.
That one night,
Some of our TransGender Sisters and Brothers decided to stand up for themselves,
And one of them took off a high heel shoe, and threw it at a Police Officer,
And the Revolution began.
I knew SYLVIA RIVERA.
She was present that night — one of the first Revolutionaries
Makes me think of that famous picture of the Spirit of ’76.

“Spirit of ’76 Yankee Doodle” by Archibald Willard

Her ashes now sit in an urn on the altar of my Church, acknowledging her as a Hero!
There is something profound about the power of that night,
That Revolution begun,
And myself — like so many of us — in countless small ways, a footsoldier in that Revolution —
Speaking Out,
Not Hiding,
Having the Courage to Let Others Know,
Who I am…
Not always an Easy Choice,
Speaking of the Loving RelationShip I have with my Partner these Twenty Years,
Being Together,
Unashamed,
Unabashed,
Uncloseted
Love…
It is a Process!
A Process of Courage —
Like most such Processes —
Often Marched in Small Steps.

And the Pride March
Became a Pride Parade
And this year you have to have a wristband in order to March in it!
In my twenties, I remember standing on that curb on Fifth Avenue, and watching that March go by.
I so wanted to step off that curb and join them,
But what if somebody saw me?
And I remember a friend stepping out of the March and saying, “Hey! Wanna’ March?” inviting me to step off the curb…
Each year it got more difficult to decline that invitation,
Until eventually I Marched!
This year, young Twenty-Somethings would need a wristband.

Pride.
I am Proud of who I am.
I am Proud of All of the LGBTQ+ Men and Women who have fought over the years,
Who have Marched,
Who have Lived and Died so that others can have Rights.
I am So Proud and Grateful for all who stood with us
And Marched with Us!
And now, there is ample opportunity for us all to stand and March with Other Marginalized Groups of People.
PRIDE!

Image from the Internet

I am Not Proud of the Members of a Governmental Administration
Who would separate innocent children from their parents,
INDEFINITELY

A Meme from the Internet

Who did so with No Plan to reunite these Children and Parents,
Who Still have no plan to do so, in spite of the supposed “Reversal of the Order”
Who are so Callous and Heartless and Inhumane
And So Racist and Bloodthirsty (This is what America did during Slavery for some 250 years — Unconscionably Separate the families of People of Color.)
That they would place that $39 Coat on a Millionaire’s Wife —

Image from the Internet

No! I do not believe that she made that choice!
It would not surprise me if they held a gun to her head
Or threatened the Lives of her Family Members! —
That they would send her wearing that coat in 96 degree heat
Into a Children’s detention center!
It seems to me that this action was this administration’s attempt to make a strong statement to their racist support base,
And that they wished to mock those who disagreed with their Nazi tactics.
No, I am not proud of this Administration.
I believe they are an embarrassment to all that for which America stands!

A Meme from the Internet

A Meme from the Internet

A Meme from the Internet

I am Proud of the First Ladies:
MICHELLE, LAURA, HILLARY, ROSLYN, and MELANIA standing together to condemn the action of tearing these families apart.
That was Powerful!

Image from the Internet

Sure, I wish they had taken it a step further and stood up to Congress and Obstructionists like PAUL RYAN and MITCH MCCONNELL to embarrass them into reaching across the aisle and standing together, stand up to our DisGrace of a president.
But at least the First Ladies stood together for what is Right!
PRIDE!

I am not proud of a Congress in the pocket of the NRA!

I am proud of EMMA GONZALEZ, one of this year’s Pride Advocate’s “Champions of Pride” Honorees,
And DAVID HOGG
And all those MARCH FOR OUR LIVES Kids standing up to that Congress of JellyFish!
PRIDE!

Image from the Internet

A Meme from the Internet

A Meme from the Internet

I am not proud of the Profiteering and Privatization of Prison Systems in the United States who have seen their profits soar under donald tRUMP, and who have made extensive “donations” to him for his escalated incarcerations of Immigrants.
Don’t think what is happening at our borders has to do with much more than money,
Like so many things happening now.

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But I am Proud to Live in a Free Country
In which just like those who stood with me over these decades,
I am able to stand up for Others
Make Calls!
March!
Resist!
PRIDE!

A Meme from the Internet

A Meme from the Internet

I am not Proud of donald tRUMP — I am ashamed of him!
I am ashamed of every racist and discriminatory executive order he has made,
And every derogatory remark —
Policies & Remarks Against Gays and Transgender People,
Policies & Remarks Against People of Color
Policies & Remarks Against Women…

But I am Proud of Every American Marching
And Taking a Stand for what is Right
And Insisting that we be Better!
PRIDE!

A Political Cartoon from the Internet

It’s Pride!
We March!
We Dance!
In Celebration of our Freedom!
But let us not forget about others who are not able to Dance Today.
Let us not forget to Speak Up for Others who may not be blessed with the Miracle of Courage we are able to find in ourselves,
Or those who are incarcerated unjustly,
Or those who have been separated from their family members by Heartless and Inhumane Governments
Such as we never Imagined we would find at the Helm of the United States of America Today!
We in the LGBT+ Community Thank You for your Help & Support, Lo these many Years!
And we stand at the Ready to Help Other Citizens of the Planet in Need!
PRIDE!

A Meme from the Internet

A Meme from the Internet

A Meme from the Internet

And So, this Year, I offer Pride
With Resistance
And a Call for Change
And a Belief that we can Be
And Be Better.
Together!
All Together Now!
Happy Pride!

Image from the Internet

“Spirit of ’76 Yankee Doodle” by Archibald Willard

A Meme from the Internet

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