June is pride month.
It was named #pridemonth to recognize the impact that LGBTQ people have in our world. It started in June 1969 after the riots at The Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in NYC. They served as a catalyst for the gay rights movement in the United States and around the world.
I have an aunt, a couple of cousins and a bunch of friends who are openly gay. They are women and men of different ages and upbringing, I have known them for many years and they are close to me and my family. They have struggled to be who they are, they fought to accept themselves first before seeking others’ acceptance and, now, they are not ashamed to share their life with everyone around them. That part of the story is the happy one.
The sad part is that some of them can’t share it with everyone completely. Because it is not accepted by their brothers, sisters, inlaws, bosses… And in some of cases, their own parents (I can’t even…)
“I would not want my kids to think it’s normal”, I’ve heard said many times. “So, I prefer that my lesbian sister does not bring her girlfriend to my house”. Hearing those words breaks my heart, loving people who feel that way blows my mind. How can a person be deemed to be not normal because of his or her lifestyle? Who determines what normal is? Is it You? Me? The church? Which church?
Love is love, always. It’s just experienced and expressed in a variety of ways.
I encourage all of you (including my dearest friends and family members whom I love and respect) to dig deep into your beliefs, and try to heal whatever is going on inside of you that makes it so difficult to accept the LGBTQ community as part of your “normal”. And I mean really accept. The kind of acceptance that allows you to say you are okay with it, without a couple of buts afterward. (No pun intended). The kind of acceptance that comes from the heart and not from the mind.
I think that in order to come to recognize someone who is different from you, you have to live around him or her, share experiences with them. This allows us to empathize and appreciate our differences, regardless of spiritual beliefs or sexual orientation. These issues should not keep us apart, they should build a bridge of tolerance between our perceptions and prejudices and others. Between the reality we live in and the reality some want to live in, where what is considered normal is colored only by their point of view.
I’m happy for my loved ones who are so joyfully sharing their individuality and living their lives fully. We should always be proud of who we are and who we love. For anyone reading this who is not yet comfortable coming out, I hope you do it when you feel the time is best for you! I just want you to know, in the end, it will be ok.
Ilustración por Enrique Larios. @enriquelarios
