Stories of Pride: I Didn't Say It ...

Pete Buttigieg, Democratic candidate for president, saying that being gay is just one part of who he is:

“I am proud of who I am. I’m certainly very proud of my marriage and my husband. We don’t shy away from that. It’s also not the only thing that defines me. I’m here to be a president for everyone. Talking about my experience is an important part of that. But it’s especially important because it can help me relate to people who have a different experience than what I went through. All these things fit together.I think some people have an image of what a gay person or an LGBTQ activist is supposed to look like. And I think if you’ve met one gay person, you’ve met one gay person. We have different styles and different approaches. But what I try to do is just be who I am … I don’t know who else to be.”

My thoughts exactly.

I don’t call myself a ‘gay man’ but a ‘man who is gay,’ because I am more than just my sexual orientation, and when we limit ourselves to one thing, that’s all we’ll ever be.

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Anderson Cooper, speaking of his mother, fashion icon Gloria Vanderbilt, who passed away this week:

“The last few weeks, every time I’d kiss her good-bye, I’d say ‘I love you mom.’ She would look at me and say, ‘I love you too. You know that.’ And she was right. I did know that. I knew it from the moment I was born and I’ll know it for the rest of my life. And in the end, what greater gift can a mother give to her son? Gloria Vanderbilt was an extraordinary woman who loved life and lived it on her own terms. She spent a lot of time alone in her head during her life, but when the end came she was not alone. She was surrounded by beauty and by family and by friends….What an extraordinary life. What an extraordinary mom. What an incredible woman.”

“I’ll know it for the rest of my life.”

What a gift from mother to son, and back again.

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Ricky Martin, in a letter to Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rosselló, asking him to axe an anti-LGBTQ “religious freedom” bill:

“As a member of the LGBTT  [Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transvestite, Transsexual] community, I join the constituency that affirms that there has never been a willingness among our LGBTT people to allow for the validation or legalization of discrimination against us. House Bill 2069, filed at the request of Governor Ricardo Rosselló and promoted by Representative Charbonier, achieve nothing more than opening the doors to hatred towards anyone who doesn’t share the same ideology, who simply belong to the LGBTT community, or who don’t  have the same color skin, amidst many other discriminatory measures. Authentic religious freedom calls for respecting everyone equally. As a defender of human rights and a member of the LGBTT community, I am vehemently opposed to the proposed measure imposed upon us under the guise of religious freedom, which degrades us as a society and projects us to the world as a backwards country, unwilling to honor the basic constitutional right of individuality. This movement is not representative of the Puerto Rico that we all love, defend and hold so dear. We call on the Senate, the House and Governor Ricardo Rosselló to reject this effort, which is an open door to hatred and discrimination.”

And a letter works. After receiving Martin’s letter Governor Rosselló asked lawmakers to shelve the bill.

There is power in our voices.

The march goes on …

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Halsey, performing in a t-shirt paying tribute to Melania and Chris, the lesbian couple attacked on a London bus last week, blasting the so-called ‘Straight Pride’ movement:

“The sad reality is, after the Pride parades are over and after the bars close their Pride nights, when the glitter is being swept out of the streets, a lot of people get on those trains and they get on those buses and they try to wash the rainbows off their bodies. They peel the stickers off their clothes, because when Pride is over, it’s not safe to be gay anymore, because they are worried that someone is going to viciously assault them or viciously attack them. So, when the people around the world ask the question, ‘Why isn’t there a ‘Straight Pride’ parade?’ The answer because if there was one, you wouldn’t have to get on the bus and be terrified of getting f**king beaten or killed afterwards. That’s why there’s not a ‘Straight Pride’ parade. Because every f**king day on public transport is a ‘Straight Pride’ parade.”

Truth.

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Tyler Blackburn, Pretty Little Liars and Roswell, New Mexico actor, who came out as bisexual earlier this year, revealing he’s dating “an amazing guy” in an interview with Playboy:

“As I got older, I realized good sex is when you really have something between the two of you. It’s not just a body. The more I’ve realized that, the more able I am to be settled in my sexuality. I’m freer in my sexuality now. I’m very sexual; it’s a beautiful aspect of life. Once I decided to date men, I was like, Please just let me be gay and be okay with that, because it would be a lot fucking easier. At times, bisexuality feels like a big gray zone. I’ve had to check myself and say, I know how I felt when I was in love with women and when I slept with women. That was true and real. Don’t discredit that, because you’re feeding into what other people think about bisexuality.”

Sometimes we—and I’m also guilty of this—joke and downplay people who identify as bisexual. But if we cannot accept our own, how  can we ask anyone to accept them, or us, either.

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Judith Light, receiving the Isabelle Stevenson Award at the Tony Awards earlier this month:

“The HIV/AIDS and LGBTQ+ communities are inspirations and demonstrations of how to be and live in the world; courageous, honorable, and uplifting. They inspire me and it is my privilege to be of service to them. I am humbled by this recognition from my theater family, whom I so respect, honor, and love.”

We can do all we want for ourselves; speak up, act up. But it helps to have an ally like Judith Light who has stood with us, marched with us, spoken with us, and for us, for decades.

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