Happy LBGTQ Pride Month

[jali]

Let's celebrate the strength and the sacrifices of the many, many people who stood up to bigotry and hatred.

It wasn't that long ago that love was criminalized and punished.

:party:

I felt joy when watching the first same sex couples legally marry. Finally.

I love seeing happy families thrive - my cousin and her wife, the old married couple, are hilarious. Our family is finally accepting of everything. It took so long for certain members to just show love.

I hope that someday, no one feels marginalized and that we don't need special months to celebrate what is simply normal life.

[Glazer]

We all need something to celebrate. I miss the Pride parties in Atlanta.

[jali]

We all need something to celebrate. I miss the Pride parties in Atlanta.

Me too. The parade then the park then the parties.

[hajario]

Pride!

[Rock]

Hear, hear, jali!

:clap:

[AveburyBay]

Let's celebrate the strength and the sacrifices of the many, many people who stood up to bigotry and hatred.

It wasn't that long ago that love was criminalized and punished.

:party:

I felt joy when watching the first same sex couples legally marry. Finally.

I love seeing happy families thrive - my cousin and her wife, the old married couple, are hilarious. Our family is finally accepting of everything. It took so long for certain members to just show love.

I hope that someday, no one feels marginalized and that we don't need special months to celebrate what is simply normal life.


Well said!

:confetti::woop::clap:

[Detroit Hoser]

There's a Pride Month? Cool, I'll start decorating forthwith! :science:

On June 26, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court held in a 5–4 decision that the Fourteenth Amendment requires all states to grant same-sex marriages and recognize same-sex marriages granted in other states. The Court overruled its prior decision in Baker v. Texas, which struck down sodomy laws in 13 states.

I remember exactly what I was doing when I heard the news of the SCOTUS decision. I was cleaning the house, the bathroom, in fact, and a friend texted me with "OH MY GOD I'm so happy and excited for you!" Then I remembered the decision was coming down that day, ran to the TV and turned on CNN, and screamed for Edna.

I cried nonstop tears of joy that day, and it's still the best day of my life, hands down. Even better than my actual wedding day, which at that point was nothing more than a technicality, albeit a very important one. For the first time ever, I felt like the world finally acknowledged me as a human being capable of love, commitment, and devotion.

It makes a real difference, it really does. :heart:

[Rat Diva]

I remember the White House lit up with rainbow spotlights and thinking, maybe good change is possible after all.

[JackieLikesVariety]

I remember the White House lit up with rainbow spotlights and thinking, maybe good change is possible after all.

oh, I'd forgotten that. good change IS possible, obviously. :)

[Rat Diva]

It's hard to believe that these days, but the optimist in me isn't quite dead yet :)

[Sputnik]

Gay weddings boost U.S. economy by $3.8 billion since landmark ruling.

Some $3.2 billion has been spent on weddings, while thousands of traveling wedding guests spent $544 million. The events generated an additional $244 million in state and local taxes, the research found.

About 45,000 jobs also were supported by same-sex weddings, according to the study.

From REUTERS.

See, with equality, everyone wins.

[Solfy]

This song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdauE5f9jfc) still makes me tear up a bit.

[Detroit Hoser]

This song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdauE5f9jfc) still makes me tear up a bit.

This is beautiful. :heart:

[thorny locust]

Great song.

Wish my uncle had lived to see it. Glad my friends did.

[Katriona]

❤️🌈🧡💛💚💙💜🤎💕

[hajario]

The first gay person that I knew was my Cousin Bill. Technically he was a step-cousin. He was related to my step-dad somehow. I grew up in LA and Bill lived in Santa Cruz. When I was a kid in the 70s, we'd go to visit him. He loved me and my sister. We loved him too. He had a little dog and a beautiful home.

My sister and I didn't know what being gay was let alone that he was a gay man. It didn't matter. He was just super kind to us. I must have had some sort of proto-gaydar because I could tell that he was different but, as I said, it didn't matter.

Bill lived in the Bay Area in the 70s and he went to the bath houses. You all can tell where this is going. I clearly remember my Mom answering the phone and her face losing all of its color when Bill or someone told her the news. She said, "Bill is in the hospital. I wonder if he has that thing that all of the gay men are getting." That was when I first heard that Bill was gay and what AIDS was. I was 13 years old give or take a year.

My first thought when the same sex marriage decision came down was of Bill. I wondered if he could have ever imagined such a thing happening. I wish that he could have seen me and my sister become adults and that I became such a strong advocate for gay rights, partially inspired by him.

I still miss you, Cousin Bill.

[Flying Saucerian]

k5mX2DId--U

[Detroit Hoser]

The first gay person that I knew was my Cousin Bill. Technically he was a step-cousin. He was related to my step-dad somehow. I grew up in LA and Bill lived in Santa Cruz. When I was a kid in the 70s, we'd go to visit him. He loved me and my sister. We loved him too. He had a little dog and a beautiful home.

My sister and I didn't know what being gay was let alone that he was a gay man. It didn't matter. He was just super kind to us. I must have had some sort of proto-gaydar because I could tell that he was different but, as I said, it didn't matter.

Bill lived in the Bay Area in the 70s and he went to the bath houses. You all can tell where this is going. I clearly remember my Mom answering the phone and her face losing all of its color when Bill or someone told her the news. She said, "Bill is in the hospital. I wonder if he has that thing that all of the gay men are getting." That was when I first heard that Bill was gay and what AIDS was. I was 13 years old give or take a year.

My first thought when the same sex marriage decision came down was of Bill. I wondered if he could have ever imagined such a thing happening. I wish that he could have seen me and my sister become adults and that I became such a strong advocate for gay rights, partially inspired by him.

I still miss you, Cousin Bill.

This is beautiful, Haj. Here's to Cousin Bill, thanks for paving the way. :heart:

[SmartAleq]

My oldest friend in the world, who I met when I was twelve, came out to us in high school--the full length beaver coat and flamboyant dress sense had been a bit of a clue long before but he officially confirmed it, and was pretty nervous about it too. I think we took it with great aplomb, as gender and orientation fluidity in California in the '70s was a fairly common thing. We're still Faceplant friends and I was so happy for him when he and his husband, who he'd married in Canada before the US ruling, went off to get their second wedding officially sanctioned.

My world would be much duller without my wonderful and lovely bunch of sassy lesbian friends (just love those fine ladies and they give the best hugs!) and my oh-so-out and proud gay friends and my gender fluid friends and family and trans neighbors--I love and celebrate the infinite diversity of our species and look forward to seeing ALL the restrictive gender and social and racial roles exploded and the bits tossed into the garbage where they belong. Happy Pride Month, sorry about the parades but we'll have those in our hearts and minds regardless!

[Detroit Hoser]

Maybe ESPN can show the Pride Parades from years past.