Pride month was first acknowledged in 1999 when President Bill Clinton declared the month of June to be “Gay & Lesbian Pride Month”. Every year since then we have grown in knowledge of history and inclusion and it eventually became LGBTQ pride. This is a catalyst to the countless riots, marches, and protests by previous generations of LGBTQIA+ people fighting for themselves and their community. Rights for freedom of expression, safety and love were all something that so many people went without. The demand for change became impossible to ignore as our community took a stand for ourselves in politics, quality of life in our country and our abilities to express ourselves wherever and whenever we saw fit to do so. I am so honored to be a part of this community and grateful for those people who the stand for generations to come. Last year, I was admittedly sad that I wasn’t able to celebrate my first Pride month as a married woman and honor those that came before us. I wanted to celebrate and honor those who pioneered activism for LGBTQ civil rights which paved the way for a future where everyone can be who they truly are and love who we want without fear of harm to our community or injustices. I know we still have a long to go until total equality but I am so proud to be in the LGBTQIA+ community and thankful for those generations before.
With that being said, I wanted to share some of my pride journey with you and highlight some of experiences as a bi-sexual woman in our world today. I’ve chosen to run this series at the end of June because the last week of June is always New York City’s usual time to host Pride events and have their annual march. I am not only a proud bi-sexual woman, but I am also proud to be a New Yorker where in 1969 the Stonewall Riots, launched the movement we know today paving the way for more change than any of us could have imagined. To be able to dwell in the neighborhoods of the birth of so much free thought and love is inspiring and motivating to continue the work of ground breaking activism that blazed our paths today.
I am considering this my very own personal celebration of sharing my truth, my experiences, and my own Pride in myself and the community in general. I will not be attending any in-person celebrations, but I look forward to sharing this series with you and hope that I can encourage and inspire in some way along the way.
JMWEBERHILL WRITES 