Pride Month Is Next Week. I’m Not Sure How Visible I Want to Be Anymore. – The leaders of our movement are still the ones with nothing left to lose.
Pride Month is less than a week away.
Once upon a time, not too long ago, I used to look forward to Pride Month (for many reasons), but in recent years, my feelings have shifted.
In the past, I saw Pride Month as a time to connect with others in the beautiful and vibrant Queer community. It was a time of learning and growth, and a time to share parts of ourselves the world doesn’t always get to see.
Because my form of Neurodivergence means I am a very porous human, one that tends to absorb the energy of the space and people around me like a sponge, I didn’t typically attend the large Pride celebrations and parades. Those spaces, with their sounds, smells, crowds, and business, were often too much for me, but I loved driving by them and seeing photos of others who attended these community events.
It was nice to know they were happening, and that Queer people and allies were gathering in numbers.
It was nice to see, online or in passing, how many people don’t hate us and even love us. Even if I wasn’t attending something about that still felt good.
It felt good to know that, if I somehow felt up to it, I could attend one of those events, even if I didn’t make it out.
It felt good to know how far we’ve come from the original Pride events, when those who came before us were taking great risks by marching (though recently it feels like we’ve been moving backward).
The early Pride events weren’t parties as they had become in more recent years, but protests.
In those early days, being ‘out and proud‘ wasn’t something many Queer people could do, because of how much risk doing so would bring to their lives. You could be fired from your job, kicked out of school, and lose access to housing.
Being openly Queer in those days was often a violation of various laws, rules, and policies. Many laws across the country created bans against ‘homosexual activities’ with strict penalties and jail time for violations.
In some cases, people were arrested for wearing ‘fewer than three articles of clothing that matched their sex’.
The leaders of our movement in those days, as is often the case, were people who had nothing left to lose (except their lives and freedom), because society had already taken so much away from them.
Many were in poverty, unhoused, unemployed, and had been kicked out of their families.
As is still true today, people who have more are often less willing to risk losing the things they do have (their comforts, families, homes, jobs, or status in society), leaving those who have less to lose (and often the least resources) to fight battles that would be much easier for people who are better resourced.
Comfortable people are often unwilling to push for change; instead, they cling to their comforts.
I see this is still true when I look at the state of the world today, extending beyond Queer rights.
Many of us who are on the front lines now, fighting back against the MAGA regime and its horrors, are those who have less to lose, because society has already pushed us into the margins.
We, the fighters, have nothing left to lose, or at least much less than the people who ‘own‘ homes, or have decent, well-paying careers, and thriving businesses.
In this way, those who sit in comfort as the world burns, or who aren’t willing to put their lives (or even their comforts) on the line, become an obstacle to our (and everyone’s) salvation.
From their places of privilege, they cannot see that what has already touched those who are most vulnerable will eventually come for them too. By the time they wake up, it may be too late – too late to save the vulnerable, and possibly too late for the more privileged and better resourced to save themselves.
The rest of this post can be found on Substack and Patreon.
This post was written with the assistance of Focused Space (a sponsor of the Neurodivergent Rebel blog).
What is Focused Space?
Focused Space is an ADHD-focused, Neurodiversity affirming, goal‑setting, and online co‑working / body‑doubling platform designed to help people prioritize, stay motivated, and bust through procrastination (and it is something I believe in and personally use every day).
More info:
Learn more about how I use it here!
I get requests (that I mostly ignore) to do brand partnerships all the time, because I don’t want to partner with products unless I actually find them useful and high-quality. I also want to work with brands whose owners and processes align with my personal standards and ethics.
That’s why I’m excited to announce that the Neurodivergent Rebel Blog is officially partnering with Focused Space, and our community members can now get access to Focused Space at a special rate of 20% off forever when you use the code “NEURODIVERGENTREBEL” at checkout via the button below or at get.focused.space/neurodivergentrebel:
Now when you Get Focused Space via the link above you’re getting discounted access to a great tool as while supporting the work I do here at the NeuroDivergent Rebel Blog.
Also, if you ever join a 7am CST wakeup call, or pop into an un-hosted Quiet Owl session on a week day, you might bump into me.
Not sure if Focused Space is for you?
- You can start with a free 14-day trial.
- And because this is an ADHD-friendly app, Focused Space will send you an email reminder 7 days before you are billed, so you can cancel after the first week if it’s not a good fit for you.
