How is it that the LGBTQ+ community gets a whole month out of the year for themselves?

It’s that time of the year again when questions like this are not uncommon.

Pride Month commemorates the Stonewall Riots, which were the ultimate turning point for the Gay Liberation Movement in the U.S., and all other events and people who have been committed to achieving equal justice and equal opportunity for the LGBTQ+ community.

What does the flag mean?

Most people use the “Progress” Pride Flag to express their solidarity. The six rainbow stripes represent life, healing, sunlight, nature, harmony and the soul. The triangle is made up of five additional colors, representing people of color and the trans community. It creates an arrow shape, indicating that there is still a need for progress.

Progress. What do we mean by that?

For starters, many right-leaning individuals hate the idea of having LGBTQ+ subjects taught in school, claiming that we’re “shoving it down their throats.” They are uncomfortable that anyone dares express themselves openly by asking others to refer to them by the pronouns they resonate most with and even more so when they see two queer people kissing each other, whether it’s in public or on TV, as if straight couples don’t hold hands, hug, and kiss in public all the time.

The need for progress stems from the vitriol aimed at the LGBTQ+ community from people who are enraged simply because others demand that their existence is respected, and the same individuals, including some of our very own local officials, who refuse to learn from America’s long and violent history of harassing, assaulting, murdering and, most of all, denying LGBTQ+ people of human dignity.

Yet, all we want to do is live and love freely, just as all other Americans.