FOR THE HONOR OF PRIDE MONTH
Pride Month is a celebration of the LGBTQ+ community, honoring the progress made in the fight for equality and recognizing the strength and resilience of individuals who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or otherwise outside the cisgender and heterosexual norms. It’s a time to celebrate diversity in gender identifications and the rich tapestry of human experience that comes with it.
The human experience in terms of gender identifications is mostly one of the most hard acknowledgements that a person can go through. It is because gender is something socially developed and established in terms of attributed roles, abilities and even what is appropriate to do or act for someone. As social animals, people identify themselves within the society they are born to. And this definition can be framed within the period of time they were born to or the family that raised them. However, managing to be your own self is something to applaud rather than being what society expects you to be is.
In addition, sexual orientation is something that comes so natural that you cannot resist and do not want to be anyone but yourself once you have started to understand yourself and know what you want better than you did before. Then it is becoming such an evolving process for one’s existance in terms of both one’s tiny world and on the other hand the world so called society that you have to be a part of.
In terms of this challenging process of one’s, Pride Month also highlights the importance of creating safe spaces where individuals can express their true selves without fear. Being part of a vulnerable community often means navigating a world that may not fully accept or understand one’s identity. Pride events, support groups, and inclusive policies help foster environments where LGBTQ+ individuals can thrive. These spaces are vital for mental and emotional well-being, providing a sense of belonging and validation.
However, there is a viscious labelling cycle that comes from LGBTQ+ itself that attributing certain performances to someone beside of the community’s importance to create a space for everyone to be themselves. Important scholar Judith Butler, in her seminal work, “Gender Trouble,” posits that gender identity is not an innate quality or a fixed attribute but rather an ongoing performance that is produced and reinforced through repeated behaviors, actions, and societal expectations. Then, there is also something to question about what is it actually to be a woman, is there a way to define it in its pure form. The idea that maybe the “man” and “woman” labelling is also traditional and culturally developed in a way that it should be diversified and more inclusive.
Overall, Butler’s work encourages a rethinking of gender identity beyond binary labels, recognizing the complex and varied ways in which individuals experience and express their gender. Through resilience, solidarity, and the support of allies, the LGBTQ+ community continues to pave the way for a more inclusive and understanding world. We just hope that through this complex process, the sense of belonging the LGBTQ+ community have created will ease people’s minds and establish an extended understanding through diversity.
