Dear people supporting “Heterosexual Pride Day”,

You’re naive, immature, or extremely selfish. I wish I could just say those words and have you understand the truth in them, but I know that’s an unreasonable expectation. You think you are fighting for equality, the same way you think a white history month and men’s studies major would lead to equality. Hopefully I can make some realities clear to you.

The very first celebration of LGBT+ Pride took place in June of 1970 in remembrance of the Stonewall riots one year previously. These riots consisted of a multi day engagement between New York City youth and police officers after officers raided the Stonewall Inn. Stonewall was a popular gay bar at the time, and the riots that took place there helped bring the LGBT+ movement into the national spotlight (x). The following year, a parade consisting of queers and activists marched down Manhattan to celebrate themselves and the strides the LGBT+ movement had taken. They did this despite the fear of persecution, hate, and violence. These people decided to be proud of who they were, despite society insisting that something about them was shameful.

More than 50 years later, not that much has changed. Members of the LGBT+ community are still shamed, fired, murdered, for being their genuine selves. The Pulse shooting during Pride month 2016 prove that society still harbors intense, negative feelings towards the LGBT+ community. The fact that people try to shift the blame from homophobia to religious beliefs proves that so many are still unable to see the issue. The “Heterosexual Pride” movement itself proves that so many are ignoring the purpose of Pride.

Pride is the day for queer people to gather and ignore the shame continually thrust upon us. It’s a time for us to stand together and feel safety in numbers, to be ourselves in public without being afraid of being judged. It's a day for us to know people are judging us, but not care. For one day, we've decided that we're not broken, we're not strange, we're not what others see us as. Pride is when we get to unapologeticlly be ourselves. It's a day for us to celebrate our lost queer siblings, come together with fellow survivors and hope for a brighter future.

If you're a supporter of Heterosexual Pride, you probably just want to be able to be proud of who you are. And it's okay to be proud of who you are. The difference is, if you're straight and cisgender, no one is shaming you for being straight and cisgender. That is not to say that you aren't being shamed for something else, or that your life isn't hard, but society isn't making your life hard because of your sexual or gender orientation. I shouldn't have to explain this. You're not being murdered for being straight. You don' have to hide 364 days of the year because of who you are. You aren't being shamed, so you don't have to fight for your pride.

If you're a supporter of heterosexual pride, please stop. Please open your eyes and realize how insensitive such a movement is to people who are struggling to exist because of their sexual orientation or gender. Please step aside and let queer people have Pride to themselves. You don't need it.

Sincerely,

Struggling LGBT+ people everywhere