Loud and Loved
It’s Pride Month here in the states and it’s “Pride Week” here in Columbus. That means that this weekend we’ll have two different festivals, two parades, two performances by the Columbus Gay Men’s Chorus, and a whole lot of joy over the fact that we LGBTTQQIAAP folks are not only afforded the right to be visible in our community - but also that we have had the the ability to celebrate our Pride for 38 years here in our city. It feels amazing to live in a time where being LGBT has become less stigmatized and more normalized in our culture - something I couldn’t have imagined while growing up as a little closeted gay boy in southern West Virginia. Yet we are still struggling with acceptance, with constant attacks on the rights of transgendered individuals from our presidential administration and the “Religious Freedom” bills being introduced in states where conservative politicians have a strong hold. It’s because of this opposition to who we are that I feel the concept of Pri