The Power of Pride

I get asked quite often why I wear pride paraphernalia. Its never a simple explanation, so quite often I simply reply "because I'm proud of who I am." But, I'm usually accused of flaunting my (homo)sexuality.

I have put a lot of thought into why I wear the pride colors on a regular basis and what it means to me. When someone publicly wears the pride colors it doesn't necessarily mean they're gay; on the contrary, it can mean that they may support equality, are open minded (at least in some respect), or they might also be gay, lesbian, bi, trans, or queer.

Publicly showing your pride changes the workings of power in any given situation, both on the micro level of everyday interactions and on macro level of the larger picture. It disarms the homophobe so s/he gains less with the use of homophobic/heterosexist speech and behavior. When other people see me wearing the pride colors, if they are GLBTQ it can offer them a sense of belonging and community by showing that there are other people like them in their community.

Visibility and solidarity are important for any group to gain acceptance and understanding. Its pretty well common knowledge in much of the GLBTQ community that the more people who come out and show their pride the better off we all are. When people who are not GLBTQ see more and more people wearing pride colors, it creates a presence and understanding that we indeed do exist and can positively change our image. In a sense then, the pride flag/colors can cause people to think about why someone might be wearing it, it can even encourage people to not assume heterosexuality.

For the record, I haven't experienced any negativity while wearing pride colors :).