Happy Pride!

As I reflect over these past couple years of acceptance for myself, the meaning of Pride Month has certainly changed for me. Back before I had accepted myself as gay, I was a fundamentalist Christian with very strong opinions about what it meant to be a part of the LGBTQ community. And they were not flattering opinions.

I can say with relief and confidence that I'm a much different person than I was back then, and that I have pushed my prejudice and judgemental attitude by the wayside, and have fully accepted myself, and the other members of the amazing LGBTQ community.

Religious indoctrination poisoned my mind for many years. Up until 2015 before my mind began to open up to other ideas, I would describe that version of me as a zealous bigot. That version of me would be shocked to see the 2020 version of me: A gay atheist in a loving relationship with a wonderful man. To this day, I'm ashamed of my viewpoints that I held back then.

But that's life. We change over time, we grow up. We mature. We let go of bad ideas. We should always be open to learning new things, and changing our minds. That's how I became the person I am today. To close yourself off to discussion is to live in an echo chamber, and that is something I refuse to do ever again.

As I look at what Pride Month means to me now, it's a celebration of a new me, and to be a part of a community that accepts me. A month long party to appreciate the strides that have been made to allow full human rights for LGBTQ folks. But it's also a call to action, a push forward to continue fighting for equal rights because there are many places that still deny rights to our community.

I believe that we'll make it there. Maybe not in my lifetime, but I certainly hope so. The more bigotry we can throw away as a society, and as a race, the better off we'll be.

Happy Pride. <3