Parade Button

I still have the parade button from my first gay pride march. Against the background of a brick wall, black letters say "1979 Gay Freedom Day Parade and Celebration." That was 39 years ago, before the alphabet soup of LGBTQI and before the term "pride" was used.

The parade commemorated the 1969 Stonewall Inn riots, and the goal of the parade and movement was freedom, first from the laws against homosexual conduct that allowed police to arrest and beat up gay men and lesbians for daring to simply exist in public. And second from the concept of homosexuality as sin and disease, which justified shunning and medicalized torture in attempts to change the way God made us.

We who marched in the parade were angry about this mistreatment, but afraid that marching might make things worse. Coming out in public could lose us our jobs, friends, or family. Coming out is less risky nowadays, but still can be hazardous to one's livelihood or health.

Looking at the button makes me proud of how far the gay rights movement has come. But I'm afraid of the hatred and bigotry that have been unleashed by the 2016 election. We've come so far, but our boat is so small and the seas are rising.