This Year’s Pride Carries an Increased Sense of Urgency

Looking back on my Pride column from this time last year, it seemed like a more innocent time, before Florida went completely bananas and became a rogue state, and other red states joined them, slashing and burning human rights at every turn, and doing their darndest to erase LGBTQ+ people from public life.

This year feels different. The threats are very real, not just from individual armed bigots, but from our local and state elected officials—the very people charged with protecting people and our democracy. In the face of this endless onslaught of attacks on drag performers, trans youth, librari- ans, teachers, doctors, and LGBTQ+ people and their allies in general, this year’s Pride carries an increased sense of urgency. The increased need to protect both the physical safety of LGBTQ+ people and their very right to exist openly in this country demands that we all stand up and be counted. It requires strength. It requires defiance. It requires thoughtful, sustained resistance. And as the haters try to shut you down, it requires more. More glitter. More feathers. More rainbows. More love. And always, ALWAYS, more joy.

The Los Angeles Dodgers generated a month of high-pitch drama when they announced they were honoring the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence during their annual Pride Night, then rescinded the invitation upon being pressured by conservative right-wing groups, then re-invited the Sisters after a massive public outcry in response to their cowardly move.

Meanwhile, the San Francisco Giants quietly went ahead with their own Pride Night, holding a peaceful, festive, joyful event where the only drama was whether newly-appointed Drag Laureate D’Arcy Drollinger would be able to get the first pitch