On Why "We" Matter during Pride Month

Pride Month Greetings to "All"! Why it matters to qualify what we mean by "all."

Joyful celebration at the 2024 Pride Parade in Buenos Aires, with a fierce crowd embracing the spirit of change, transformation, and self-determination.

I write this post at the beginning of Pride Month 2025 in the United States. I want to shout loud and clear, "Happy Pride Month for you all!" I would like to elaborate on what I mean by extending these greetings to all.

By “all,” I mean everyone and anyone who has ever experienced, witnessed, or can relate to waking up to a world where one’s existence is under threat.

Feeling that one’s being is under threat means being at risk of, or on the verge of, losing all dignity or having one’s sense of self denied, erased, or distorted.

Having one’s sense of self denied, erased, or distorted means being subjected to ongoing attacks, not because of what one does, but rather because of who one is.

Being under attack because of who one is means being targeted for the dissonance between normative, unjust, exigencies and one’s yearning for living and loving large.

Living and loving large means affirming both the right of everyone to exist and the commitment to contributing to everyone’s wellbeing, even the wellbeing of those we have the most difficulty understanding.

Contributing to the wellbeing of those we have the most difficulty understanding means opening one’s heart, mind, and spirit to the habit of being confronted with the harm and pain enacted upon another by our silence and indifference.

In extending Pride Month greetings to all, I mean everyone and anyone who counts themselves as responsible for each other’s wellbeing.