Pride 2017: Celebrating Diversity And Who We Are

With today being the start of Pride Month I thought I’d share my thoughts about what LGBTQ Pride means to me.

I am proud to be trans and proud of my community. To me being trans, or anyone in the LGBTQ spectrum, means we are strong. We have to be strong out of necessity if we are going to survive, especially in the current political climate. Our community has come together like never before to stand strong and fight for our rights and make our voices heard. As horrible as the current political situation is, it has mobilized our community and shown us and everyone else who we are and our strength and that we will not sit idly by as our rights are taken away and our very existence is under attack. So, Pride 2017 is going to be especially meaningful to many of us, and I will proudly wave my flag and voice my support for who we are.

I am proud that I have overcome the challenges and obstacles I’ve faced in order to become the real me and live the life I’m supposed to be living. And that goes for everyone in the LGBTQ community, and especially the trans community. We are survivors. And we are strong, whether we realize it or not. It’s often difficult to feel pride in being trans because for many of us we grew up feeling ashamed of who we are, and even today we still face a great deal of hate from those who are close-minded and unaccepting. It can be tough to feel good about yourself when we face so much negativity day after day. And that is one of the reasons why Pride Month is important, because it’s a powerful experience to be surrounded by people who are supportive and understanding and where we can feel good and celebrate who we are.

I always get uncomfortable when people talk about how brave we as trans people are, but I’ve learned to accept that compliment because when you think about that there is a lot of truth to it. It takes courage to face a world that so often condemns our very existence. It takes courage to get out of bed on days when the depression is bad and all you want to do is stay in bed and hide. It takes courage to keep going when it feels like all hope is lost. And most of all, it takes courage to be yourself; your true authentic self. So yes, I am proud to be trans and I wear my colors as a badge of honor.

But having said that, I hope that someday this battle for acceptance ends and I can just be me. I look forward to the day when I can just be Rebecca, and not Rebecca the trans woman. Yes, I am trans and proud of it, but that shouldn’t define me. There is so much more to me than just being trans, and sometimes I feel like that gets lost. I am first and foremost a person; a woman, a parent and child, a grandma, a friend, a baseball fan, a foodie, a writer, a lover of books, a hopeless romantic, a dork, a veteran, a lover of art, a history buff, an artist, and the list goes on and on. I am me. Such a simple sentence, but it took the better part of 50 years to figure out who I was and to find my way to being that person. And the journey continues, but I can finally say I am happy with who I am.

So I will be out and about for Pride 2017 and waving my flag and showing my support and letting the world know I’m a proud member of the LGBTQ community. Let’s celebrate diversity and show the world just how amazing we all are!