“How lucky we are to be alive right now”
Pride looked a little different in our household this year. Gone are the days when we would wake up and head over to Clark St. to begin morning festivities that resulted in walking home covered in glitter and beads, voice hoarse from cheering on the amazing performers, activists, and community members who make us feel safe to be out and proud in Chicago.
This year, we were juggling feeding a 5-month-old and an excited three-year-old whose interests include digging in the dirt and splashing in the water. We carved out a quick moment in the afternoon to bake rainbow sprinkle cookies, tucked between errands and chaos, and I managed to snag a quick video of Campbell saying “happy pride,” his mouth full of frosting, and texted it to a few close friends.
In the words of Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton, "How lucky we are to be alive right now."
As much as I wish there were just sunshine and rainbows overhead, an ominous cloud continues to grow over LGBTQ+ rights. Legislation like the “Don’t Say Gay” law in Florida, Anti-drag laws in multiple states, and bans on gender-affirming care have eroded some of the stability that activists before us worked so hard to achieve.
There's a growing worry that one day, perhaps not too far off, our family's rights could be pulled out from under us. We could find ourselves doing everything we can just to ensure that we can take our kids to the doctor without being questioned or turned away because our family doesn't fit the typical mold.
Yet, as Hamilton reminds us, "How lucky we are to be alive right now."
We live in a “use your voice era,” and as Pride Month draws to a close, I invite you all to stand up for human rights and ensure they're protected. Please consider supporting the incredible organizations listed below, which are doing essential work both locally in Chicago and on a national level to protect the freedom and care of the LGBTQ+ community. Together, we can keep the spirit of Pride alive all year round and ensure that love, in all its beautiful forms, is celebrated and that humans continue to be treated as equals.
Brave Space Alliance is the first Black-led, trans-led LGBTQ+ Center located on the South Side of Chicago, dedicated to creating and providing affirming, culturally competent, for-us by-us resources, programming, and services for LGBTQ+ individuals.
DONATE NOW >>
Lambda Legal serves as a firewall against the escalating attacks on the LGBTQ+ community and people living with HIV, and continues to chart the course to a world where our identities and relationships are respected, protected, and celebrated.
The ACLU works to ensure that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people can live openly without discrimination and enjoy equal rights, personal autonomy, and freedom of expression and association.
