Exultant, exuberant, uninhibited pride

Now is the time to sing, to celebrate, to burst into color and creativity. There is no grace, no shelter, no safety in shame or reluctance. The liars have declared that extinguishing difference and crushing diversity is their morality but it is the early summer of our lives and the flowers themselves have declared for love. 

Begging for equality at a table full of poison is worse than no dinner at all. We are the people of radical diversity, we are the key to human survival, we are the rainbow that defies the drought. We will hunt for new sources of sustenance, we will gather as we go.

Put the least heard and respected at the front of our celebrations. Listen with care to the voices that the poisonous have ignored. Follow the directions from Black women leaders and refuse to allow children to be questioned in their innocence. 

Is Pride a riot? It is. It has been dangerous, and defiant. It has been jailed and harassed. Not all of our soldiers have lived. I have gone to too many funerals and at too young an age. I have listened to ridiculous and dangerous death threats, stunned by both their hatred and horrendous grammar. We don't have time to untangle the dangling participles when we are running from the oncoming truck, jumping the curb and aiming for us. 

They are dangerous in their self righteousness and we are courageous in our refusal to be deceived. True humility doesn't come at you in a Dodge Ram. 

I have held the hands of the rejected children of the violently moral in emergency rooms, and wondered what I could say that could address a wound that only a parent can inflict. 

Fuck them. 

Let pride be a riot of color. Let it be a riot of music. Let us be riotously caring about each other's well-being, ebullient in our love for ourselves, let us be unabashed in our celebration of the magic of being alive. 

What they are demanding is shame, what they want from shame is endless compromise, compromise unto death. Stand up for each other because they are always coming for you next. 

When you are leading, take care. Take. Care. Make sure you are rested and hydrated, say "no," pass the baton, recognize your fatigue. 

When you are leading give care. Listen with care, point out the sources of water, tell each other to greet the newcomer. Learn the names that people give you for themselves. Circle back in the conversation. Catch the dropped stitches in the fabric of life. Knit each other back in. 

Pride doesn't end at the end of the month. Each of us has a balance between experience and connection. Who will you reach back out to in July? August? December? Let the circle be unbroken. When it is broken, let it be mended. Hold new hands. It is as simple as saying "Hello." 

Allies take action. Every elected official is hearing from the liars. Make sure they hear your truth, that you love, that you will not stand for discrimination, that you reject the lies. Refuse the false compromise unabashedly. This is pride. 

In the name of those who have lost the battle, win this day. The love of thousands stands behind you. You are not alone. 

Peace of the mountains to you, 

Paulie Rainbow

PS: here’s a link to the Irish Language Queer Dictionary. 

https://usi.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/AN-FOCL%C3%93IR-AITEACH.pdf