LGBTQ annual Pride; part party, part protest

June is Pride month, the time when cities across the US and beyond celebrate the de facto holiday of the LGBTQ community. This means parades, music festivals and rainbow flags. However in recent years, some in the LGBTQ community see Pride as a call for protest rather than time to party. After all these years, one Pride no longer fits all.

While sometimes perceived as a monolithic gay community, LGBTQ people reflect the full diversity of society. This diversity often comes into sharp focus during the annual Pride festival, particularly on the question of “party vs. protest.” The range of opinion appears to split along generational lines. Many, though not all older LGBTQ people want a traditional Pride parade, one that celebrates how far we’ve come and the strong community ties we have built. Older LGBTQ people remember life before the 1969 Stonewall rebellion in New York, the watershed event that marked the beginning of the modern LGBTQ rights movement. For older LGBTQ folks who’ve worked for decades to build equal rights, Pride celebrates the fruits of their labors. According to one friend, “We’ve been at this gay rights business for nearly 50 years, what’s so bad about wanting a day in the sun to celebrate?”

On the other hand, many, though not all younger LGBTQ people think that Pride festivals have lost relevance, becoming just another community festival, albeit one that is flush with drag queens and glitter. Generally, they would like to see Pride festivals return to their original, more radical roots. Critics have concerns about corporate sponsorship and the “mainstreaming” of Pride, which they presume is intended to make non-LGBTQ people feel more comfortable than the LGBTQ people they feel Pride is really for. Critics would prefer an event that is centered on LGBTQ people and embraces the intersectionality of race, gender identity, sexual orientation and other issues of diversity. For them, the Stonewall rebellion is not over – transgender people are still legally banned from using public restrooms in many places, harassment and hate crime against LGBTQ are on the rise and LGBTQ youth account for nearly 40 percent of homeless youth. Overall, critics feel that an event born as a protest against the oppression of LGBTQ people should never lose its core nature as a protest.

Pride organizers have a tough job, trying to hold the middle and host an event that welcomes the broadest spectrum of the LGBTQ community. This is particularly challenging given how many groups seek to use Pride as a platform for their respective political messages.

In 1991, Olympia was the first small town in the Northwest to host a pride event outside the LGBTQ safety-zone of a big city like Seattle. In those days, unity was more pressing than dealing with differences. Over the years, as more LGBTQ rights laws were passed, the Pride festival grew and the broader community eventually became more accepting of their LGBTQ family, friends and neighbors. Pride played a huge role in building a more accepting community, now well known for being LGBTQ-friendly. Part of that was slowly making friends out of former foes. The 2016 Pride parade drew over 20,000 people together, largely in response to the June 12, 2016 mass murder at an Orlando gay bar. While many saw it as time to grieve together, others saw it as a time for protest.

The inter-generational cycle of youth challenging the norms of their elders should be as predictable as spring following winter. But in the LGBTQ community, it often comes as a shock that some of younger LGBTQ might reject of what older LGBTQ look forward to celebrating at Pride.

Going forward, older LGBTQ have lots to learn from younger folks about racial justice, intersectionality, and new ways to build successful movements. And our youth have lots to learn from our elders about LGBTQ history and how to build broad alliances. We need each other. In a sense, the annual Pride festival is a family reunion, and like all family gatherings, we don’t always get along but we do best when we support each other. This year, there will be an Equality Pride march and rally on June 11 and a more traditional Pride parade and festival on the June 17. Hopefully we will all find the right place that welcomes us.

This story was originally published June 7, 2017 at 8:55 PM with the headline "LGBTQ annual Pride; part party, part protest."