I’m sure some people have already dismissed me based solely on the title.
Don’t misunderstand — I’m gay, out and proud, and I’ve never been happier in my life. I have tremendous respect for the LGBT community and everyone who has the courage to come out, and especially those who haven’t.
There is nothing more important than to accept yourself for whom you are, and as someone who struggled for most of high school and college with his sexuality, I can surely empathize with that.
However, I don’t believe that excessive gay pride week celebrations are what we need. It’s been my experience, as I endured the lengthy process of coming out, that the vast majority of people have been at least accepting of my sexuality.
There are still many who are not, to be sure, but I don’t think that they would be swayed by a rainbow balloon arch, free stuff and a bunch of people figuratively screaming, “I’m gay, accept me!”
True equality doesn’t come from forced commingling, but rather from tearing down the walls that separate us into gay, straight, black, and white.
I’m proud to be gay, but shoving my sexuality in everybody’s faces because gay pride is important does nothing but hinder the slow crawl of societal progression.
One day, we won’t need an LGBT community because there won’t be such differences between any of us. But capitalizing on our differences is not the way to gain the equality we need.
Cody Beaver
junior - environmental systems engineering
