Joy Is a Form of Resistance

Guest Opinion

It is very easy to get lost in the doom and gloom we hear and read constantly these days—the countless anti-LGBTQ+ bills, attacks directed at the trans community, the endless day-in, day-out worrying about what the next executive order could mean. And it would be easy to feel hopeless and scared.

But what I have seen instead is a community with an unmatched resiliency not backing down, not shying away, but relishing in the simple idea that just existing is a revolutionary act and that joy is itself a form of resistance.

I joined Up North Pride last fall with ideas of what the next chapter of the organization could include. After taking feedback gathered from surveys and listening sessions, as well as many meetings with long-time volunteers, sponsors, and community partners, the board of directors and I jumped into strategic planning, putting together goals and new programming ideas for the next year, all centered around Up North Pride expanding to become a larger, year-round presence for the northern Michigan 2SLGBTQ+ community.

We plotted out what elements from our annual trademark events of Pride Month and Pride Week could be expanded and where it made sense to cut back. We brainstormed new programming to test out and how to broaden the resources Up North Pride can provide. Calendars were put together, budgets were created, and lists of prioritized steps to approach all these goals were made.

And then, late Nov. 5, as election results started to come in, a lot of those plans changed focus.

The conversations immediately shifted from “what can Up North Pride do in the next year” to “what does everyone need us to be doing?” How are we best serving our community? How do we solidify ourselves as the support, resource, and advocate for 2SLGBTQ+ in northern Michigan? The answer: create as many opportunities to gather people together to celebrate queer joy as we can.

Over the last few months, the Up North Pride team has held game nights, art nights, educational events, and happy hours at different breweries throughout the region. We have hosted drag trivia night, an adult prom, and started a trans and non-binary monthly group meetup, a book club, and an LGBTQ+ grass volleyball league.

We have grown our online resource directory and reached out to other area organizations to include their events on our calendar. We have found new partners to work with and more 2SLGBTQ+ businesses and spaces to highlight in all of the five counties we serve. We have been finding more and more ways to gather and reach everyone we can to ensure nobody feels isolated or left out. We have continued to build community. We have continued to find joy.

These events have seen new friends joining Up North Pride, people saying they were thankful to be able to find a space to be surrounded by like-minded people because they are not finding that support elsewhere, as well as familiar faces excited to have more opportunities to gather and even more excited that we are holding a number of events in the smaller towns surrounding Traverse City. We’ve even seen a proposal at our recent adult prom!

As Pride month events fill the month of June, and rainbow flags and signs pop up all over town, remember what is behind the festivities: a celebration. We are celebrating love, celebrating the space for people to authentically be who they are, celebrating the joy of proudly being ourselves.

This month, when you attend any of the many Pride events happening around the region, take a moment to see the smiles and happiness of everyone attending, enjoying the feeling of being surrounded by a welcoming and supportive network.

And remember that this joy is coming at a time when our community is facing harsh attacks, hateful rhetoric, and fighting for the right to just exist.

Yes, we live in a scary political climate, and yes, we are worried, but we are not cowering and moving back into the shadows. We are facing it head on, dancing, and singing, and chanting, and celebrating, and very proudly saying we are here and cannot be forgotten and cannot be anything but who we are.

Adrienne Brown-Reasner is Up North Pride’s Executive Director. She has spent years working in the nonprofit sector and a number of arts organizations throughout West Michigan and recently moved back to Traverse City with her partner and their two fur-babies.

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