Pride Is More Than a Party

Guest Opinion

“During the darkest days of the AIDS crisis we buried our friends in the morning, we protested in the afternoon, and we danced all night. It was the dance that kept us in the fight, because it was the dance we were fighting for.” – Dan Savage, American author, media pundit, journalist, and LGBT community activist

There is a new shape to the dark days we find ourselves in as queer and trans people, but the truth remains the same. The dance, the joy, the embodiment of liberation is still what we are fighting for.

As we face attacks on our rights, our dignity, and our safety, we keep showing up for each other. We build community and connections that sustain us when the systems we live in continue to let us down.

Over the past year, Up North Pride saw the community’s needs and responded with smaller, more accessible year-round programming. As a volunteer and community partner, and now as a member of the board, I’ve seen the impact this shift in organizational priorities has had.

One of the things I’m most proud of is our Youth Group. It is a gift to spend time with these young people every week, and to watch them affirm each other and stand in their truth. We get to witness their fierceness, their softness, and their silliness, and we get to stand beside them and imagine a better world into being.

As we continue to move through these dark days, we need allies who are ready to help us fight for a better future, and being a good ally means being willing to step outside your comfort zone.

It’s more than hanging a rainbow flag outside your house or business in June. It’s more than posting supportive things on social media. It’s not performative. It’s putting in the work, and it’s stepping up to stand side by side with us in the darkness.

How can you be a good ally, not just during Pride month, but all year round?

Show up for more than just the big parties. Support smaller programs like Up North Pride’s game night, art night, or women’s sports watch parties. Get to know people in our local community, and ask what they need or what good allyship looks like to them. Shop at queer-owned small businesses, and if you’re going to purchase Pride merch in June, buy from them and not big corporations.

If you’re a parent or caregiver, educate your kids, and make sure they know how to be good allies to their peers. Create a safe, accepting atmosphere in your home. Read your kids books by LGBTQIA+ authors, or books that positively represent people of all different identities. Show up for school or library board meetings when people try to ban those books. Push back against the idea that queer and trans folks are a threat to children.

Be aware of local, state, and federal policies that impact the rights of queer and trans people. Pay attention to how your elected officials vote on these issues, and hold them accountable. Call and or write to them, and remind them that, as your representative, you expect them to promote inclusion, equality, and safety for all people.

Pride is more than a party. Pride is a protest. Pride is a political statement. Pride is a proclamation that we are here, and we will not be erased.

We will fight for our rights and the safety of our communities. We will stand in our dignity, our truth, and our joy. We will dance, we will sparkle, and we will imagine our way to a more liberated future for all.

We hope you will join us.

Chelsea Bentley is an Up North Pride board member and Youth Group facilitator.

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