Thanks. I never thought Pride was "for me" because the Pride flag didn't represent me (as in, I am neither Lesbian, nor Gay, nor Bisexual, nor Transgender, nor Queer). I now feel that the Pride flag represents all of us (including cis/het) and means that a rainbow is beautiful because it encompasses all the colours. This may not be what everyone sees in the flag (I know each colour has its own meaning), but that is my takeaway and it's why I'm proud to see the rainbow flag fly.

I'm so glad I went, though. I saw a shirt that really changed my perspective on it. It said that the first Pride was a riot. That's actually true, the Stonewall riots in 1969 is really what started all of it. Like any civil rights movement, those whose rights are being fought for have experienced violence and have had to face real risk and danger to their person, property, and livelihood in order to get the rights they have now, and in order to continue to fight for their rights. That is why I think it's important for people who are "outside of LGBTQ+" to stand with those who are in it, like the sign says, because they deserve to feel safe. But I cannot fully discount the points of view that say "if you have nothing to lose you have no business pretending you do." Except I don't pretend. I'm there for my cousin and my nephew and my middle school best friend who are all trans. For my mom and stepmom who are gay (lesbian, and have been married 30+ years). For all their wonderful friends and partners and others I've met who were queer/questioning, maybe they decided they were cis and/or het after all, or maybe they experimented; either way they all deserve to feel as safe as those of us who are cis/het. Same with Black/white.

I believe we should not judge people for how they're made, but for how they treat others. That's the rainbow I'm proud of. Or as Roddenberry put it, IDIC — Infinite Diversity [in] Infinite Combinations. This is the philosophy of the Vulcans in Star Trek, but I think it's based on Darwin's quote about "endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful" in his theory of evolution. Oh — here's the full quote: “There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.” What that says to me is that LGBTQ+ is a natural human evolution and that all of these diversities and forms are wonderful and contribute to the human experience.