Happy Pride

In the midst of everything, I nearly forgot about Pride Month...

...As if. June 1st, my Instagram (follow me here!) feed was flooded with lgbt+ activists reminding me it's that time of year again. And, it's always such a wonderful place to be. Certain posts warm my heart. The ones of perfectly normal people doing nothing more than being who they are is exactly what all of this is about. Not to discredit those who go above and beyond for pride. I get wanting to fully support something so close to your heart. It's just that seeing average everyday people just be makes the whole community feel closer to heterosexuals and cisgenders.
It's almost as if being gay doesn't make you any less of a person.
To preface my ramble, I am straight. I've had times where I questioned, but for simplicity's sake, I could only see myself with the opposite sex long term. In no way am I saying that this movement is for me or that I deserve pity. The only reason I feel the need to do this is due to three things:

1) The recent killings of women such as Riah Milton and Dominique Fells.
2) Experiences with friends and family.
3) I ignored Pride on my blog last year.

Something I see often, in the black community especially, is this constant degradation of other sexualities and genders. For whatever reason, I see it more often from African Americans. I don't know if this is a universal issue, but from my personal experience, lgbt+ acceptance tends to be seen as a "white" thing. I used to go to a school where I knew--and I didn't really know--many people were out and open, and now I hear people shamelessly and unironically announce that they'd accept a lesbian friend and not a gay friend. When I talk about past experiences I tend to get mocked and told that I went to a white school. It's repulsive. The same people who preach that white people treat them unfairly, turn around and dehumanize other African Americans for something that really isn't anyone else's business. Now, more than ever, black people in the community need to be respected and protected.
People pumping out their bias against living, breathing human beings even more. Why should anyone be excluded from #blacklivesmatter for doing nothing more than being? 
Last year, I was less emotional with what I put up and saw no reason for a straight girl to put so much focus on Pride. But, I've seen so many close friends and family go through their own personal struggles. And I've seen so many friends and family bash their entire existence. All I want is to be as sympathetic as possible and extend an arm to those who I know have gone through something I can't even imagine. Pride isn't for me to judge, it's for me to support. My position is to acknowledge and respect the community, so I can't just not touch on it. Lgbt+ exists and ignoring the entire month dedicated to it feels too much like erasing it. So here we are.

Be Yourself. Always.