Pride

“All young people, regardless of sexual orientation or identity, deserve a safe and supportive environment in which to achieve their full potential.”  Harvey Milk

It’s pride month.  June has always been my favorite month.  Probably because my birthday is in June and June is the start of summer.  But now, June is even more special to me.  It’s a month to celebrate people being who they are.  It’s a month to embrace how far we have come with acceptance as a society and remember how far we still need to go.

Hayden has opened my eyes to a lot over the past year.  Not only have I learned so much from raising a child like Hayden, but I have opened my eyes to a world of possibilities that I was unfamiliar with before.  I have realized how naive I was; how little I actually knew about gender and sexual orientation.  I am so grateful that Hayden has helped me see the world in a different way.  I could never imagine denying Hayden to be the person he was born to be.  

I honestly don’t understand how someone can refuse to support their child, especially in regard to sexual orientation and identity.  The child didn’t choose to feel the way they feel.  That is just how they are.  And who they are.  People don’t choose to be a cisgender person.  They just are.  Love is not just between a man and a woman.  Love is love.  But this concept isn’t easy for everyone to understand and accept.  

I have read so many comments on multiple social media posts about gender identity and sexual orientation where a person has commented, “So if my child says they’re a unicorn, should I let them be a unicorn?” and “A child is either a boy or a girl.  There is no in-between.  It’s confusing the child.”

Comments like this remind me of ignorance, a lack of knowledge on what sexual orientation and gender identity really mean.  It’s comments like those that end up hurting our children, not helping them.  These comments are not safe for our children.  They are showing our children that there is something wrong with them when there is absolutely nothing wrong with them at all.  They are being who they are meant to me.  Not what some people feel they should be.     

I want my children to go out into the world, knowing that they can always be their true selves.  I wish I could protect them from ignorant comments, but unfortunately I can’t change how every person thinks or feels.  I can just raise my children to be accepting of others and to know that our home is a safe space for everyone.  

We have been talking about pride month in our home.  We have been reading a bunch of children’s books that explain what pride is and what the rainbow flag means.  We have flags up at our house.  We have flags we keep in the car.  Hayden has even started keeping a flag in his backpack.  

I love that my children associate the rainbow flag as acceptance.  Everywhere we go, they point out all the rainbow flags.  Every flag they see, they know that place is accepting of everyone.  You can be yourself there.  

To me, pride means not only supporting Hayden, but supporting all those who came before Hayden.  All those who had to fight for rights.  All those who are still fighting for equal rights.  Love is love.  You are you.  Never stop being you.