PRIDE 2025 - The Final Word: This is what resistance looks like

As a queer community, it is vitally important that we recognize where we come from and where we are going. Unfortunately, it can be easy for us to become complacent, scared, and freeze up because we feel hopeless or our efforts don't count. I honor these valuable feelings, but let's challenge ourselves to DO SOMETHING about it. We all protest and resist in different ways. However we do this, it's time to embody who we are boldly and take action so all humans can live out loud, freely, and fully expressed.

As we move through life, ask ourselves if we are stubborn or complacent. Are we accepting unjust situations within our community or other marginalized groups? We need to get back to empathy and connection. Caring for others is not a weakness or a waste of time. Calling something out because it is not life-affirming is worth it every time. It will be our strength.

Accountability within ourselves is where we can start. If we know better, we do better. We need to recognize all facets of the queer community and get outside of our comfort zone to create inclusion. It starts with us. Our strengths do come from our relationships within our community. How do we help one another? How do we build bridges with businesses and people that don't always align with our views? How do we get uncomfortable and out of our way to stand for one another? Our situation in this political climate catalyzes us to stand up for one another.

Stonewall happened. They can erase the words in the history books, but you and I know what is real. We know how to do hard things. And we know how to take turns holding each other through it all. We have made great strides in our fight to be equals. We are also moments away from having our freedoms stripped from us yet again. I know for me, the truth is, no one can take my freedom because it now lives inside of me. But that doesn't mean they cannot take away MY human rights. As a nonbinary trans person, I am well aware that I am considered a second-class citizen here in the United States by many. But I cannot allow that to define me. I must root down. I must spread out. I must be ALL of me now. We all must. And this is the thing that they (those who do not support our livelihood) cannot take from us. We are big. We are bright. We are free. When we are all of it together, we are a force of unstoppable love. Freedom does live within us. We are strong, and we are resilient. Together. P&E - Lee Ignatius King