What is Pride for me?

  A week ago on june 23rd I attended my first pride parade and since I'm currently living in Sao Paulo I was privileged to be a part of the biggest pride parade on earth which is kinda ironic because according to the statistics, Brazil has one of highest numbers of LGBTQ+'s deaths however as I'm standing there in the middle of the crowd dancing and watching people having a good time my mind started to wonder and a question popped up in my head, 'why was I there?' and to be honest since I came out to myself almost 12 years ago I've never really thought of this question. So, I began to write (yes right there) in my phone's notepad app while I was watching people celebrate themselves.

Av. Paulista - Brazil's Pride Parade, June of  2019.

  Fifty years ago Marsha P. Johnson took her part on the Stonewall riots and fought not only for her rights but also for the whole community fearlessly, she was bold in a completely different time, it was an era where people and companies didn't support LGBTQ+ issues publicly  and maybe those who were there had no idea of what would come out of it but they were brave enough to fight the powerful  forces against them because they knew they were standing on the right side of history. Fifty years have passed and we have conquered many other achievements we should be proud for.

  I myself have accomplished things I'd never thought I would in  my own personal gay life and I thank people like Marsha for paving the way for us all because I know that if it wasn't for people like her we wouldn't be able to be where we are now. We wouldn't be able to live our truth every day of our lives, we would be hiding in the shadows, blaming god for making us this way even though we know we were BORN THIS WAY, I thank Lady Gaga, too by the way. I'm proud to be as free as I can be and I'm also proud to have had such inspiring role models who have shaped me into the person I am today, I'm not talking only about artists but ordinary people too and I hope I'm setting the same example to the people around me. It motivates me to be a better human being, more tolerant and kinder to our differences. 

So pride for me is being able to love ourselves the way we are, with the flaws and all.

  We still have lots to fight for inside and outside our community however I'm positively optimistic that in another fifty years I'll be celebrating many other achievements with my partner and my kids while we watch the parade on TV. If you consider the time of the earth the fight for equal rights has just began but boy look at all the things we were able to make happen. For instance, marriage equality is becoming a reality in some countries, we are seeing more LGBTQ+ people in positions of power, trans women and men are getting more recognition and exposure, some countries have made homophobia a crime as a hate crime, we have the support of huge corporations/artists who are spreading the message of equality around the globe and many other accomplishments I'm not aware of, the ones we experience in our ordinary lives. 

  

  By the end of the parade I had answered the question that got me wondering but it only left me agitated and uneasy because I came to realize how much we still ought to do, the fight is definitely not over as I said, specially in a time where people seem to forget the past and make the same-old mistakes in the name of god, family and moral values, this is the perfect opportunity to be the transformation force you want to see in the word. Educate yourself first and then share the information with others. No matter your gender, skin color or sexual orientation, human-kind is counting on you to do your part, sooooo...

Go do!

Hugs,

Douglas Migliassi