In June 1969, a police raid on a gay bar in New York touched off a riot that made people stand up and proclaim their right to be themselves.
Today, June is celebrated as Pride Month.
It hasn’t been an easy rainbow-colored road, and the LGBTQ community isn’t exactly living in a Utopia, but 51 years later, there has definitely been change.
In 2020, two people who love each other and want to build a life together to stand in front of a minister or a judge or an ordained family friend and recite their vows and celebrate with dancing and cake, and it doesn’t really matter what gender anyone is.
In 2020, sexual identity is no longer the kind of thing that can keep someone from getting a security clearance, which means it doesn’t stand in the way of certain jobs in government or with contractors.
In 2020, LGBTQ individuals and couples are building families, whether with their biological children or through creating homes with children they welcome in other ways. Gay and bisexual couples are six times more likely to be foster parents and four times more likely to be adoptive parents than heterosexual couples, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
There are still hurdles. Fair housing and fair employment. Adoption agencies that turn away prospective parents over sexuality or gender identity. People who level hateful attacks based on LGBTQ status rather than valid arguments — like those who lob insults at Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine.
But there are more reasons to celebrate accomplishments.
The LGBTQ community has made vast strides for themselves as well as other overlapping groups.
The changes that have happened over half a century mean that today, a couple that has grown old together are free to plan the end of their lives without worrying one will be left destitute without the protection of being a surviving spouse.
They mean kids who are questioning their sexuality or gender might find support instead of shame. They mean those kids might have a choice that isn’t suicide — the second leading cause of death for those 10 to 24, and something LGBTQ youth contemplate and attempt at vastly higher rates.
They mean that today, people can be themselves without apology. And that’s definitely worth celebrating.
