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What does Gay Pride mean to you?

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Boi70
 
Joined in 2007
February 11, 2012, 14:57

Last night at the Freedom2b meeting in Brisbane, we had a discussion about what 'What does Gay Pride mean to you?'

For our discussion “Gay Pride” was a shorthand expression inclusive of all individuals in the LGBTI communities.

Pride in ourselves, or a sense of pride in ourselves, is essential for us to living a fullfilling life – whether we identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex.

In Australia, or in other parts of the world, “Gay Pride” is generally seen as something that defines the LGBTI community.

So, it is also important to acknowledge that it is something that each of us can feel individually. What I might feel is, or how I express “Gay Pride” may be different to what each of us may see / feel / think of as “Gay Pride”.

But before discussing “Gay Pride…”, it really couldn’t be done, without acknowledging that it has an opposite! “Shame…”

Shame is something that we are usually very aware of, in some churches.

Some of the definitions of Shame listed here can really ring a few bells for me.


    Shame is that terrible, private feeling that something is wrong with us — that we are somehow defective as a person. That we are irreparably damaged. That if anyone really knew what we were like we would be rejected.

    A part of the experience of shame is the fear of being found out and exposed. We want to run and hide and protect ourselves from exposure to other people’s judgement.

We also looked at "why Pride such a ‘dirty’ word for people from Christian faith backgrounds?"

In Christian homes and churches, we are taught to see Pride:


    as excessive or as a vice – in fact most world religions consider it a sin….

    as an inflated sense of one's personal status or accomplishments.

    and there is that expression “Pride comes before the fall…”

We learn that for us, our view of 'Pride' is something to avoid at all costs.

But maybe we should look at 'Pride' from a new perspective!

'Pride' is also "a proper, reasonable and justified self-respect”.

When you look at LGBT pride or gay pride, "it is the concept that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people should be proud of their sexual orientation and gender identity".

The LGBTI movement has three main points to reinforce and communicate:


    [that people should be proud of their sexual orientation and gender identity, /list]

    [list]that diversity is a gift, and

    that sexual orientation and gender identity are inherent and cannot be intentionally altered.

The word pride in this instance is the opposite of shame – that thing which has been used to control and oppress LGBT persons, throughout history, and even today.

So, Pride in this sense is an affirmation of one's self and the community as a whole.

Whether we still identify as Christian anymore, when it comes to "Gay Christian Pride", I found a few quotes worth repeating.

"There is nothing wrong with gay people having proper and justified self-respect. In fact, God expects gay people to have pride, a pride that is justifiable and reasonable, because it is based on what God has done for humanity".

http://createdgay.com/pride.html

"It is the conviction of the members of the Lesbian & Gay Christian Movement that human sexuality in all its richness is a gift of God gladly to be accepted, enjoyed and honoured as a way of both expressing and growing in love, in accordance with the life and teaching of Jesus Christ.

Therefore it is their conviction that it is entirely compatible with the Christian faith not only to love another person of the same sex but also to express that love fully in a personal sexual relationship".

http://www.lgcm.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/LGCM-homosexualitychristianity.pdf.pdf


Having "Pride" in ourselves as a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender or Intersex person can be a journey, where 'shame' is gradually replaced by a wonderful self respect, and a conviction that we are wonderful people and that we as LGBTI people should celebrate our amazing uniqueness and identity and community.



Mother Hen
 
Joined in 2011
February 11, 2012, 20:47

Thanks for sharing how the night went, sounds like it was a good night and that people would of got a lot out of the night and hopefully left feeling uplifted and good about themselves.


Quote from Boi70 on February 11, 2012, 2:57 pm

Having "Pride" in ourselves as a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender or Intersex person can be a journey, where 'shame' is gradually replaced by a wonderful self respect, and a conviction that we are wonderful people and that we as LGBTI people should celebrate our amazing uniqueness and identity and community.


Amen, it is a journey and I pray that everyone left feeling that they are wonderful and feel pride in who they are.


Well done. 🙂



davidt
 
Joined in 2009
February 12, 2012, 12:14

No Mother Hen it wasn't a good night….


It was a GREAT night.



Ann Maree
 
Joined in 2008
February 12, 2012, 15:41

Hi Boi70

What a great topic to discuss! 🙂

Gay pride to me means being able to be myself, comfortable disclosing about my bisexuality when I want to, and able to celebrate my own development and that of others in the LGBTI community.

I'm wondering what 'gay pride' means to others here?

Blessings,

Ann Maree


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