Proud of Pride: An Open Letter To My Cousin

 

I am the first to admit that I was probably once judgmental of people’s lifestyles. However, I have to thank my cousin for giving me so much to be proud of and for teaching me to be truly tolerant.

A,

First I want to thank you. You are a truly amazing person with a beautiful heart and that I feel like at some point I took for granted. I wish I had been a better person to you when we were younger. Someone who you felt safe to share things with. Although I know that now we do not talk very much I hope you know how proud I am of you. And I know that your journey has not been easy. I am sure that you have been faced with a lot of judgement, however, that did not keep you from living your truest self. I think that is one of the bravest things that I have ever been able to bear witness too.

Next thing I want to tell you, I love you!! And I love you so much and have so much respect for you. And I want you to know that I may not have been someone who you could have gone to before, but I am someone who will sit with you and listen if you need someone. I want nothing but the best for you ever day. And I hope this is something that you know. Because I love you and I am always here.

But I also want to ask for your forgiveness and your grace. I know that there where times that I was probably not supportive. And I know that there were times that you probably felt judged. I am sorry for these time I am sorry that I was not the person that you needed me to be. And I am sure that it would have be nice to have one of your childhood best friends to be there for you and I am so sorry that I was not that person for you. I should have been. Because I fell short, I am sorry that I was not in a place that you needed me to be. But I am here now, present and ready to be the listening ear whenever you need me.

To Those Loving someone through Their Pride Journey:

Be tolerant: The world is full of enough hate. Be the person that is safe, safe for someone to talk to. We are all going through a journey just because theirs is different than yours does not mean that you have to be judgmental. Even if you do not understand, listen. You never know you might learn something new. Let others teach you and allow yourself to grow as a person. Finally just remember that we all have things that we are working on, no one wants to be judged for their pride journey.

Love them: Again the world is full of hate, so be the one who says, “I don’t care who you are I still love you.” Our friends and family in the pride community have enough that they are up against, don’t be one of their battles. Be an ally. No, you may not always agree with their life choice, but maybe they don’t agree with yours. But, we can all still love each other for who we are.

It is my hope that our climate will become one that my children will be able to grow up in and see how far we have come as a people. One that used to be ruled by hate and intolerance, to one that is very loving and accepting. I hope that we can quite dehumanizing people and accept them for who they are. That way we can keep moving forward.

For me, I vow to be an ally and a safe place.

Enjoy pride month but loving yourself and those you love.

Stay Safe!

Header Image Source 

 

This Tweet About A Straight Girl Hooking Up With A Lesbian Will Confirm That You’re Wasting Your Time With All These Men

Lesbians have better sex than straight girls. The screen caps in the viral tweet below exemplify the truth of the statement, though it is important to note it is actually one of scientific fact rather than opinion.

Consistently, women who sleep with women report higher levels of sexual satisfaction—regardless of age, race, geography—than do women who sleep with men. Consider these statistics: A 2014 study by the Journal of Sexual Medicine found that lesbians orgasmed 75% of the time during sex, compared with 61% for heterosexual women (the sexual orientation of men, unsurprisingly, had no effect on their orgasm rate.)

A significantly larger study of Americans conducted last year by the Kinsey Institute found the same trends, though with a more alarming disparity; Lesbians reported orgasming 86% of the time during sex, whereas that number was a low 65% for women (again, men, regardless of orientation, said they orgasmed 95% of the time.)

Is it harder for a woman to fake an orgasm when with another woman, than when with a man? Certainly. But lesbians also know what a clitoris is and how to work it—a statement that, depressingly, does not seem to always apply to their male counterparts.

 

Ariana Grande Defends Herself After Being Accused Of ‘Exploiting’ The LGBTQ Community

Ariana Grande has stepped in to defend herself from criticism that she’s exploiting the LGBTQ community by headlining a big Pride festival.

For weeks there had been rumors that Ariana would head the bill at this year’s Manchester Pride. She hasn’t performed in Manchester in two years—the last show was the One Love concert, which she and her team put together in 2017 to aid the those who were affected when a bomb went off outside her Manchester concert, killing 22 people.

But when the official announcement was made, both the festival and Ariana herself came under fire from people who were upset about the choice of headliner, both because she’s not queer and because the tickets were suddenly very expensive. (BuzzFeed reports that a weekend ticket cost £28, but this year it’s shot up to £74.50.)

https://twitter.com/hernameismais/status/1100360237280911360

https://twitter.com/diceydarkiplier/status/1100351540139884544

People were also (understandably) upset that the Pride festival was now being treated more like a regular music festival, which is not what it was meant to be. Even homophobes were planning to attend.

https://twitter.com/princessmolly04/status/1100088516460064768

https://twitter.com/indxae/status/1100172757936025600

And then there was the issue of the LGBTQ artists that could have been hired instead of a straight woman.

https://twitter.com/fka_j/status/1100707762919608321

https://twitter.com/Ioseloselose/status/1100128699960180742

One person made what they later called “a passing comment” that blew up huge on Twitter. They wrote, “idk …. ariana headlining pride when she’s straight (as far as we’re all aware) …. and doubling the price of tickets …. kinda smells like exploitation of the lgbt community to me …..”

https://twitter.com/raininjulyvinyl/status/1100072623327924224

They added a few follow-up tweets explaining that they had no problem with Ariana as a person, they just found it “weird/uncomfortable” that a straight woman would be the “‘face’ of the whole event.”

https://twitter.com/raininjulyvinyl/status/1100426455652229120

It was at this point that Ariana stepped in to respond.

https://twitter.com/ArianaGrande/status/1100833408144498688

She responded to the tweet about exploitation, writing, “i saw many people discussing this so I wanted to chime in…. hope that’s okay.” She included a long note which read:

hi my love. i have nothing to do with ticket pricing — manchester pride sets those rates, and they’re mostly out of my control. the lgbtq community has been so special to me and supportive throughout my entire career. the relationships i have with my lgbtq fans, friends, and family make me so so happy. i want to celebrate and support this community, regardless of my identity or how people label me. and also i wanna visit a city that means so much to me. lgbtq representation is incredibly important, and i’m always proud to share the stage with lgbtq artist! over the years, pride events have been headlined by performers and artists of all sexual orientation and genders, including straight allies like cher and kylie minogue. i do think there’s room for us to talk about these issues without equating a performance *for*an lgbtq audience with exploitation of the lgbtq community. if you truly feel like i didn’t deserve to be offered this spot, i respect that. but i did accept it excitedly and gratefully. i’m not claiming to be the hero of the communityor the face of the lgbtq rights movement — i just wanna put on a show that makes my lgbtq fans feel special and celebrated and supported. that’s all i wanna do.

Many people responded well and many felt Ariana explained herself beautifully.

Twitter: @evanrosskatz

Other people stressed the importance of allies.

Twitter: @Fominfo

But some people felt she should still try to do something about the exorbitant cost of the tickets.

Twitter: @MrErnestOwens
Twitter: @harryshumbitch

I’m sure she won’t be able to appease everyone, but it seems like she’s doing her best.

h/t: BuzzFeed

This Gay Man Made A Great Point About Why Women Should Dress However They Want

David Foster Wallace once gave a commencement speech where he told a story about a couple of young fish swimming along. They pass an older fish who says “Morning boys, how’s the water?” After they pass on for a bit one young fish turns to the other and says “What the hell is water?” The point of the story is to illustrate that there are things surrounding and us shaping our lives that we take as ordinary to the point we don’t even notice them. We also don’t question them. Treating people differently based on their gender or sexuality used to be one of those things, but hopefully that’s starting to change.

Josh Weed is a gay man with an important point to make about how we treat women:

Kinda throws a monkey wrench in the whole “women are emotional ones who can’t control their feelings.”

Even worse than that, many men and women point to a woman’s attire when she claims to be a victim of sexual assault. Just recently, a Yale student was found not guilty after a trial where his attorneys slut-shamed the victim for her Halloween costume.

PREACH.

Hallelujah!

Exit mobile version