Pride means…

Hello friends,

It’s Pride weekend, and I’m thinking of all the brave people who fought so hard to be allowed to simply exist. And I think of those who are still fighting, myself included. Do we want to fight? No. We’d rather just live our lives, do our work, laugh with friends, raise families, read books, and tend our gardens. Just like immigrants and other people under attack do.

“The first Pride was a riot,” it is often said, and whether something is called a riot or an uprising depends on the lens we’re seeing it through.

“A riot is the language of the unheard,” said Dr. Martin Luther King. When left with no other choice, people rise up and fight back.

They fought back at Compton’s Cafeteria in San Francisco in August of 1966, when a group of trans people became fed up with constant police harassment. They fought back three years later at New York’s Stonewall Inn on June 28th. Stormé DeLarverie and Marsha P. Johnson were two proud nonconformists among those who said, “Enough.”

That collective “enough” is what people say when they have pride. To say “We will not abide by this treatment anymore” is to claim our self respect.

Pride means we know our worth.

This weekend, I celebrate my worth. I celebrate your worth. I celebrate the inherent worth of every queer and trans person, every immigrant, and every child.

Our humanity itself is a cause for celebration. So is our survival.

Best wishes — Thorn

I write queer books because I want to reflect the world I live in, and also to envision the world I hope for. I also write queer books because I can. Thanks for supporting my vision. You can request my books at the library, from your favorite bookseller, or best of all, buy them directly from me: ThornCoyleBooks​