With the Rise of Violent Domestic Extremism, Is PRIDE Worth the Risk?

This year, we’ll have to celebrate PRIDE under the cloud of constant threat.

It’s a quandary, one I hate to even consider. But, with the mainstreaming of anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment, rampant fear-mongering, and a plethora of hateful erasure laws being passed across the country, along with the dramatic uptick in violent domestic extremism, I have to wonder whether attending PRIDE 2023 is worth the risk.

I was late to the PRIDE party.

For the first time last summer, at the age of 72, I attended PRIDE events in three cities. Although I’d identified as queer for a half century, I’d never recognized the true value in participating in PRIDE. From the way PRIDE was covered by the media, it looked like a bunch of sweaty dudes in spangled jock straps and gaudy drag queens prancing down the street. Sure, they seemed to be having a grand ol’ time — and hooray for them! — but the real meaning of PRIDE evaded me. I saw some danger in rubbing our queerness in the straight world’s face. Not a physical danger so much as the perpetuation of stereotypes that might backfire and set the LGBTQ+ cause back.

The progress we’ve made over the course of my lifetime — and we’ve made considerable strides for sure— can in large part be attributed to the normalization of queerness, how we’ve been depicted in TV shows and films. As more folks began to realize that they knew queer folk and that they interacted with us on a regular basis, their empathy grew, and they began to support our rights to go about our lives as our genuine selves while loving who we love.

Over the last couple of years, our ever-increasing acceptance and visibility has spawned an ever-stronger reactionary response from evangelical and fundamentalist Christians and rightwing conservatives. This response has heated from a simmer to a boil. And, at the same time, greater acceptance has burgeoned within rightwing circles for using violence as a means of protest and/or conflict resolution. Couple those factors with the relaxing of gun restrictions and easier availability of firearms and we are left with an explosive recipe for potential disaster.

PRIDE has always meant defiance.

Of course, PRIDE was born out of defiance, as Christopher Street Liberation Day, with queer and trans folk announcing and demonstrating their presence as a vibrant, living community on the first anniversary of the brutal Stonewall raids.

“We’re here. We’re queer. Get used to it!”

Today, we celebrate!

More and more so of late, PRIDE, while still innately defiant, has been more celebratory than confrontational. We’re still making the same statements and standing up for the same principles demonstrated on Christopher Street in 1970, but with genuinely enthusiastic support from local governments, businesses, organizations, and allies. Modern PRIDE has allowed us to be our true selves in the light of day, as we commune and parade joyfully with our extended tribe.

That’s what I hadn’t understood about PRIDE before I took to the street in Portland last June. Walking alongside U.S. Senator Ron Wyden and the out-and-proud candidate we Oregonians elected five months later as our new Governor, Tina Kotek, waving to a cheering crowd lining the sidewalks filled me with a sense of self, of community, and public acceptance I’d never experienced. It took me 70-some years to get there. But, better late than never, I guess.

The growing threat…

PRIDE has always been met with outspoken objection from self-described conservatives. However, in 2022, some PRIDE celebrations were actually confronted with organized threats. Thirty-one Patriot Front members assembled in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho for the purpose of disrupting a local PRIDE event. Fortunately, thanks to the sharp eyes of an observant citizen, the militia group’s efforts were thwarted before they had a chance to manifest in violence.

Fascistic militants have been showing up at drag-time story hours, taunting performers and attendees and harassing library staff. Physical skirmishes have occurred between thugs and counter protestors. Such intimidations have led to cancellations over safety concerns.

Protestations from local conservatives have been gaining traction of late. In April of this year, the quaint town of Franklin, Tennessee received national media attention when a handful of residents demanded that the Board of Mayor and Aldermen block city permits for PRIDE festivities. The citizen group’s contention was that such an event was intended to “groom children.”

Thankfully, the 2023 permit was granted on a five to four vote, with Mayor Ken Moore casting the tie-breaker. However, Franklin PRIDE 2023 will be held under the auspices of a “decency resolution.” So, permits could be denied in future years should this year’s event run afoul of a laundry list of purposefully vague community standards. It should be noted that Tennessee has already banned drag shows in any public place where children might be exposed. This invites the existential question: What’s PRIDE without drag queens?

Signs of struggles to come…

I don’t like to think negatively, but these situations might just be the canaries in an ever-darkening coal mine. Still, even darker is the ever-looming likelihood that an armed lunatic hater (or haters) may take a cue from these contrived crises to take matters into their own hands.

And, what better opportunity than PRIDE to demonstrate intolerance and hatred toward LGBTQ+ folk through violence?

I don’t know what the answer is. For many folks, PRIDE is the one chance in the course of a year to be loud and proud and link arms with members of a loving, like-hearted community. And, yet, I can’t help but feel trepidation about so many beautiful human beings willingly exposing themselves to potential harm.

But, we can’t let the haters win.

Then again, in the long run, if we let a handful of haters mute our expressions of PRIDE, if we choose to hide away to preserve our safety, we would be doing so in disrespect to the bold, defiant pioneers who set PRIDE in motion in the first place. And, we would be giving the terrorists their victory without firing a single shot.

We like to say, “Stay safe and stay healthy.” And, while we should remain ever vigilant and take every measure to adhere to that sage and sane advice, I’m not so sure we can possibly do everything necessary to insure our safety and health without losing our identity and solidarity. This year — and, perhaps from now on — we will have to celebrate PRIDE under a cloud of constant threat.

Happy PRIDE 2023, my beloved queer and trans community.