HAPPY PRIDE

Another June, another Pride, another month of queer books, movies, history and people getting more of a spotlight. As I’m spending June in the U.S. instead of Canada this year, I know things will be slightly more muted due to less corporate sponsorship and more political on account of an administration intent on rolling back gains, tainting history and scaring its base in portraying trans rights as “threats.”

 

I am fortunate to be spending most of the month in Colorado which has a gay Democratic governor, Jared Polis, and two Democratic senators, Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper. Polis has been married to Marlon Reis since 2021 and the couple has two children. 

 

Still, things feel very different from back home in Vancouver. Evan and I freely hold hands in Denver and he often moves in for a quick kiss—things I’d be far less comfortable doing in a red state—but I feel less at ease as we venture to more remote areas such as his family cabin and on hiking trails in the Colorado mountains. I have no stats to back me up but the more pickup trucks I see in a community, the more conservative it seems. Evan listens to NPR most of the day and, while it is purportedly a left-leaning news source, the station is fixated on Donald Trump. “Trump this” and “Trump that…” My mood drops as my level of agitation rises. Without fail, I find myself begging Evan to switch to a soft jazz station. He quickly honors my request, but I can tell he’s totally used to All-Things-Trump when I’m away. Such is the state of the union.

 

I expect a harsher political climate if I make a planned visit to see my parents in East Texas sometime this month. When I was there eight months ago, I stopped at sixteen gas stations, grocery stores and book shops on a Sunday in search of a New York Times. There didn’t seem to be a copy anywhere in Tyler, a city with a population of 115,000. My parents will sit for their daily dose of Fox News. Trump bumper stickers will be rampant. I Googled “Pride Tyler Texas” and the main event will not include something so public as a parade; instead, on Saturday, June 20, there will be food trucks, vendors and art displays inside a conference center, an event organized by Tyler Area Gays (TAG+). 

 

I can’t imagine what it would be like spending June or any month in many of the places I drove through in Southern Washington, Eastern Oregon, Idaho and Utah on my way to Denver. I would never want to return to the confused, lonelier, closeted existence I experienced while attending high school and university in Texas. All that was a long, long time ago but, aside from online connections, I don’t think I’d feel much better there in 2026. Life felt dramatically freer once I moved to Los Angeles in 1989.

 

I’d like to spend much of this month reflecting on the good fortune that has led me into a healthy, loving relationship with Evan, reaching out to the few gay friends who remain in my life and honouring those who died of AIDS and other causes. I’d like to ponder more about marrying Evan, a subject I didn’t even think possible when I landed in L.A. And I’d like to enjoy the two books I’m currently reading, Queer by Beatnik member William S. Burroughs and The Journalist of Castro Street, a biography of the late gay writer Randy Shilts (And the Band Played On; The Mayor of Castro Street).

 

Generally, during a day or month of celebration, it’s all about gratitude and festivities but in the eleven years that have passed since the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed marriage equality, there has been an alarming backslide in rights, in open expressions of queer support and in the movement toward understanding and accepting trans people and those who identify as one of the Plus groups under the LGBTQ+ umbrella. I continue to receive emails from and follow the website for Advocates for Trans Equality (A4TE) as a way to stay informed and to consider personal political actions. I check the Advocate’s website weekly for affirming stories while also reading about setbacks at the state and city levels that have slipped through mainstream media coverage. Basically, I continue to be on guard and to not take my rights and freedoms for granted. To do otherwise would be a manifestation of foolish Pride. Alas, this is not a time for complacency. 

 

To other queers and queer allies, enjoy the positive, fun activities scheduled for this month, but I hope you also find time for self-education and honing a reality check of where things stand in terms of LGBTQ+ issues in the U.S., in Canada and around the world. We are stronger when we stay informed and involved.