So here's the thing- pride celebrations are a party for everyone. Rainbow everything, glitter saturating the air, and scantily-dressed people all down for a good time? It is easy to be an ally at a gay pride march. Ever since the GBF (gay best friend) phase that trickled down from Hollywood in the last few years, Pride month has been a celebration that straight people have been inviting themselves to in the name of maintaining their ally status.
The thing that many straight people fail to remember is that Pride festivals began as and continue to be a protest. The Stonewall Riot, largely considered to be the first major protest for the LGBT community, occurred on June 28, 1969. Police raided the bar legally, on a verified report of operating without a liquor license, but the members of the LGBT community felt that gay bars had been unfairly targeted by New York's police force, as several had already been closed.
Patrons of the bar then began to throw drinks, bricks, and rocks at the police. The situation spilled unto the street and only ended after New York's riot police were deployed. The first member of the LGBT community to resist the police that night is largely believed to be Marsha P. Johnson, an African American gender non-conforming drag queen.
(There is some dispute over how one should refer to Johnson's gender identity and whether she was a drag queen or a transgender woman, mainly because the word "transgender" was not then used in its modern connotation as widely as it is today. When asked, Johnson often sarcastically replied that her middle initial, P, stood for "Pay it no mind".)
While conditions for those within the LGBT community have certainly improved since Johnson's time, with gay marriage being largely legalized in the US and a more common view of gender as a spectrum developing, the road to equality is not yet over. For example, the Supreme Court recently ruled that private businesses could deny business to members of the LGBT community based on "religious beliefs." In many states, despite gay marriage being legalized, there is no protection for members of the LGBT community from being harassed or fired from their jobs. It is for reasons such as these that pride is still considered a protest by the LGBT community.
Now, straight people here is where you come in. Showing up to pride, waving a rainbow flag, and taking a selfie with your gay best friend of the two of you having mimosas is great, but there is more to being an ally. Businesses that turn away LGBT employees or customers should be boycotted by straight people as well in a show of solidarity.
When shopping for a wedding cake, ask the baker if they would make the same cake for a gay couple getting married. If the answer is no, take your business elsewhere. That is how to be an ally. If your trans friend feels uncomfortable using a public bathroom, offer to go with them.
If a word or phrase makes an LGBT friend or family member uncomfortable, stop using that word. It may take some effort, but changing your behavior to become more aware of the issues still faced in the LGBT community is the true meaning of being an ally. If changes are made and the LGBT community and its allies stand together, maybe one day pride won't have to be a protest at all.
