Son. Daughter. Sibling. Manager. Student. Lover. Dancer. Artist. These are just some of the words to describe the 49 victims of the Orlando shooting at the gay nightclub Pulse on June 12.
These victims were just being people. They were just having fun. They posed no threat to society. Whether they were out to anyone or not, they thought they were safe in a place where they could be around others in the LGBTQ+ community. They were in a place where they could be themselves.
Or so they thought.
When I heard the news, it was the day of my graduation. A time of celebration. I instantly felt angry, and lost my mood to celebrate. How could someone do something so terrible to such innocent people? People who were just living their lives, proud to be who they wanted to be.
As horrible as this tragedy is, the LGBTQ+ community has remained strong during it, relying on each other and its allies for support. June is National LGBTQ+ Pride Month, and despite this recent tragedy, members of the LGBTQ+ community are celebrating what makes them proud to be who they are. The hashtag #ProudToBe is trending on most social media websites, most popularly on YouTube. YouTubers in and out of the LGBTQ+ community are making videos with this hashtag as the title to explain why they are proud to be themselves.
On YouTube Spotlight's channel, several YouTubers joined together to make this inspiring video to tell their stories:
After watching this video and quite a few others posted by my favorite YouTubers, such as ElloSteph (Stephanie Frosch) and SupDaily06 (Chris Thompson) I took the time to reflect on who I am. Sometimes you need to reflect on who you are and what your purpose in life is, and remind yourself of how great you are. These videos reminded me of that. Hearing from YouTubers who are in the LGBTQ+ community or its allies, it showed me that there is still hope for equality and acceptance in this world. Despite the hate crimes and thousands of negative comments on those videos, there are still people in this strong community that continue to radiate positivity.
I am proud to be who I am, and owe that to the people out there such as those YouTubers because they show that there is a light at the end of tunnel. There are so many hateful people out there, but just by one person making a video saying something positive, it helps make the world a more accepting place.
In light of the month of being prideful of who you are, I am proud to be a daughter, writer, animal-lover, friend, sales associate, and a member and supporter of the LGBTQ+ community.
Who are you #ProudToBe?
