Happy Pride Month!

Teddy Partridge at Firedoglake:

I think it’s great that some communities have dropped the initials that Pride Month celebrates — Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, Queer, Questioning — and simply call this “Pride Month.” San Francisco started this several years ago, and I note that Portland, my new home, calls June Pride Month as well.

So: Happy Pride Month!

But let’s not forget the initialized members of our community as we celebrate, and remember one thing about our community’s initials: no person is LGBTIQQ. People are lesbian, people are gay, people are bisexual. Individuals are queer or questioning; persons are born intersex: 1 in 100 whose bodies differ from standard male or female, and 1 in 1000 with Klinefelter syndrome (XXY). When we speak of the inclusive community — the folks who, because of their sex difference, have been excluded from the benefits mainstream America conveys on the majority — it’s fine to call the community LGBTIQQ.

But while we are proud, we still lag behind. Let’s remember that being a member of this community means one has lower socio-economic status, on average:

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And two-thirds of us self-report discrimination at work:

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Our young face their own, higher and more complex hurdles:

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So when we ask America to recognize us for a month, to allow us to celebrate who we are, please acknowledge with us all that this recognition — and the acceptance that can then flow from it — is a petition from an under-minority: despised some places in this country, discriminated against most places, and hounded in others.

We are Proud, but we deserve this month. Celebrate with us, and make our cause your own.

Read the whole thing.