Equally

Not the first thing that I think of for LGBT+ progress, but okay...

Every June now, like clockwork, someone posts this sentiment. And I've always been curious as to what end; is the point really to trade discomfort for discomfort? I've always been suspicious of people who make it a point to wish negative things on other people, regardless of their motives. Mainly because the world is a bad enough place as it is, and adding to that makes nothing better.

But maybe I shouldn't say that, because I think that there are people who take a certain amount of pleasure in the pain of those they understand to be their enemies. And I would venture for those people, knowing that being celebrated hurts other people does make their life better. And that's what matters to them. After all, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people (and everyone else who identifies as queer) aren't really any different than anyone else. Why should they be above being jackasses to their fellow people any more than anyone else is?

And I suppose that's what bothers me about it. This invocation of Pride Month to take note of the negative aspect of equality; to remind everyone that queer people can be the asshole just like straight people can. Or, perhaps more accurately, that as a species, humans are assholes. And nothing really gets in the way of that. Not safety and security, histories of oppression, or time spent calling out people for being assholes.