Axiom for a new civilization
By Michael Giotis
It’s Pride Month y’all! Did I say that “queer” enough? I’m working on it; it’s still new to me. See, this was the year that I started talking openly about my own queer sexuality. But why?
Unsurprising for a white guy in his late 40s, coming out has been easy for me. Even though I present as a hetero-normative cis white male, there really haven’t been any consequences for bringing up that I’m queer. Instead, draw your attention to how difficult it can be for some young adults to speak openly about their sexuality. That in some places openly proclaiming that you are gay could have legal and even fatal repercussions. Today. Yesterday. Tomorrow.
In contrast, I have come to realize that the idea of Pride is one of the reasons I am not keeping all this private business to myself. It is about celebrating yourself in a loving community.
Over several generations, LGBTQIA+ communities have used the term to connote many things. These might include: 1) Take pride in who you are, and 2) Proudly bring your full self to whatever you do. That’s pretty cool. It could be an axiom for a new civilization.
Imagine a civilization which values all life, teaches its young to be proud of who they are and challenges them to grow and give. A government that organizes resources in support of these goals, gets those resources to homes, schools, communities in development. Comprehensive mental and medical service is not just available, but is a top priority of such a society.
Life is complicated, and being proud of who you are takes support and time. It takes work for you and the people around you. Value created by caretakers, massage therapists, artists, teachers, is the economy our civilization could be supporting, one that cares for and develops fully realized humans as a priority. And here we are caring for and developing oil.
In that imaginary but possible society, they would be there for you when you need it, and you would be there for them. That’s gay as f***.
Michael Giotis is a writer and poet, father and lover, based in Petaluma.
