It is June 1st, 2026. Every company, church, LGBTQIA+ individual, nonprofit organization, supportive politician(s), wishes a Happy Pride Month to all who celebrate it, and hate it.
The folks who advocate for equal rights protections for LGBTQIA+ people prepare for parades, resource tables or tents, marching bands, social media posts to celebrate the Stonewall Riots in 1969 that started the movement. The momentum is strong and vibrant. The parties are unique with colors and methods of celebration, food, drinks, and all the flirting, marriages, break ups and not being ashamed of who we love, what our gender is, and how we express who we are.
The folks and organizations that oppose equal rights, flood the social media networks with messages like "turn to Jesus to save you from the sin of homosexuality." The whole thing is made worse for transgender people as they read posts and/or comments insisting that there are only two genders; male and female. The ones I am typing are a lot more polite than many of the posts and comments that are being left. Yet even the seemingly "polite posts" cause significant pain.
I have a love/hate relationship with Pride month.
I fell in love with the celebration of Pride when I walked into Loring Park to attend the Twin Cities Pride Festival in June 2001 for the first time in my life. The first time I marched in the Pride parade in downtown Minneapolis, I was so overwhelmed with the supporters, and all the rainbow flags, and floats, and the diversity that was cheered. I marched in the parade for years. I always enjoyed the Pride Festival where organizations, companies, bands, speakers and drag shows celebrate the occasion. I will always remember marching in Pride in the years 2009-2013 with St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral. It was energizing and uplifting. In 2013, I was in the Pride Parade with Bishop Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop in The Episcopal Church. Bishop Gene Robinson is also a faith hero for me. Bishop Robinson's book In the Eye of the Storm helped me believe in myself as a gay Christian individual who is madly loved by God. I still believe that today.
Yet, there were some things that made me hate Pride. The hot and humid weather depresses me. The crowded park makes me panic. The huge sub woofers with the loud beating music that is always giving me headaches and make me crazy in my mind. The drama that plays out as competing companies and organizations as they have people in them who want things a particular way, and argue all through Pride weekend. The big disappointment for me comes on July 1st when I am burned out from the month, and suddenly the rainbow flags are gone, and someone writes a post with an American flag and says "July is America's Pride month." Companies that supported the LGBTQIA+ communities still make it difficult for Autistic and LGBTQIA+ people to find and keep jobs. My love/hate relationship with Pride makes me celebrate our diversity, but I also am often disappointed with how much diversity is not accepted from outside the LGBTQIA+ communities and from within. Many spaces that claim an acceptance of diversity, are anything but. I have witnessed the unthinkable of gay men harassing and dehumanizing transgender people. I have also heard from Autistic LGBTQIA+ people who have gone to events and asked to leave because they fidget, stim or talk too loudly. Many LGBTQIA+ events happen in buildings that are not accessible for disabled people. I spoke up to the gay owner of an establishment to make him aware that the automatic door opener was not working. The owner told me that he was planning to take it out. The building was built before sometime in the 1960's, and the Americans with Disabilities Act allows business owners who conduct their businesses in buildings before the 1960's are not required to update the buildings for disability accessibility. Many Pride celebrations are flooded with messages of "Diversity is our strength." The truth is the first riot at the Stonewall Inn took place with Latinos and Transgender people marching against the brutality that was taking place there. Yet, many Pride celebrations have been dominated by white supremacy, corporations and consumerism. Back in 2001, I was completely floored when I heard that there is a separate Black Pride celebration in July in Minneapolis to recognize black LGBTQIA+ people.
There is also another Pride celebration during June that often goes unnoticed. Autistic Pride this year takes place on June 18th. Autistic Pride is a day during which Autistic people celebrate who we are without shame or the need to change. We are people who are proud of who we are and how we exist. It is so fitting that Autistic Pride takes place during June. The overlap of Autistic people who are queer is enormous.
In 2018, I learned that The Autism Society of Minnesota has an Escape Tent in Loring Park during Pride. It is a place in the park where Autistic and other Neurodivergents can go to find some shade from the bright sun. The space is air conditioned. There are tables where one can sit there and color. A fidgets table that those who need to wind down or motivate themselves to go back out into the park. I have been a monitor in that tent for many years, and while it also wears me out, it is a great thing to have a place to go.
I am so looking forward to a different perspective of Pride this year.
On June 20th this year, Today's Autistic Moment will go live for the first time at the event Quiet Riot at Queermunity. Queermunity is owned and operated by AuDHD and Queer people. Quiet Riot is a Sensory-Friendly Pride Celebration. It is an event where Pride is not toned-down, it is reframed. There will be many events that go on throughout the day. The live broadcast will be from 11:30am-12:30pm. The team will give our listeners a tour and talk about Queermunity and how making a Neurodivergent Queer community space has given both groups a way to celebrate Pride in a way that works for them.
At a time when Autistic and Queer people are struggling for our right to exist, the celebration of Pride definitely has a place of honor. And so we should celebrate Autistic and LGBTQIA+ Pride. It is also important to remember those who have taken up leadership roles in all of the communities that make up who we are, and started movements to change the systems that harm us. We are far from finished. The important take away from Pride is to allow the attitudes that are within us that have shaped what we believe to be "normal vs. abnormal" in our attitudes, thoughts and behaviors to give way to acceptance and advocacy in whatever way we can so that equal rights, and opportunities for equity are made more possible for everyone.
