By Mairiah McDonald
When I was young, I knew I was LGBTQIA+ before I had any idea what that actually meant. I knew, too, at the same age, that I was loved and accepted by my mom, no matter what identity fit me best.
It is a joke among my family that none of us ever had to “come out” because there were no doors on our closets. This experience is not the norm in my community. I know people who have feared their whole life what the repercussions of simply being themselves would be. I know people who have had absolute atrocities done to them for the sole crime of being LGBTQIA+, all done by the people who are supposed to love them unconditionally.
Apparently, when it comes to being Queer, some conditions may apply.
There was only one member of my family that I was worried might not accept me for who I am. She is a godly woman, the kind who might be inclined to hold up hateful signs on a corner, but she did not. In fact, she went to her first Pride parade before I did, offering “free grandma hugs.”
This year, she was again wearing a shirt offering hugs to those who need them but was also a member of “The Queen’s Guard,” a group of strong-willed and brave individuals who stood between the marchers of the Pride parade and those same hateful people with hateful signs. Her love for the LGBTQIA+ people in her family is far stronger than any mistranslated verse in a Bible could ever be.
On the 17th of June, I sat in my living room frantically making three rainbow tutus. One for me, one for my sister, and one for my mom. I searched into the depths of my closet for my most colorful ensemble. I donned my gay apparel, tied on my comfiest shoes, and headed out the door, now fully prepared for the nearly 2-mile Pride walk from the Soldotna sports center to the Soldotna Creek Park.
I had been looking forward to this event for months, and I knew exactly what I would find once I got there. Drag queens, sure, but more importantly, I would find love, acceptance, comradery and community, the freedom to be oneself, joy and elation, and an overwhelming amount of pride. These are the feelings that I crave, all year, waiting for the one day I am free to express them, wholeheartedly, in public.
This feeling was, however, dampened by people in our town who hold hatred in their hearts and hateful words on a sign, screaming bigotry at the people, children included, that walked the Pride parade. They were first at the corner of Sterling Highway and Kalifornsky Beach Road. They then hopped in cars and drove to the corner of Sterling Highway and Soldotna Creek Park to bombard us yet again.
These people knew exactly what they would find in the park that day, as it was thoroughly advertised, and they showed up with purpose. They wanted to be offended. They wanted to be hateful. They wanted to have a reason to get rid of us and our joy.
And, it seems, they have found one. They stole a video taken by someone who was enthusiastically enjoying the planned entertainment for the night, the drag queens, and cropped it down to one image that furthers their agenda. They are on public forums demanding that no such event ever take part out in the open again. They would rather we be subjected back into the deep dark closets they put us in where they can forget all about us.
Drag is an art form, it is expression, it is performance, it is beauty, it is fun. And, it was very well advertised.
The people in the park that night knew exactly what they would find there. The stage faces away from the public park, no child could see in if they were not actively trying to do so, and furthermore, this event happened late in the evening. The park was reserved, the same as it would be for any other event, and we have just as much right to be there as anyone else.
To the people crying out to “protect the children” I implore you to actually think of the children. Think of the ones you know, think of how you talk around them. Would they be worried to come out to you? Should they be?
I guarantee that at least one child you know, who listens carefully to the things you say, is part of the LGBTQIA+ community. Would they be scared of you? I promise you, that listening to hateful words from those they love is far more harmful to the children than seeing a drag show.
But if you are really that worried about it? Just don’t go. That is your right, just as mine is to attend.
Do better.
Mairiah McDonald is a Proud member of the LGBTQIA+ community and slightly less proud member of the Kenai Peninsula community.
