64,000 square miles of Pride

June was Pride Month! While it was nice to see everyone’s logo briefly turn rainbow colors for the last 30 days, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what it actually means to support the LGBTQ+ community in a time when showing pride can feel dangerous.

Attacks on the LGBTQ+ community, and the trans community in particular, may not be anything new, but they do seem to be coming fast and furious these days. There are the so-called Don’t Say Gay laws in Florida and elsewhere. There are more and more restrictions on transgender girls and women’s participation in sports and on gender-affirming health care. There’s the white supremacist group in Idaho who were preparing to riot at a local Pride parade. There’s the newly adopted platform of the Texas GOP that called homosexuality an “abnormal lifestyle choice” and suggested that LGBTQ+ people should not be legally protected from discrimination. And just a few miles from where I live in Baltimore, someone intentionally burned a Pride flag that ultimately set four homes on fire and sent multiple people to the hospital.

HerChesapeake’s mission is to create safe, supportive and collaborative spaces for women working for a healthier Chesapeake Bay - no matter who you are, where you come from or how you identify. We embrace social justice for everyone and welcome all people of all genders, including trans, non-binary and gender nonconforming individuals. We might not be able to control the tide of hateful attacks happening in the world today, but as an organization committed to advancing equity, we want to do our part in ensuring that our community empowers everyone to bring their full selves to the table in a safe space.

Rainbow logos are great, but we all need to do more to truly uplift, protect and support LGBTQ+ people in our workplaces, organizations and communities no matter what month of the year it is.