Peter Boghossian doesn’t understand what Pride means

“I’ve never understood how someone could be proud of being gay. How can one be proud of something one didn’t work for?”

-Peter Boghossian via Facebook

I don’t know who Peter Boghossian is (apparently he’s an atheist), but I do know that the above statement is a willfully ignorant one to make. Why?

Shorter Me:

Did you bother asking any gay people? Did you consult an online dictionary? Did you check wikipedia? Did you Google ‘Gay Pride’?  Did you do any damn work, or do you take pride in being an ignorant fuck?

Longer me:

Gay Pride (technically LGBT pride) is about being comfortable in your skin. It’s about being happy that you’re able to live your life as who you are, on your own terms. Why is this important? Society (I’m speaking here of the United States, but really, this extends across the planet) sends certain messages to LGBT people:

  • we’re child molesters
  • we’re immoral
  • we’re perverts
  • we’re sexual deviants
  • we’re mentally ill
  • we’re going to hell
  • we’re a disappointment
  • we don’t deserve to get married to the person we love
  • we don’t deserve to be free from discrimination in the workplace
  • we deserve to be thrown out on the streets and cut off from all support
  • we deserve to be the object of scorn and ridicule
  • there’s something so wrong with us that we deserve to be bullied, beaten and killed
  • that god hates us and wants us stoned
  • that we’re unworthy of being loved
  • that we shouldn’t be able to visit our loved one in the hospital
  • that we shouldn’t be allowed to adopt kids
  • that AIDS is our fault
  • that we’re sexually promiscuous
  • that natural disasters are our fault, because god is mad at us
  • that gay men aren’t real men
  • that lesbians just need the right man to turn them around
  • that the gender dysphoria experienced by trans people isn’t real
  • that our very existence is the cause of the downfall of entire nations

See what all those have in common? They aim to shame LGBT people for who they are. All those messages and more are sent to LGBT people all the fucking time. We’re taught that there’s something so wrong with us that we need to hide it. That we need to suppress it. That we need to conform to how others think we should look and act. That our expression of who and what we are is so foul that we ought to be ashamed.

Pride is about taking all that and saying FUCK THAT NOISE.

It’s about recognizing that we are human, we deserve rights, we deserve equality, and that we’re not going to be shamed any longer. It’s about saying “We’re here. We’re queer. And we’re not going anywhere.” It’s about telling the world that you damn well WILL accept us for who we are. It’s telling the world that there is nothing wrong with us psychologically, sexually, physically, or emotionally. It’s standing up to the bullies and saying THIS STOPS NOW. It’s about being free in your own skin, and being able to exist in the world on our own terms.  It’s about being proud that you’ve survived what society has thrown at you.

It’s about saying “No more. This is who we are. We will hide no more. We will be ashamed no more. We are proud of who we are.”

Peter Boghossian could have learned that in a few seconds if he actually cared to learn the answer. But clearly he did not. He asked a rhetorical question. One he’d already come up with an answer to. He doesn’t think we should be prideful.

Well I’m sorry to disappoint you pal, but I…WE do not exist on this planet for you. We don’t seek your approval. We don’t want your approval.  We don’t care whether you agree with Gay Pride or not.  So kindly fuck the fuck off.

In response to Boghossian, Greta Christina explains Pride in an easily digestible way. 

Oh, and thanks to Ophelia Benson, I now know that Peter Boghossian is considered vewwy important in the atheist community. Gee, we really needed another ignorant, insensitive bigwig asshole (or thought leader, take your pick).

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Peter Boghossian doesn’t understand what Pride means
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