While I look forward to Pride Week every year, I cannot help but wonder why we frame the event the way we do. The months or weeks dedicated to other communities mainly commemorate past accomplishments or educate under-informed individuals think of Black History Month or Breast Cancer Awareness. These events engage members of their respective communities as well as those beyond them, bringing more people to a common understanding of a given issue.
So why does the LGBTQ community frame our slice of the calendar year as Pride? Conceptually, "pride" is certainly not something unique to the gay community. Any human being can take pride in his or her identity regardless of sexual orientation or gender. It is almost as if we in the LGBTQ community feel the need to justify our existence, to try to tell everyone around us especially our adversaries that we are okay with who we are. But this outlook inherently challenges those who would rather see us institutionalized, incarcerated or worse.
No doubt pride-themed events emerged from a history of civil demonstration, though Pride Week is obviously more benign than previous forms of protest. But by framing our week around "pride," we reinforce the dichotomy that there are those who both ally with and against us, an assertive confrontation that may serve to push away those who disagree with us rather than bridge gaps in understanding. Celebrating LGBTQ culture is certainly fun, important and can improve visibility, but it does not necessarily foster awareness; the week's events do not always reach the individuals with opposing perspectives. While programs like TransForm are wonderful and thought-provoking, who are their intended audiences? Does a cookOUT do more than simply bring hungry students to Collis porch? Current programming misses opportunities to spark dialogue in addition to doling out a hamburger and a chocolate chip cookie.
Certainly, Pride is not exclusively an insular festival, but the programming nonetheless seems to attract predominately LGBTQ individuals and current allies rather than expand the boundaries of understanding, respect and community. While Pride does offer allies opportunities to show their support in a safe and unassuming way, it fails to directly enlarge that ally community itself. We should seize the opportunity to educate those outside our ranks, to reach out to and engage with others in addition to parading our own culture.
Pride Week's sentiment is also problematic in a different way. To say that everyone in the LGBTQ community is "proud" ignores the reality that many are not. For those who are not out, who are not comfortable in their own skin and who wish their families would love them no matter how they identify, "pride" is a distant emotion. While it is great to celebrate LGBTQ life, I wonder why we do not focus more on reaching these individuals and empowering them to access the plethora of resources Dartmouth has to help them.
All this being said, "pride" is not a completely impractical idea in the LGBTQ context. What has resonated with me during Pride Week each year is less a sense of pride in my own identity and more a sense of pride in those around me who have acted to make the LGBTQ community feel safer and happier, especially at Dartmouth. I am proud that when I came out to my freshman year roommate, he said, "I'm 100 percent cool with it, zero judgment, and I admire your courage." I am proud that many campus groups, even within Greek life, actively welcome LGBTQ members and spurn homophobia within and beyond their own walls. I am proud of the LGBTQ professors who have the courage to share their perspectives and knowledge with an accepting generation of students who are further inspired to make the world a more just place. And I am proud of all the students, faculty and staff who actively work to make our community ever more inclusive.
Our school is far from perfect, but conversations with LGBTQ alumni often reassure me that this campus continues to move in a positive direction. Yet we can still work to broaden our communities, rather than divide them. Events like Pride Week must go further than simply celebrating culture if they are to effect the greatest change they must actively connect insiders with outsiders and enable all of us to see life from new perspectives. With this goal in mind, we can rethink the way we approach programming in general on campus and push ourselves to build a Dartmouth that includes all of us, a Dartmouth that makes us all proud.
