I have a number of news and/or gay news websites that I often look at online to see what the latest headlines and/or musings about the queer world are...and one that I check frequently is 365gay.com.  I happened upon a blog on that site today that really resonated with me.   You can read the entire blog, written by Nick Krieger---a queer trans activist and writer, by clicking HERE. 

In short, though, Krieger is opining the very clear divides that seem to exist between the various segments of the LGBTQ community.  To the outside world, we are frequently willing to throw out the full alphabet-soup-acronym as a unified community fighting for equality or rights or compassion.  Within our own community circles, however, the connective tissue between the L, the G, the B, and the T is often not so clear----and then when you throw that pesky (and controversial) Q into the mix, all bets are often off.  Krieger speaks very well in his writing to what the word "queer" means to him (something I often find myself explaining and/or defending to the world, including the LGBTQ world, around me)...

...but he also draws attention to some realities that have long bugged me about our community:  Biphobia among gay & lesbian folks.  Transphobia among gay, lesbian & bisexual folks. Sexism/mysogyny among gay men.  I would even go a step further and say that I am perplexed and saddened when I see other forms of stigma or prejudice amongst LGBTQ folks----ageism, racism, classism, ableism, HIV-stigma, etc.  It is an unfortunate truth that the experience of many is that in some ways, the LGBTQ community is a community divided....a community so concerned with solidifiying the lines that separate us by our differences from one another that we often lose sight of how valuable & powerful the diversity created by those differences truly is.

As we enter the month of June, PRIDE month for many queer communities all over the country and world (except here in Rochester where we celebrate in July! *smile*), I would just like to echo Krieger's call on queer people to start valuing and taking PRIDE not only in members of our community who are like us----but ALL members of our community...especially those who are distinct and different from ourselves!