Hear from Gen Z creators and artists all about why it’s important to celebrate queerness and champion equality and liberation 24/7, 365 days a year.
Related: Rainbow Washing 101: Why Pride Goes Beyond Putting A Rainbow Sticker On A Product
Although people are known to celebrate Pride Month in June in commemoration of the Stonewall uprising in the Unites States, the point has been made over and over again that celebrating the existence and acknowledging the struggle of the LGBTQIA+ community are everyday endeavors. Pride is more than just a colorful celebration of the beauty of love and embracing identity, but also a protest against the injustice and discrimination all queer people, of all sexualities, identities, and ages, experience.
Championing diversity, inclusivity, and queer joy and safety goes beyond tolerance and performative Pride Month marketing actions—it requires a critical examination of the struggles the LGBTQIA+ community face, as well as an openness to embrace and celebrate people’s sexualities, identities, and gender expressions in all forms. It requires giving the community the freedom to exist as they are and love as they do.
patungong kalayaan! ✊🌈
— Xave 💾 (@BAKLAANSTATION) June 22, 2024
happy pride! pic.twitter.com/DSCjHMhFpR
With all media platforms highlighting queerness in ways we haven’t seen before and allies growing in number, it’s clear we’ve moved quite a bit away from the shame, silence, and discrimination that has marked queer existence. But with things like the SOGIE Bill still in limbo in the Philippine Senate, and rampant discrimination and harassment against the queer community, it’s also clear that there’s still a long way to go.
And no one knows that better than the out, loud, and proud Filipino youth of today, sparkling brightly as they lead the way to a more just and open future. So, we’ve rounded up a few Filipino Gen Z artists and creatives to tell us exactly why it’s important to celebrate Pride and the LGBTQIA+ community all day, every day, all year round.
Why is it important to celebrate Pride and the LGBTQIA+ community all year round?
Pepper and Caz, Content Creators
Celebrating Pride and the LGBTQIA+ community all year round is crucial because it keeps the fight for equality, acceptance, and visibility alive every day, not just in June. It is akin to how we celebrate pageantry, such as Miss Universe Philippines, as it celebrates the beauty of humanity.
The Pride Community reminds us that being different is something to be embraced, celebrating the beauty in our diversity, fostering openness to an assortment of perspectives, possibilities, and supporting everyone in the community continuously.
Photo by Myrr Augusti
Gail, Artist
I think it’s really important to celebrate queer joy and artists all year round. The LGBT+ community has pioneered so much of the culture in the world today, and with the amount of sacrifices and hardships queer people have faced and continue to face to this day, it’s necessary to uplift queer voices always. As a proud queer artist myself, I find so much delight being with queer people and surrounding them in my life, queerness is beautiful and should be acknowledged as much as possible.
Sai, Animator & Illustrator
It’s important to celebrate pride and the queer community all year round because we’re not just a one time thing, we exist, we’re as real as every non queer person on earth is. We’ve laughed, smiled, cried, and survived in a world that was built without people like us in mind, and everyday we’re fighting for our right to still be here.
Deo Cabrera, Content Creator
It’s important that Pride is not just a one-month thing, because the struggles of the queer community happen everyday, from queer youth getting bullied daily in school to society as a whole not recognizing trans individuals. We must continuously acknowledge that the fight in passing the SOGIE Bill, ending gender-based violence, giving justice for Jennifer Laude, and many many more does not stop at the end of pride month.
Ron, Artist
Pride is more than just a celebration, but a resistance for queer liberation and equality for all. Being a member of the LGBTQIA+, everyday is a struggle for genuine acceptance—that’s why we must have the spirit of pride all year round because we resist to exist everyday.
Images courtesy of the respective individuals.
Continue Reading: What Is Queer Joy? Empower And Celebrate Through Another Aspect Of Queer Existence
