“To exist and to love without fear is a right”
I am not here to convince you that all people deserve equality.
I’d like to think you already believe that – on Pride Month or any other month.
In my episode, I quickly summarise several important arguments why we still need Pride and where, among other areas, there’s still a lot of work ahead.
Where might that work be needed in your country?
We have to look at its legal base. For example, the rights and anti-discriminatory laws that exist to protect the LGBTQ community. Media laws regarding LGBTQ representation. Marriage laws.
We can also look at statistics surrounding hate crimes and violence toward our LGBTQ friends.
We can look at heart-breaking statistics on LGBTQ youth suicide rates and different indices on mental health.
In short, even if it’s incomplete, there is a LOT of data showing that in many countries, to use very simple language, the situation is just not great.
That’s why, as I’ve been saying in my previous episodes:
Political representation matters.
Visibility matters.
Raising your voice matters.
It’s a short episode. I hope you find it valuable and even share it with the ones who might appreciate it, too.
But before I proceed to it, let me potentially sabotage my own prospects of you actually listening to it.
Because there are two videos that I would love you to watch.
I’ve seen them multiple times, shared them with friends, and cried….realistically, every time I’d watch them.
They’re beautiful, strong, personal, and very very needed.
First, it is the coming out speech by Elliot Page (then: Ellen Page).
Second, it’s the speech by Rory O’Neil (Panti Bliss), an Irish drag performer and gay rights activist.
They will be worth your time, I promise you. And you will probably want to share them with your friends just like I did.
And now, my episode!
References:
- Maps of anti-LGBT Laws Country by Country, by Human Rights Watch
- A National Epidemic: Fatal Anti-Transgender Violence in the United States in 2019, by Human Rights Watch
- Human Rights Watch statistics, US, 2019
- Brazil: transgender murders increased 41% in 2020, Brazil de Fato
- Associação Nacional de Travestis e Transexuais (ANTRA)
- Suicide rates in the US
- Hungary passes law banning LGBT content in schools or kids’ TV, by The Guardian
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