Good morning, and happy Pride! It is an honor to speak with you today as we raise the rainbow flag — to honor our history, reflect on the present and manifest our future.
My name is Dr. Mateo Cruz, and I am an assistant professor of Management. I study how unconscious, invisible and hidden dynamics influence behavior in groups and organizations. It is from that perspective I share my reflections about some of the less visible aspects of Pride.
I call these “The 3 Ps of Pride” …
Number 1. Pride is a Process
There are generations of past and current queer and trans children who must hide themselves in plain sight; still the joy of their first crushes; and dim their creative light for fear of expulsion, excommunication or extinction.
When asked what Pride means to them, a friend said: “Comfort in my own skin and the intersection of queerness and self-love.” Another added: “Radical self-love.” And a third said: “It’s a celebration with joy for something that for many of us used to be our deepest shame.”
Pride is a Process because it requires we overcome shame to celebrate self.
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umber 2. Pride is a Privilege
Those of us who celebrate do so openly because we have the privilege to, and we march for those who cannot — the undocumented, the incarcerated, those from countries where queerness remains illegal, the teachers and youth in Florida, Alabama, Ohio, Louisiana and 10 other states silenced under “Don’t Say Gay” bills, and our trans family currently facing 240 pieces of legislation that will determine if they can receive gender affirming care, use the public bathroom, play school sports or be recognized by their names and pronouns in the college classroom.
Pride is a Privilege because we can stand up and fight back, something we must do louder than ever this year as more states move to ban bodies, borders and books.
Number 3. Pride is Power
Pride is Power because it sets us free.
As LGBTQ+ people, you join a legacy of spiritual warriors who since the dawn of time chose to live their truth and brave the consequences, even if it meant losing everything they loved, and even when it did.
I call you spiritual warriors because I am of the strong belief that queerness and gender expansiveness are not biological traits, certainly not learned behaviors, but spiritual gifts bestowed on a small percentage of the population to remind us: to love without fear, to live outside the boundaries and to lead from a place of deep conviction, compassion and courage.
In sum:
Pride is a Process that connects us back to ourselves.
Pride is a Privilege that bridges us across intersectional differences.
And Pride is Power because it transforms our deepest fears into our greatest gifts.
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