As Pride Month nears its close, know that the queer community will endure, celebrate and battle on

Pride Month offers opportunities for celebration but also collective action on behalf of the LGBTQ+ community, writes Harrison Baker. (Getty Images)

Kansas Reflector opinion editor Clay Wirestone has already touched on what Pride Month means, and why it is important. I would like to echo that sentiment, despite it being late in the month. Pride is a fundamental and intrinsic part of the queer identity, and it must be celebrated, not only by members of the queer community but by those who ally themselves with us.

Pride events are valuable, even the lighthearted and (if I may borrow from Wirestone) gaudy and theatrical ones. Bubbly, and campy celebrations contrast the stark, stoic, and solemn protests. It is unfortunate that the queer community must still protest for its rights, but I cannot be surprised as many oppressed identities must do the same.

I recently attended KC Pride. At first, I felt ennui. I wasn’t sure if I was going to have a good time.

It was little hot, and as I have written previously, I have not really felt like I had the strength to be unflaggingly hopeful. Really, I was attending because a friend of mine invited me.

But something changed as I looked around. What I saw gave me hope and reminded me of the power inherent in community. I felt the bass from performers on stage and heard the sounds of community. I got to see queer love on the faces of people who were younger than I was when I first kissed another man, and I could feel my heart swell.

I saw so many people, young and old, free and happy. I could tell that for some of these queer folk this was the first time they were able to express their true selves without fear. I know this because their facial expression, one of wonderment, tinged with the overwhelming feeling of belonging, was the same one I wore when first attending Pride.

At the same time, there was a small frisson of fear.

Pride events can be dangerous. The FBI and Department of Homeland Security issued a warning that Pride events could be targets of “foreign terrorist organizations,” abroad and in the United States. Eight years ago, 49 of my spiritual relatives were gunned down, and 53 more wounded, at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Just existing as a queer person is dangerous, too. In November 2023, the Human Rights Campaign released the latest data on the murders of transgender individuals. From November 2022 to November 2023, at least 33 trans and gender nonconforming people were killed, with 51% being Black trans women.

This fear is not unreasonable. Violence against queer individuals is growing, and the language, rhetoric and actions of those in power are making things worse. Hateful legislation keeps passing. This year, 516 anti-queer bills have been discussed. Kansas is no exception, with 16 being introduced over the legislative session. It’s not surprising that the Kansas Legislature, ruled by the radical right, would continue to pass harmful legislation, considering what it has done in the past .

I know I sound like a broken record, but the time for change has long since passed.

In this moment I am reminded of a Harvey Milk quote: “It takes no compromise to give people their rights. … It takes no money to respect the individual. It takes no political deal to give people freedom. It takes no survey to remove repression.”

If you read this quote and you immediately challenge it, I suggest you take a moment, collect your thoughts and examine how you have come to this point in your life.

If your immediate reaction to someone demanding equality — the freedom to not be murdered because of who you love or your identity — is to challenge the idea that they should have that equality, you must reexamine your life and values.

More than ever, my community needs the support of allies. The trans community needs the rest of the queer community to come together and support each other.

Audre Lorde said it well: “You do not have to be me in order for us to fight alongside each other. I do not have to be you to recognize that our wars are the same.”

As things will likely get worse before they get better, we must stick together.

Pride Month is more than a celebration. Pride is more than a protest. Pride is an idea, a concept and one that so terrifies the radical right that legislation must be passed to curtail it and force queer people to live in fear. Personally, I want the bad actors and people who reject my existence wholesale to be frightened of me and the power my community has.

Queerness is powerful, prolific, and divine. Queer people will not go gently into that good night, and death shall have no dominion over us. I stand by those words.

I stand by the words of another one of my favorite Harvey Milk quotes: “If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door.”

Our influence in this world does not end when we pass from it, and our legacies continue to fight on and empower the next generation of activism.

Our collective queer legacy and impact on this world are immeasurable. My life is infinitely richer for the love I have felt from my community, my friends and my fiancé. I live free and am beholden to none but those I wish to be. I know this sentiment is echoed by others in my community, and more still wish for nothing but to feel this sentiment. I know they will.

Pride is here to stay, but beyond that, make sure that during this month of celebration and sadness that you reach out to your queer loved ones. Even though the month is almost over, they will appreciate it. Reiterate to them how much they mean to you and double down on your promises to protect them from the world and those that wish to harm us.

For my queer family, you are never alone, even if it feels like it, and remember that community is of the utmost importance.

No one can guarantee absolute safety, there will always be bad people in the world. For all my words and calls to action I cannot wave a magic wand and make this world a better place. I wish I could. I wish I could make it so no queer kid ever has to feel out of place again. I wish I could make it so no trans person is ever kicked out of their home again. I wish for a lot of things, but wishing doesn’t change anything.

Change will happen. I have faith in the arc of justice. But until then, I want all queer folk to remember the words of Audre Lorde — “We are powerful because we have survived” — and to know that you are loved.

Harrison Baker is a lifelong resident of Kansas and works as an attorney. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here .

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