WEB EXCLUSIVE

For centuries, queer people have been shamed, shunned, tortured, murdered, and worse. They’ve been kicked out of their homes, outcasted from society, bullied by classmates, and humiliated before their peers – all because of their identity not fitting into the “norm” crafted by our civilization and its dated religious values.

Though, throughout the past two decades, we’ve begun to see more LGBTQ+ representation in media and even daily life. There are now gay characters on our favorite television shows, our local Target has a pride section, our history teacher has a rainbow flag hanging beside their desk – all things that never would’ve been considered acceptable in the past. In fact, you’d be hung or tortured to death for even thinking about it.

A fitting example of this would be the annual Come Out With Pride Festival presented by The Glass Knife that took place this year in Orlando on October 9th. Entire streets were covered in rainbows, enormous glitter-covered floats strolled down the road as watchers cheered in glee, queer people proudly paraded through the crowds with the sort of confidence that was unheard of not too long ago.

Despite most of them being complete strangers, there was a homey atmosphere full of people who were proud of their identity and how far the world has come. It was a place welcome to everyone in the community whether they’d been out of the closet for years, were still in the questioning process of their identity, or even a mere ally.

While there continue to be areas of improvement, the velocity of acceptance of the community has increased at an unimaginable rate. Considering the pattern of history, this is a substantial change from how queer people used to feel toward themselves and how they identify. Instead of being ashamed, they’re now able to feel unconditional pride within themselves.