As Pride month winds down — at least for those of you outside Orlando since our Pride festival isn’t until Oct. 9 — I can’t help but reflect on what it meant to me in particular as a transgender and lesbian woman. This June had more significant LGBTQ+ happenings than any I can recall in recent memory.
Perhaps as the newly installed communications director for Come Out With Pride Orlando, I was somewhat forced by profession to pay closer attention than in the past but some events were of such import they would have demanded my notice in any year.
June 1 saw me back in Orlando after a Memorial Day weekend spent in Pensacola photographing beautiful lesbians. What awaited me was an important reminder that Pride is more than a party. You see, Gov. Ron DeSantis chose the first day of the month to sign anti-trans legislation that would ban trans girls and young women from playing sports in public secondary schools through college. A totally unnecessary and discriminatory law based on what we know of the tiny number of trans women competing in sports, as well as the science behind medical transition and its effects on trans sports performance.
Now the fact that he signed it wasn’t a surprise since it had been on his desk for weeks, and painting trans women as threats to cisgender women seems to be the demonization du jour of the Republican party nationwide. That he would choose such an auspicious date though couldn’t be seen as anything less than a shot across the proverbial bow of the rights for all LGBTQ+ people.
Indeed, he would sink to despicable new lows the next day by striking funding that would have gone to housing for queer kids and trauma recovery services for Pulse survivors. That DeSantis and Republicans across the country chose this moment to single out one of the most marginalized groups in the LGBTQ+ community for discrimination, was every bit a calculated risk that it would appeal to their base, while not losing them much support amongst a generally gay rights supporting public. They may even had held out hope of driving a wedge between those who support gay people but find themselves much more unsure of their support of trans rights. A position without some merit. I spent a lot of time this month explaining to gay, cisgender people, who saw the new law as reasonable, why the trans youth sports ban is unfair and does great harm to the mental health of the most vulnerable segments of the trans community.
However, I will say that I think the governor and Republicans in general have made a grave miscalculation. Besides the fact that these laws will quite obviously fail in court as unconstitutional and in the end will amount to no more than craven political theater for the sake of pandering and fundraising, I also get the sense that the bold-faced cruelty of them hasn’t been lost on the rest of the gay community. We have seen this sort of backlash before when strides have been made in LGBTQ+ rights and it has always served to galvanize us. We become “Unified by Pride,” if you will, and I have seen evidence of that as well.
The very day that DeSantis signed the anti-trans bill into law, a rally was called for at several cities across Florida in protest. At Orlando City Hall, beyond the usual trans people representing themselves and various organizations, in attendance were gay legislators and leaders from local and statewide LGBTQ+ nonprofits. For the first time that I can recall at similar rallies for trans issues, local television media were on hand covering the proceedings. And in another first, we all stood in the early evening sun under the Progress Pride flag, with its incorporated trans flag, having been raised just that morning thanks to the work of gay city officials. I could feel and see the love from the gay community towards its trans siblings.
However, by far the most prominent example I witnessed happened during the Pulse 5-year Remembrance. In what was already a very emotionally charged atmosphere as Orlando observed a significant milestone date of an event where hate took 49 members and allies of the gay community, Pulse survivor and queer man Brandon Wolf took the stage. He used part of the precious few minutes allotted to him with the world watching to paint a picture of working to create a community where trans kids are protected and Black trans women are celebrated in life instead of honored in death. Even knowing Brandon and how he has shown up for the trans community on his platform, it came as a surprise to me that he would choose to highlight the struggles of trans people in that moment. A powerful call to action and reminder that we are all in the fight together.
Nobody has ever accused me of being a wide-eyed optimist, but I am encouraged. At least as encouraged as I can be with state governments actively trying their best to make my life, and the lives of people like me, as difficult as possible. The trans community may be very small, but I saw this Pride month that we have friends and that will make all the difference.
Melody Maia Monet has her own YouTube channel where she answers lesbian and transgender life questions you are afraid to ask. You can find it at YouTube.com/MelodyMaia.
