I have a confession to make: I'm a thirty-four year old bisexual transman, and I've only been to one pride event in my entire life, and only for a few minutes.
Growing up queer in the South, I didn't even know what "gay pride" was. Hell, I didn't even know any other queer folks until I was in high school - at least none I knew of. The one and only queer person in my family was shunned and spoken of in hushed tones, when he was spoken of at all.
It wasn't until I moved to Upstate NY that I discovered a whole community of people like myself. Mind you, we're in a small, white bread town, so it's not like it's queer utopia around here. But it is nice to be able to reach out to others like myself.
Why haven't I been to a Pride event, though?
The first one I ever even heard of was several years ago. At that time, I was living in the closet while I raised my step kids. (It's a long story, but it was my decision and it was the right one, based on the circumstances we were in.) Going to pride wasn't really an option for me.
The next time I heard of one, my husband and I went. Unfortunately, the skies opened up about fifteen minutes in, and our outdoor celebration ended prematurely.
Since then, our town hasn't had a Pride event. The closest one is in another town about 45 minutes away. I have ambitions to go, but sadly the stars keep aligning against me every time.
For me, though, Pride is more than an event or a parade. Pride is living my life out loud every day. Pride is looking in the mirror and not hating myself for things I can't change. Pride is detaching from a toxic family who refused to accept me. Pride is surrounding myself with people who don't judge me, who love me for who I am, or even in spite of who I am on some days!
For my prize today, I'm offering up any the winner's choice of one (1) free pdf of any of my GLBTQ stories, found at www.dcjuris.com. Remember, only GLBTQ stories are up for grabs.
GOOD LUCK!
****PLEASE BE AWARE: I write GLBTQ romance. GLBTQ stands for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer. This means my works feature same sex relationships AND same sex sexual acts. If winning that kind of a book isn't your cup of tea, kindly pass on to the next blog in the hop and leave the spot open for someone else. Thank you.****
