Last year, I wrote about the history of Pride Month. Here is the link to the article: https://www.thisawfulawesomelife.com/home/2025/5/31/june-2025-pride-month-by-fran-joyce?rq=Pride%20Month
This year I want to address two comments I often hear about days weeks, and months dedicated to minorities and marginalized groups.
1. Why don’t we have Straight Pride Month, White History Month, or Men’s History Month?
2. These special months are nothing more than participation trophies.
Pick up a history book, listen to a conservative Christian politician or pundit, and you’ll realize that every month is Straight White Men’s Pride/History Month. No one wants to erase the accomplishments of straight white men, we just want contributions by the LGBTQIA+ community, African Americans, Indigenous Peoples, Women, Asians, Hispanics, and all races, cultures, and religions to be fully recognized and not tagged as DEI.
The following people are living or deceased members of the LGBTQ+ community. They deserve recognition for their accomplishments and the challenges they faced because of discrimination. They are a source of pride for their community and the world community.
Sally Ride was an astronaut because she was qualified, not because of her gender or sexual orientation. Ride believed she had to hide her sexual orientation to become an astronaut and continue her career with NASA. She earned advanced degrees in physics (B.S., M.S., and PhD) and a B.A in English literature. She was twice awarded the NASA Space Flight Medal and inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame in addition to numerous other awards. In 2013, she was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Alan Turing was a mathematician and computer scientist responsible for cracking intercepted “Enigma” coded messages used by German armed forces during World War II. He and his team’s work is estimated to have shortened the war by two years saving approximately 14 million lives. In 1952, Turing was arrested in the United Kingdom for homosexuality and charged with ‘gross indecency.” To avoid prison and continue his work, he was forced to agree to chemical castration. In 2013, he received a posthumous royal pardon. His case inspired the Turing Law in 2016 which pardoned many living and deceased men convicted of having consensual same-sex relationships.
Benjamin Barres was an American neurobiologist at Stanford University. His research focused on the interactions between neurons and glial cells in the nervous system. Barres was assigned female at birth, but at age 17, he learned he had been born with Müllerian agenesis and received a surgical correction. In 1997, he transitioned to male. Barres later reflected on the discrimination he received in school and from the scientific community before he transitioned. As a female Barre was denied entry into several advanced classes in science and passed over for prestigious awards and grants. He openly spoke about contemplating suicide before he decided to transition. He was the first openly transgender member of the National Academy of Sciences. His scientific contributions to neuroscience include research on neurodegeneration, vertebrate nervous system development, programmed cell death, and regeneration of neurons.
Openly LGBTQ state leaders include:
· Jóhanna Sigurdardottir, Prime Minister of Iceland from 2009-2013.
· Elio Di Rupo, Prime Minister of Belgium from 2011-2014.
· Xavier Bettel, Prime Minister of Luxembourg from 2013-2023.
· Leo Varadkar, Taoiseach of Ireland from 2017 – 2020 and 2022- 2024.
· Ana Brnabić, Prime Minister of Serbia from 2017-2024.
· Xavier Espot Zamora, Prime Minister of Andorra from 2019 to present.
· Paolo Romdelli, Captain Regent of San Marino 1 April 2022-1 October 2022.
· Edgars Rinkēvičs, President of Latvia from 2023 – present.
· Gabriel Attal, Prime Minister of France 9 January 2024 – 5 September 2024.
· Rob Jetten, prime Minister of Netherlands 2026- present.
Openly LGBTQ American members of Congress:
· Senator Tammy Baldwin, first woman and openly gay person elected to Congress from Wisconsin.
· Representative Sarah McBride of Delaware, first openly transgender member of Congress in U.S. History.
· Representative Julie Johnson from Texas is the first openly LGBTQ+ member of Congress representing a Southern state.
· Representative Emily Randall, first queer Latina and openly LGBTQ+ person to represent Washington state in Congress.
· Representative Mark Takano from California, first openly gay person of color elected to Congress. Takano chairs the Congressional Equality Caucus.
· Representative Mark Pocan from Wisconsin, former chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and former co-chair of the Equality Caucus.
· Representative Sharice Davids of Kansas, one of the first Native American women in Congress and the first LGBTQ+ person to represent Kansas in Congress.
· Representative Angie Craig of Minnesota is the first openly gay parent elected to Congress.
· Representative Ritchie Torres of New York is the first out LGBTQ+ Afro-Latino person elected to Congress.
· Representative Chris Pappas is the first openly gay person to represent New Hampshire in Congress.
· Representative Becca Balint is the first woman and openly gay person to represent Vermont in Congress.
· Representative Robert Garcia of California is the first openly gay immigrant elected to Congress.
· Representative Eric Sorenson is the first openly gay person elected to Congress from Illinois.
Other Openly LGBTQ+ American Politicians:
· Pete Buttigieg, former mayor of South Bend, Indiana. First openly gay man to seek the democratic nomination for the U.S, Presidency. First openly gay presidential Cabinet member and former Secretary of Transportation.
· Governor Jared Polis of Colorado
· Governor Maura Healey of Massachusetts
· Governor Tina Kotek of Oregon
· Todd Gloria, Mayor of San Diego, California
Love is love. Happy Pride Month!