LGBT+ Pride celebrations are happening all over the world and Jamaica is set to have their celebrations during August 1 – 7. This year, the theme is Celebrating LGBT Life & Culture in Jamaica, the Caribbean and the Diaspora. #PRiDEJA2017

I have often heard the question asked, “Why does there have to be a gay pride?” This question is often followed by: “You don’t see straight people walking up and down half-naked in a parade.” People who ask this question make a false equivalence between the experiences of heterosexual people and the experiences of those who identify under the LGBT+ umbrella. It is the personal experiences of LGBT+ individuals that make Pride celebrations extremely important and relevant. As the feminist adage goes, “The personal is political.”

This article will not consider violence. We tend to equate hardships and challenges for LGBT+ persons as being only about violence. The danger being that the absence of violence is understood as tolerance, as many in Jamaica have falsely argued. Rather, this piece will consider why Pride matters, considering the issues the LGBT+ community faces that are often not given media attention.

Pride matters for the 18-year-old boy who cannot let his mother know that every time he talks about his “girlfriend” he is actually talking about his boyfriend. That 18-year-old is filled with anxiety and fear because he knows about teenagers being kicked out. He knows what a ‘gully queen’ is. He doesn’t want to end up on the streets with an incomplete education. He can’t get rid of the feelings he has and his house is not big enough for him to not hear his mother calling the “gay lifestyle” immoral and nasty. He notices how his loving mother’s expression sours the minute she sees a gay character on the TV. Pride celebrations give this 18-year-old boy hope.

Pride matters for the 32-year-old woman who gets anxious when Valentine’s Day comes around. She knows who she wants to be her valentine, but she also knows she isn’t allowed public displays of affection on the day designated for these displays. She doesn’t know how her co-workers, her family members, or her community will respond to her should they find out her valentine is a woman. Pride gives this 32-year-old woman opportunity.

Pride matters for the 23-year-old trans woman who walks by the MAC store in Liguanea and is too afraid to go in. She wants to express herself, if even only at night, but the store is open in the day and she already knows what people call her behind her back. She doesn’t want to add more attention to herself by openly buying make-up. But if she tries to buy it online, they might get her shade wrong. Pride gives this 23-year-old woman courage.

Pride matters for all those gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men and are afraid to go into pharmacies and ask for lubrication. They anticipate the frowns and sharp stares from the cashier. They know it’s better to use proper lubrication given its much safer, but it’s also safer to keep your identity to yourself when in public spaces. They don’t want to jeopardise that. Pride gives these men a safe place.

Pride matters for all the queer people who have to call their partners their “friends”, “cousins”, “brothers”, or “sisters” in public to ward off attention from their unmistakable affection for each other. They have to deny themselves, their love, and their bond just to get by. Pride celebrates their unions.

Pride matters for people who are agender, bigender, polysexual, pansexual, asexual, intersex, genderqueer, and all other identities that we don’t bother to learn about. These individuals’ identities are invisible to a world that only understands “every man grab a gyal”. Their identities are not bound by binaries of gender and sexuality but are called ridiculous because we are taught to think narrowly. We are raised to exclude them but Pride gives them visibility.

Pride matters for all the ways the world makes or forces us to be invisible; whether it is not wearing the clothes we want to or it is lying on legal documents. Not only do we learn to hide ourselves, we are also erased in laws and policies, in research, and in the little things that happen in our everyday lives. Pride gives us the power to write our own stories, proudly live our own lives, and flip off everyone (especially those close to us) who would seek to mask who we are.

Glenroy Murray is the policy and advocacy manager for Equality for All Foundation, as well as policy officer for WE-Change. Send comments to the Observer or glenroy.am.murray@gmail.com.