An article by Chris Gunner, Customer Success Manager

Throughout the month of June, Tassomai has been sharing blogs celebrating Pride Month.  We’ve been lucky enough to speak with some of our schools to learn how they support and uplift their LGBTQ+ students, and we’re proud of how our workplace culture and values allow everyone to be their true and authentic selves. The support that we’ve had has been wonderful… except, that is, for one email from a parent:

I do not want to see this* everytime I open this app. Why does Pride get more focus than any other charity and what does it have to do with science? Please stop pushing this agenda onto our kids and now parents.

*this being the link to one of our blog posts.

As a gay man, this email frustrated me no end. Partly because so much of this is factually incorrect, but also because of the ignorant and harmful implications contained within this parent’s words. So, as we draw this year’s Pride Month to a close, I’d like to unpick this a bit, and hopefully explain why Pride isn’t a charity, it’s a protest – and one that is still as important today as when it began.

Roots in resistance  

As mentioned, Pride isn’t a charity. There are plenty of incredible LGBTQ+ charities out there – Terrence Higgins Trust, Not a Phase, Impulse, Stonewall to name but a few – but Pride itself is different. It has roots in resistance. 

On June 28th, 1970, the first Pride parade – or gay liberation march as it was then known – took place on Christopher Street, New York. Exactly one year prior, the Stonewall Riots had taken place – an iconic moment in queer history. This act of resistance had conceived and galvanized the gay rights movement, culminating in the march on Christopher Street. 2 years later, London had its own march, with approximately 2000 participants.  

Later marches would often be used to highlight awareness of stigmas facing the community, such as the HIV/AIDS crisis of the 1980s, or protests against Section 28.  My point is that Pride is not a charity – it is a movement borne from anger at injustice, while simultaneously being a celebration of our otherness.

Who we are

Next, there’s the question: “what does it have to do with science?” Well, Pride itself might not have much to do with it, but one of the reasons for Pride existing most certainly does. Who we are, and who we love, is down to our DNA.  It’s our genetic code. Our biology. As anyone who’s been using Tassomai for even a minute can tell you, biology… is science.

Contrary to harmful beliefs, being gay, bi or anything else among the spectrum isn’t a choice. Nor is it a sin. It is simply who we are; who we were born to become. There are also plenty of examples of homosexual behaviours demonstrated within the animal kingdom, yet homophobia is exclusively found in one animal.

Forever pushing our agenda

And now for the final aspect of this email. The supposed agenda we’re pushing. If it’s an agenda to want to walk down the street holding my other half’s hand and not fear a slur, object or fist being hurled at us, then yes, I DO have an agenda. The first and only item on said agenda is: live freely and happily. Pride, at its core, is about telling everyone, loudly and proudly, that it is okay to be who you are, and that there is a vibrant, passionate and loving community that will understand you and accept you. And that’s one agenda I am, and always will be, proud to push.

At the time of writing this, 3 days ago a gay bar in Oslo was assaulted by a gunman, resulting in dozens of wounded and two tragic deaths. Earlier in the year, Florida senators passed a bill, nicknamed ‘Don’t Say Gay’, that prevented the discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in schools. No matter how far we’ve come, Pride is still very much vital in 2022.  And if a student reads one of our blog posts during Pride Month, and for a brief moment feels seen, understood and respected…then that’s not just a daily goal, but a goal for life.