On June 9th, 2022, one of my favorite funny-woman icons came out: “I thought I was searching for a Disney Prince,” Rebel Wilson explained to her fans, “but maybe what I really needed all this time was a Disney Princess.” A day earlier, in US primary elections, out LGBTQ candidates won races in California, Iowa, and Montana, meaning they will advance to the November election campaigns. And — though the news cycle has long since left this one behind — let’s not forget that at the end of 2021, Dr. Rachel Levine became the first openly transgender federal official to be confirmed by the Senate. This pride month, let’s take a moment to reflect on all the things that are going right for a change, as comfort and support for the challenges ahead.

LGBTQ+ in Sports

We know it’s true: representation matters — it has mattered for every oppressed minority group.The first Black Pro Football players were Fitz Pollard & Bobby Marshall in 1920, and the first Black player for the modern MBL was Jackie Robinson in 1947. It made a huge difference. So let’s celebrate that in June 2021, Carl Nassib of the Las Vegas Raiders football team came out as gay — making him the first openly gay player to play in a regular-season NFL game.

Meanwhile, at least 183 out LGBTQ athletes competed in the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. As Outsports puts it, “publicly out LGBTQ athletes collectively finished 7th, ahead of France, Germany, Italy, Canada and Brazil.” That’s not just representing, that’s bringing it home with 11 Gold, 13 Silver, and 9 Bronze! It’s also the first time the world saw openly transgender competitors at the Olympic Games.

Do we have battles to fight? Yes. Much of this has happened even as anti-trans legislation sweeps through the US (most especially as it concerns sports). But these are incredible and historic wins; we are here. We demand rights and protection. Just seeing those athletes provides hope for a future where everyone can compete on equal footing.

LGBTV

Since we’re talking about representation — we must take a moment to appreciate the absolute banquet of new television shows with LGBTQ+ characters and plots. There’s Netflix’s Heartstopper, about friends Charlie (Joe Locke) and Nick (Kit Connor) who may be falling in love; a new adaptation of Queer as Folk coming soon on Peacock; the continuing run of Ru Paul’s Drag Race… and, I mean come on people… Our Flag Means Death??

But apart from the shows very intentionally featuring queerness, I find I’m appreciating the way LGBTQ lives are now part of the fabric of other shows. The Hollywood Reporter gave us some numbers for 2021–2022 seasons:

Of the 775 series regular characters set to appear on primetime programming for the 2021–2022 season, 92 characters, or 11.9 percent, are LGBTQ. That marks an increase of 2.8 percent from the previous year and sets a new record. Furthermore, there are an additional 49 recurring characters for a total of 141 LGBTQ characters on broadcast.

I’ve also noticed a change in how such things have been represented; it’s not a show-stopping AND HE/SHE IS GAY. It’s just understood that this is a true thing about people, and I appreciate that. In one long-running favorite of mine, I’ve even noticed that an understood-to-be-gay character is suddenly allowed to talk more openly about boyfriends. Explicit and not implied. Trans representation still lags behind, and in fact decreased a percentage point from the previous year. But it’s not all bad news there, either; there has been an increase in overall numbers of characters played or voiced by transgender actors. That includes having trans actors play trans characters, too.

Protection Against Discrimination

Okay, I know we feel like this is not happening. And we’re right to be angry at the abuses of power and all the rights LGBTQ+ people are being denied. But in fact, we’ve won some of our protections back, and we should celebrate that — because it means our fight is worthwhile.

Under the Trump administration, federal laws banning discrimination on the basis of sex defined “sex” as the “gender assigned at birth,” which excluded transgender people from protections. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced in 2021 that gay and transgender people would once again be protected from discrimination in health care — and in a statement for Pride Month 2022, the HHS reiterated its commitment “to protecting the health and well-being of all Americans — regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.” You can read the statement here (they are flying the pride flag outside headquarters all month long.)

We have more to do; we must fight for passage of the Equality Act before the many bills threatening rights have a chance to get through state legislatures. But it’s powerful to know that change can happen, and that can spur us on.

Keeping the Faith

I watched a documentary not long ago about conservation in the 1970s. There had been a scare of sorts, because some of the larger fauna on the Savannah seemed to be having a population explosion. Surely there weren’t supposed to be this many of them — should they cull the herds? Some cool heads prevailed and they let nature do her thing. Ultimately the populations leveled off, but were many, many times higher than they had been. It turns out that was the correct number; they had been artificially repressed before by disease and human pressures. Imagine that.

Today, more Americans than ever identify as LGBTQ+. Gallup reported a 4.5% to 5.6% jump from 2017 — that’s about 18 million people. The rise isn’t weird. It’s not new. And it shouldn’t be alarming. Numbers of people reporting themselves as LGBTQ have been artificially repressed because, frankly, it was dangerous or illegal to be out in public for most of our history. But now that we can be out and proud, now that LGBTQ people have representation, acceptance has also grown. Alphonso David, president of the Human Rights Campaign, recently told CNN that the shift has to do with young people who never had to see gayness through the “lens” of fear and stigma.

And of course, without fear and stigma, more people are willing to explore their own gender and sexuality — which, for many, is a lot more fluid than strict binaries make it appear. Better yet, they are finding loving homes and communities, even faith communities, that embrace them.

There are battles ahead. There are battles in our own back yards. But you’ve earned rest, and you’ve earned a moment to reflect on all the good that has been done. Things are never easy, but it’s easier now than it has been in the past fifty odd years for those in the LGBTQ community — and the community itself is largely to be praised for it. Celebrate your identities, and celebrate your triumphs! And a very happy Pride Month!