What Does Pride Mean To You?
Written by Mika Smith
Happy Pride Month! LGBTQ+ Pride Month is celebrated in the United States every June, the anniversary month of the historic Stonewall Uprising in New York. You can read all about it here: https://www.loc.gov/lgbt-pride-month/about/ .
In this blog post, I'm going to do something therapists do sparingly - I'm going to self-disclose (gasp!). I'm gay, and very proud to be so. My path out of the closet was not the straightest (pun intended), but around my mid-twenties I busted out and haven't looked back. I was lucky to receive almost exclusively celebratory and supportive responses from family and friends, a privilege not granted to many of my LGBTQ+ peers. I acknowledge my privilege in many other ways as well - I'm white, femme, and cisgender, just to name a few. Don't get me wrong, I've experienced my share of homophobia and discrimination. Every time a server asks if my partner and I would like separate checks at dinner, I want to jump on my soapbox. But overall, I've had an easier time feeling and sharing my pride than I know a lot of my peers have.
So, I'm proud of who I am, but I'm exceedingly proud of my fellow LGBTQ+ community members, for being who they are and sharing their uniqueness with the world. I am fortunate enough to be privy to many of their stories, listening from across the couch in my therapy office. My work with fellow LGBTQ+ people is one of the most fulfilling aspects of my career. It's this meaningful connection with other LGBTQ+ individuals that I want to celebrate this year during Pride, at work yes, but also far outside the four walls of my therapy office. Just as every LGBTQ+ individual is unique, so is their interpretation and experience of Pride. You've read a little about what Pride means to me; now I encourage you to ask the same question of yourself and those around you. Use this as a starting point for more meaningful connection with yourself and the important people in your life. To my straight/cis readers - I invite you to ask your LGBTQ+ friends/family as well, and be sure to tell them Happy Pride!
At Dallas Therapeutic Services, we pride ourselves on providing compassionate and effective care to a diverse group of clients in the DFW area and across all of Texas. That is why we employ and work with clinicians who are competent in providing LGBTQ+ affirming therapy services, but we know we won't always get it right and we always have room to grow and learn about better serving the LGBTQ+ community. We welcome positive and constructive feedback, and hope our clients find a safe space here at DTS.