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Pride month revealed the hatred and ignorance we still face
By Johnny Trlica
Commentary: Another month of Pride celebrations have come and gone, and we saw more pearl clutching than we have seen in years. It’s amazing how homophobes are easily triggered at the very mention of Pride or the sight of a rainbow.
Many years ago, while visiting with my mother, she came from her room visibly shaken. She said that, while lying down, she was listening to well-known hate monger Rush Limbaugh. I found that a little surprising since my mother was the farthest thing from being a right-wing nut as it gets, but her explanation made sense, and it was a lesson that has stayed with me ever since.
Mama said the radio host was uttering some ridiculous BS that so infuriated her that she turned off the radio and left the room. When I asked her why she listens to him if he makes her so upset, she said something that I remember to this day: “You should always know what your enemies are saying about you.”
Many people see a post announcing a Pride event or simply raising awareness that June is Pride Month and immediately click on comments just to let everyone know how vile and bigoted they are. Doing so reveals the hatred for the LGBTQ+ community that is still out there. It seems to be worse and nastier this year than in the past.
In keeping with what Mama taught me years ago about knowing what your enemies are saying, here are a few examples of those comments.
On Facebook, the Houston Chronicle posted, “Here’s a look at Houston-area Pride events scheduled throughout June.” That was enough to trigger our straight adversaries and haters in the area. Here are a few people last seen stroking their keyboards while clutching their pearls.
– Donald James: “My butt hole is sweating just lookin at this picture… Never mind I clicked off the picture I just needed to wipe better.”
– Michael Sirwin: “THE HC should include a list of funny Gay pick up lines…
“hey…can I push in your stool?”
– Mark Neubauer: “I heard they are going to have all you can eat fruit loops. Bunch of escaped wackos”
– Joe Mahama: “Ass sniffing contest included”
–Michael Briscoe: “This should be illegal”
ABC13 made a post that led to an article titled, “Pride Month begins with celebrations across the world | Here’s what to expect.” Just as we expected, haters couldn’t scroll on by without letting everyone know about their own ignorance. A few examples:
–Mark Martin: “Is there a straight month celebration? Why so special?”
–Steve Gimenez: “Fruit cake month.”
Some haters tried to hide their anti-gay feelings under the pretense of supporting the veterans:
–Heather Ann: “I just read it’s Veterans and Fathers month”
–Art Gonzalez: “How about veterans month”
–Nathan Seward: “Happy Veterans Month”
–David Swain: “Why did they get a whole month… When veterans only get one day????”
–Ed Reeves: “Never heard of it…. I’ll be celebrating veterans all of June… No extra time/room for nonsense”
Someone should have told these hypocrites that November is officially recognized as National Veterans and Military Families Month. That’s the month that is dedicated to honoring and appreciating the sacrifices and contributions of veterans and their families, not June. Surely now that they know that, they will be contributing to veterans affairs and volunteering at the V.A. But they are not kidding anybody. They do not give a crap about veterans or their families, they just couldn’t come straight out and own their own bigotry against the LGBTQ+ community.
Seeing the hate and ignorance the LGBTQ+ community is subjected on a daily basis shows that we have a lot of educating of the general public to do and that requires more than one month, explaining why Pride Houston changed its name to Pride Houston 365 a few years ago.
Come November, we’ll wish all the veterans and their families a happy month and thank them for their service, which is probably more than Heather Ann, Art and Nathan will do. They’ll be too busy complaining about being prevented from saying “Merry Christmas.”
Until then, we’ll continue to celebrate Pride 365 days a year.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent those of the Montrose Star. Johnny Trlica is the editor of Houston Rainbow Herald Facebook page and has been published in several newspapers and magazines. He grew up in Rosenberg, Texas, lived for over 30 years in the Montrose and now resides in Galveston, Texas. He may be contacted at HRHeditor@gmail.com.
