It’s the end of June! For Pride Month, we celebrated with our campaign PrideXPower. We asked multiple women what Pride Month means to them and what it means to them to be powerful. Thank you to everyone who submitted. We want to be an advocate for the LGBTQ community. #PrideXPower
Grace: “Pride month is about celebrating whatever makes me feel good! I relish golden summer evenings with people I love and wearing whatever seems right in the moment, be it a cowboy hat, a dress, or my dad’s shirt. I rejoice in all the little things that make me confident and happy. But at St. Louis Pride this weekend, even amidst all the drag queens, rainbow balloons, and photoshoots with my friends and girlfriend, I was reminded that these feelings and experiences were not shared by everyone. Pride is also about recognizing those who don’t have the same freedom and safety in expressing themselves, and trying to find my place as a friend, ally and advocate for others. Because to me, being powerful is truly about empowering others. It’s not in having your voice be the loudest, but in opening the mic to as many wonderful humans as you can.” (Instagram: @grace_tedder97)
Emily: “Pride to me means taking the time to celebrate an identity that caused me significant shame and pain at one point in my life, but was as a result responsible for a great deal of my personal growth. I feel so comfortable with myself now that I often forget how formative the journey towards self acceptance was for me, but I owe much of my confidence and resilience today to that experience. I had to grapple with some crap to develop those qualities as a younger person and that has made me powerful. On pride I remember and appreciate my own strength and that of my community; particularly those of us with more difficult paths to walk.” (Instagram: @emilysara918)
Jizette: “Growing up being of mixed ethnic backgrounds, I’ve always felt a sense of misplaced identity, which I can relate with my experience in the LGBTQ+ Community. I grew up in a country where people weren’t as open minded as I would like them to be, however, I was privileged enough to travel and expand my intake and views on people in so many different brackets. (Thank you for that NYC!) Pride, for me, is SELF LOVE. Being proud to love myself for my ethnicity, race, sexuality, you name it! Learning or knowing how to love yourself is one of the most difficult skills, and I say it’s a skill because it’s one of the most difficult life pursuits. Whether you are still wandering and figuring yourself out, know that it’s okay. You are you and there’s nobody else like you. Being powerful to me is to be positive. Your attitude and demeanor takes you a long way. It’s hard to see the glass half full sometimes when all it looks like is half empty, that’s why positivity is power to me. Be powerful, be positive, be proud.” (Instagram: @jizettexx)
Emily: “To me, pride month is about being able to express myself freely and celebrating each other’s differences in the community. This month is a time for us to reflect on all that we have accomplished in the LGBT community and continuing to fight for our rights globally. Being able to celebrate pride in a city like New York is eye-opening because when you are standing there watching the parade you are doing so with over a million other people – that’s a powerful experience. Being powerful means taking a stand for what you believe in and influencing others in a positive way. As a video creator, I have the power to bring LGBT representation to the media and help inspire others to do the same.” (Instagram: @emilyhbailey)
