June is Pride Month.
Those four words will bring out one of three reactions in readers of this newspaper:
support;
anger; or
no reaction at all.
When it comes to support, for some it is displaying signs on their front yard, attending events hosted by various community organizations, or raising the Pride flag on their flag pole.
In the Township of North Huron’s case, they expressed their support of Pride Month at a recent council meeting and accepted a request from Huron County Pride to fly the Pride flag at town hall this month.
Sure, there was some heated discussion about it, but the consensus of council was that North Huron is an inclusive and diverse community that welcomes and respects all people.
That is a message that I, personally, can support.
However, there are some in this community that cannot.
When the Pride flag was raised on June 1 outside of town hall, there was no special ceremony or photo op for local politicians. According to township clerk Carson Lamb, Huron County Pride did not request a special ceremony.
However, within hours of the flag being raised, I received an email from a citizen saying some additional signage had appeared on the construction fencing in front of town hall.
“Big God signs,” was how it was described to me.
I made my way over to town hall to check it out for myself, and sure enough there were two large, handwritten signs attached to the fence.
While the messages on these signs did not specifically speak out against Pride and the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, they certainly insinuated that their views were, in their minds, the correct ones.
I understand that there are those vehemently against the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, dare I say even hate those individuals. My question to those of you is this:
Why?
As a child, I was taught to be respectful to everyone you meet, regardless of skin colour, style of dress, or other such appearance. That is something that I try to do, each and every day – and is something I teach my kids as well.
When I was younger, it didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. However, as I got older – and wiser, some would say – I realized that when you meet someone on the street, at an event or even at your kid’s sports game, you can have an impact on their entire day.
That person that is always sitting by themselves at the arena – it could be because they don’t feel like they belong, or don’t want to be a both to anyone, or just don’t have anyone to sit with. Sometimes the best thing you can do as a person is sit near them, which may lead to them opening up and making a new friend.
It is also entirely possible they don’t want to deal with dramatic hockey parents, but I digress.
So now that I have rambled for a few paragraphs, I am going to circle back to my original question about the 2SLGBTQIA+ community:
Why?
Is it because they don’t share the same values as you? Is it because, once a year, they ask municipal council to raise a flag representing their community? Is it because they are human beings who are expressing themselves and preaching a message of love towards all?
Am I saying that these folks agree with the values of some Christian-based churches? They may, they may not. But you don’t see Pride flags draped over top of nativity scenes in December, do you?
In all honesty, and I say this as someone who is white skinned and straight, the members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community are, at their core, no different than I am. They are honest, hardworking people who love their community and want to leave it a better place than they found it.
That’s all any of us, as parents, can ask of our children. And if supporting a group of people like that is wrong, then I’ll be wrong.
I read a quote the other day that sums up my thoughts as good as any other words can:
I’d rather be excluded for who I include, rather than be included for who I exclude.
At the end of the day, we’re all human. Who we love should only matter to those in the relationship, not those of us on the outside looking in.
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Mike Wilson is the editor the Wingham Advance Times. Comments and feedback are welcome at mwilson@midwesternnewspapers.com.
