Pride: Celebrating Diversity through Mixed Socializing
As society and its social constructs continue to evolve, evaluating the nuances and, sometimes, questionable trajectories of our futures and communal functions is crucial. It is time to redefine equality through the lens of the paradox of Pride Month and evaluate the question, “Can any demographic find true equity by highlighting its differences?”
LGBTQ+ Pride Month is celebrated annually in June to honor the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan, a tipping point for the Gay Liberation Movement in the United States. Today, the month is filled with parades, parties, workshops, and events that attract millions of participants worldwide. While I support Pride Month for its ability to raise awareness and be a beacon of hope, love, and strength for vulnerable LGBTQ+ individuals and communities, emphasizing our differences may only further the divide instead of bringing us closer together.
For example, why do only “gay” clubs host drag shows? If “straight” clubs and entertainment venues regularly hosted these events, they would become the standard instead of a spectacle. This is a modern change, as historically, mixed-socializing and fluid lifestyles have always been the norm. There is evidence of homosexual activity in every documented culture, and some information shows individuals who lived at least a portion of their lives as a different gender than assigned at birth – which today’s society would term “transgender.”
Of course, some of these groups were ostracized and persecuted as they are today. Still, I believe a large part of this continued division and misunderstanding is perpetuated by a culture that demands any uniqueness to be placed in a box by itself. We design gay bars where straight people aren’t welcome and straight bars where gay people feel the same – or worse. However, if we keep the mindset of, “You can go anywhere, but should you?” how will we ever cultivate spaces that are inclusive, welcoming, and safe for all?
To create a world where people are truly valued for who they are, we cannot pick apart our dissimilarities and develop spaces meant only for those groups. We can celebrate our individuality as a greater, shared community with people from all walks of life. The only answer for unity is to treat it like a verb and act in ways that connect us rather than divide us. Segregation has proven time and time again throughout history to reap everything but equality, and allowing it to continue to impact socialization in any form is a detriment to people everywhere.
Placing any demographic in a bubble leaves no room for true equivalency because it highlights every dissimilarity and causes people to be treated differently – because, at the end of the day, they are. However, the challenges, risks, and hatred arising from those differences must be rejected, condemned, and discredited globally. Encouraging mixed socialization and coming together for common causes of fun, advocacy, education, or anything in between, can unite various groups regardless of how they identify or where they are from.
I often wonder if creating a world where true equity exists is possible. Where people of all genders, ethnicities, and backgrounds genuinely do not notice the differences between them. Perhaps this is just a wish of mine, but the ability to produce a safer, more respectful, and inclusive world is something we are currently and more than capable of doing, and it cannot be done apart from each other. At the end of the day, we all play for the same team – humanity, and it’s overdue that we stop standing on separate sidelines and combine our efforts to enable true equality.
Our team at PQE Group has been able to create a microcosm of this equitable concept within our workplace culture. Our organization is an ally to minority groups and underserved demographics and works to implement diversity policies across all our global offices concerning cultural diversity and gender equality. PQE Group’s approach has been straightforward from the beginning, as the company was founded on the concept and celebration of biodiversity and a multicultural vision.
When the value of diversity is ingrained in the fundamental importance of an institution, achieving this mission and cultivating a workplace that reflects it comes naturally. Our Founder, Gilda D’Incerti, is a woman entrepreneur in Italy who transcended many barriers and taboos to reach her renowned status of global success. She instilled her progressive morals into the company, and they have propelled us forward into the modern age of inclusivity, respect, and cherishing our differences. This is the dream that I hope our world can realize together.
During Pride Month and the rest of the year, I am a proud ally and supporter of the LGBTQ+ community and other underrepresented, underserved, and underresourced communities worldwide. Let’s keep working together toward an inclusive future where our differences do not separate or define us but allow us to better cherish and celebrate one another.
