A mother's Pride

My daughter is attending Pride events this week in her home town. It is not an easy year for her to raise the flag as she is nursing a broken heart, but there she is, putting on her beautiful femme face and taking on the world.

This was her facebook status a few hours ago..
"Already received a flyer that said there was help for me...."

Ok, now that just pisses me off.

So here goes:

Dear "helpful" person at the Pride Parade:

My daughter does not need help. She is perfect just the way God made her. Yup, you read that right. God. I am a Christian. And you know what Jesus would do? He would love her and he wouldn't judge her and he would follow his own advice and love his neighbour.

You, dear "helpful" person, might want to remember that.

And, if you want to be "helpful" to all the people in the world that don't fit into your definition of gender then perhaps you could stop handing out flyers on a day when people are trying to reclaim their rights to be treated well, and to be safe, and to be just who they are.

I imagine for some people this is their first Pride event. For some people the guts it took to get out of bed and head out into the street proclaiming their identity was a risk they had to take. I truly believe that closets are no place for anyone to live.

So back off.

Or this momma bear is gonna take you out.

Signed,

The mother of a fabulous femme queer daughter!

But alas, dear readers, even within the Queer community, which should support each other in their individuality, there can be struggles and my daughter has written a thoughtful and articulate post about that too. Please take the time to read her latest post

She ends her post talking about how there are not enough letters in the alphabet.
I wish we just needed one. H for Humankind. In all of its colours, genders, beliefs, and ages.

So, dear daughter, have a fabulous day at the Pride parade. I wish I was there with you.

(PS: Don't forget to wear sunscreen)