Pride Month is raging. Amidst all the celebration, there is the reminder we queers hear again and again: Pride is a protest.
It’s a notion easily lost. We’ve come a long way in terms of rights and social acceptance. Especially in Canada, queer people are more visible than ever. There’s a diversity of sexualities and ethnicities on display along roadsides to watch Dykes on Bikes roll through Pride parades. Linkedin is plagued by rainbow-treated corporate logos.
The gloss we lacquer onto queer life is dazzling, but should never distract from the stories of LGBTQ2S+ struggle that have a hard time emerging—in June, and every other minute of the year.
We can’t ignore the relentless and baseless oppression heaped on trans people, and the pain that follows.
We must push back on those who would ban books that mention our existence, an act of erasure that robs queer people of all ages the experience of the chance to see their impulses and identities reflected back at them.
Stories promise us something essential. You’re not alone. There are more people like you. Perceptions can widen. Vile opinions can change. You can understand a life that doesn’t mirror your own.
I’m a Great Plains author, and proud to be associated with a publisher that values those stories and those promises.
And I feel lucky, too, that Canadian publishing continues to open channels for queer people to communicate with each other and the world.
Let’s be vigilant, though. Let’s protect those channels, support each other, amplify those voices—not just every June, but every day.
Matthew Fox is the author of the queer-themed novel This Is It, coming out on October 15 from Enfield & Wizenty.
