Identity (25 June 2009)

So I used to be one of those people who didn't get the point of Pride since I thought that if I'm queer the other days of the year why am I especially queer during Pride? I realized, though, that I made the same mistake that I thought was being made at Pride, i.e., in thinking that there is something called an 'identity' that I 'am' apart from the ones who love me, hate me, categorize me, or blame me. Am 'I' really who 'I' am apart from the child who was beaten by his father (hypothetically!)? Can we be 'queer' apart from the ones who deny us marriage rights, who typify us on TV, or even--without realizing it--make it uncomfortable to kiss our dates in the restaurant? There will no longer be a need for Pride when the conditions are such that one's own existence is not a political statement.