“If Christmas is family, then Pride is like found family.”

On a hot June day I sat outside with CU student Lily Dennis, the low hum of engines bouncing off the nearby road. The conversation was about Pride month, and what it means during the Trump Administration. 

“I think that [Pride] is more important now than ever. To remember the history, especially as it’s being erased,” she said. 

In the past year and half since Donald Trump took office, his administration has systematically rolled back trans rights, and attacked the queer community. The military has banned transgender individuals from serving, made it “official” US policy that there are only two genders, threatened to withhold federal funds from hospitals that continue to offer gender affirming care for minors and dismantled the 988 LQBTQ+ hotline for suicide prevention.  Despite this more than 500,000 people showed up to Denver Pride this year, and around 2,000 in Erie.  

“I didn’t really grow up knowing that I was queer,” Dennis told me. “And my family is not very accepting, so it’s been a struggle. To me, Pride is  an important part of who I am.” 

At Erie Pride, a young girl opens her arms as if in embrace, a Pride flag draped across her shoulders. Photograph by Luna Wolf/Yellowscene Magazine

Pride first began in 1969 after the Stonewall rebellion in New York City. Every June since then people flock to the streets in cities and towns across the country, in celebration of the queer community. But for some, like CU student Criss Buzzalino, Pride this year is particularly important. 

“In the deep south, the Queer Community in my hometown is incredibly tight and incredibly strong,” he said. “We all have each other. We all have each other’s backs. […] There’s so many people who are afraid of being who they are, and coming together in the face of oppression and marginalization, especially because a lot of the South Carolina queer scene is people of color. It’s just such a diverse, incredible and strong group of people.” 

Ella Lee, a student at CU as well, told me that this year, Pride means a lot to her too.

“It’s an important act of resistance this year for me in particular. Showing up to events and being in my community means a lot more because connecting with other folks is scarier and harder than ever, with the way the administration has been attacking people,” she said. “it also means a lot to see other people that I wouldn’t expect showing allyship. It’s stuff like that that makes this month really important to me and for queer people in the community. Just knowing that there are people out there that still care and will show their support and will stand up for you.” 

When I spoke with Micah Caswell, the Director of Communications and Strategy at Rocky Mountain Equality, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group that organizes Pride events in Colorado, he told me that while the group didn’t yet have their finalized data collection on the number of attendees, he suspects there were more people at Pride this year compared to last. 

“I think that Pride has always been  a time to come together, not just for the LGBTQ Community,  but also with our allies and our families who support us,” he said. “That’s really been highlighted for me in the Prides that I’ve attended this year and that we have organized. I think that seeing that is more important than it was a couple years ago. It’s hard to show up and be happy when we’re under attack, but we do it because we always have.” 

A group of people sit on the grass, mid conversation. At their feet tubs of lemonade are resting next to colorful Pride flags. Photograph by Luna Wolf/Yellowscene Magazine

As reported in Out Front Magazine, there are a total of 17 Prides taking place across Colorado this year. “If Christmas is family, then Pride is like found family,” Buzzalino told me. “I get to put glitter on my face, wrap myself and my friends in a Pride flag, and go run rampant in the streets.”  According to the Human Rights Campaign, this year alone more than 75 anti LGBTQ+ executive orders have been signed. That’s double the amount signed last year. 

“I think that when a lot of people think about resistance and what that means, especially with what we see happening to us, it feels exhausting,” Caswell said. “I am really happy that as a community we have figured out that being ourselves unapologetically with each other in public spaces is resistance.”  

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