June is Pride month.
When I was growing up, I didn’t know what being gay was. Seriously, it was not something that was talked about, I literally had no clue until I was probably in the last couple of years of high school.
Which is kind of weird because now I know a couple of the boys (and girls) I went to school with were gay, but either they didn’t know, or might have been too scared to talk about it. Or just confused, who knows?
I lived through the 1980s and early 1990s when the AIDS epidemic spread fear amongst gay and straight communities, anyone who was indulging in adult activities really.
I remember the first person I met who had AIDS. Trevor Daley was a good guy. He was funny and didn’t take any rubbish from anyone. Why would you when you know your time is so limited. He was also the first openly gay person I knew.
Trevor passed away when he was in his thirties and his mother started a foundation in his name, to help people who are having treatment for AIDS.
Since then I’ve had a lot of close friends who are part of the LGBTIQ+ community.
Why am I bringing this up during Pride month? Because we have come such a long way since then, but we still have such a long way to go.
Until 1997 being homosexual was illegal in Tasmania (1994 in other states), so like many minority groups who need to make some noise to have the same rights and privileges of the majority, the LGBTIQ+ community has celebrated in some ways this month.
Thankfully it is peaceful and people are generally understanding, because at the end of the day, love is love.
