Remembrance is of boundless impact and importance, especially for any person belonging to a minority group such as the LGBTQ+ community. And the time for remembrance (Pride Month!) is once again officially upon us, sounding off it’s annual queer fanfair with the promise of sexual freedom, the streaming of vodka cocktails, death drops in the middle of busy motorways, and choirs of queer people beating their chests in pride.
It’s a happy time, but one incumbent on us to look backward so we can examine where our history has taken us up to this moment, and to remember in what fires we were made. This is a time for the Stay Proud Project!
Earlier this year, the popular British queer magazine Attitude ran an op-ed by Dylan Jones that suggested that the new generation of queer people don't depend upon the history of their predecessors.
Jones states how monsters like shame and homophobia have subsequently faded into something like memory or myth and therefore should not spur forth feelings of guilt, or even gratefulness, from today’s LGBTQ+ youth.
Jones, full of misplaced pride in his ignorance, incited harsh backlash from the community. And this backlash allowed The Stay Proud Project to be born.
A series in collaboration with the Los Angeles LGBT Center, the project is dedicated to telling the stories of everyday LGBTQ+ people, celebrities, public and other figures as a way to remind the new torch bearers the importance of history they share.
Helmed by Andrew Putschoegl and Sam Harris, the Stay Proud Project has hosted some 80 interviews over the course of two weekends, on both coasts of North America, providing a podium for people from across the spectrum identity to speak up, and show that they remain proud of who they are.
For more information on the Stay Proud Project, make sure to subscribe to their YouTube channel and check out their Facebook page!
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