Small & Meaningful Acts of Resistance for Pride Month

Pride month is here - which means we have an excellent opportunity to continue to celebrate Queer and Trans identities in a loud and visible way! However, if you are wanting to show up for the LGBTQ+ community but aren’t sure where to start, you are not alone! Whether you identify as part of the community or as an ally, here is an offering of some ideas for ways to show support in small, but very meaningful ways.

1) Educate Yourself  

Please know that by educating yourself you are directly decreasing the amount of mental and emotional labor for individuals in the community. Some specific things to learn about include LGBTQ+ history, terminology for the plethora of identities (especially under the “Q+” umbrella), the impact of intersectionality and the actual reason we need pride marches/parades in the first place.

2) Ask & Listen

After taking time to educate yourself, if you don’t understand something, ask! And when you do, LISTEN to the response(s). 

If you don’t know what someone’s pronouns are, ASK, and then use them!

3) Be Conscious of Who You Are Supporting Financially

A particularly impactful way to show your support is by NOT participating in rainbow capitalism. This can often even function as an exploitation of LGBTQ+ identities in service of profit. Instead you can funnel these financial resources to organizations that directly fund advocacy for the community. Even better, you can also boycott companies that donate to anti-LGBTQ+ organizations/causes or that have eliminated DEI.

4) Be Conscious of Who You Are Supporting Politically

Another crucial action is political advocacy. Research ways you can take action locally, and at the state level, and/or the federal level to protect and improve the lives of LGBTQ+ individuals.

5) Center Marginalized Queer Identities

Pride is only possible today because of the contributions of individuals with intersecting marginalized identities. Pride needs to be inclusive. Amplify the voices of BIPOC, disabled, socioeconomically disadvantaged, etc. folks to ensure that everyone has a seat at the table.

6) Don't Censor Queer Expression

Encourage and support folks in showing up in ways that feel comfortable and authentic to them (including yourself if you feel safe doing so!). This also includes non-pride spaces! This is particularly important if you are an adult working with any number of LGBTQ+ youth.

While this is not an exhaustive list of possibilities, I hope it is a good starting point. For further reading, please consider exploring resources such as The Trevor Project: Guide - Allyship in Action and Human Rights Campaign: United Together - Your Resources, Your Rights, Your Future.

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Kim Johnson, LMHC, MT-BC, is a licensed mental health counselor (LMHC) and board certified music therapist (MT-BC) who graduated with her master’s from Lesley University in 2017. She has experience with adults and adolescents in group private practice and community mental health settings. The levels of care she has worked in are outpatient, with both individual and group therapy and in partial hospital programs for mental health and substance use disorders. Additionally, she has had intensive training in dialectical behavioral therapy and cognitive processing therapy for PTSD.

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