Guest Editorial: It’s time to celebrate LGBTQ pride and all Americans should join the party

It’s that time of the year when tens of thousands of individuals who are part of the LGBTQ community, along with family members, advocates and friends, take over the District for the annual celebration of gay pride. With the pandemic behind us and folks finally able to “get their groove on,” this year’s two-week celebration promises to be a rainbow-colored cornucopia of parades, parties, panels, potlucks and plenty of pomp and circumstance. Pride is a family reunion during which gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender – and other distinctions that have extended the “gay alphabet” – come together in love and friendship. However, it’s important to remember that homophobia and legal and social oppression of the LGBTQ community continue to exist in our “land of the free.” In fact, the gay movement began in the 1950s because of the extremely repressive laws that penalized and ostracized those who dared to live outside of heterosexual norms. With last week’s Black Pride events now over and with the District anticipating the kickoff of Capital Pride, LGBTQ Americans face an onslaught of anti-LGBTQ restrictions which target gender identity. These restrictions include bans on gender-affirming care and teacher constraints on LGBTQ topics, to transgender rights. But...