Out in the Mountains

 

Gay Pride: What It Means To One Lesbian-Bisexual College Student

by Serena D. Dickson ‘

With the coming Gay Pride Day, I
have been thinking a lot about gay pride and
what it means to me.

Well, first of all, what does "gay" mean
to me? "Gay" is my catch-all word for les-
bian, gay, or bisexual--a sexuality that is
(for me) more "in-tune" with people of the
same, or both gender(s). Being gay doesn't
mean that I fall in love or have sex with only
women, or both men and women. It doesn't
mean that sex and falling in love is all that
I think about.

My mind can house more thoughts
thanjust sex(uality). For instance, I think
of friendships, careers, the state of the
world (and country); generally what every-
one thinks about. I think about these things
differently, though. I think about main-
stream ideas from a non-mainstream point
of view: viewing the world not only from
oppression, but with a heightened senseof
awareness, most likely due to the oppres-

 

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sion that 1, among others, encounter.

So if this is gay to me, then what is my
concept of "pride?" Pride to me is the
knowledge that my view is unique, but not
isolating. That my orientation, sexuality,
identification, mind, and consciousness are
my own as well as being similar to others.
That my orientation, etc. is okay and other
people think it's okay too. Pride for me is
realizing whoI am, what I stand for, and not
being afraid to tell/show it to others.

It isn't just wearing t-shirts, buttons,
haircuts or showing affection in public. It
isn't just marching in Montpelier or
Burlington; it isn't just writing for OITM. I
live with my pride every day; it shows in
everything that I do: the clothes thatl wear,
the way I walk, the way I talk. If I weren't
proud to be a (newly identified) lesbian-
bisexual, I would not be thinking, let alone
writing, this article. But most of all, my
pride shows in the fact that I am alive, for if
I had no pride, I would have no life.

Integrating the two, "gay pride" then
means (to me) that I am proud to have
experienced these oppressions, to be able to
view the world from a heightened aware-
ness. I am proud to have gone through a

short twenty years as a lesbian, bisexual.
wom_n (however you want to spell it),
human being, and the oppression and intol-
erance I have experienced for being who I
am. If I hadnot experienced the oppression/
intolerance, I would not be who I am today,
and I like (even love!) who I am today.

One might say that I walk a ‘gay pride
march’ every day of my life, just by walking
every day of my life. I agree with that:
Everything that I do shows that I love and
respect myself as a human being regardless
of my orientation, etc.

I am not just a lesbian, bisexual, per-
vert, dyke, queer, homo, or whatever other
people (or I) try to label myself. I am Serena
D. Dickson, a twenty—year-old college stu-
dent-writer and I am happy to be Serena D.
Dickson, a twenty year old college student-
writer. I am not just a wom_n (however I or
you choose to spell it). I am a human being:
homo sapien, mammal, living, breathing,
feeling, laughing, crying, being.

My "gay pride" goes much deeper than
pride for who I am attracted to. Attraction is
not forever. However, my spirit, regardless
of my identification, is.

New Magazine Looks at Couples

TWT Press, Inc. announces the mail-
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Couples is a topical periodical that
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In short, Couples provides subscribers
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