LGBTQ+ rights | Serenity is a fuzzy belly

One of my favorite pictures of Luke, about a year into our familyhood when he was still inside/outside (he had to stay inside once we discovered his grass allergy was why he was stuffed up all the time). The Galloping Goofball is much missed.

June is a month that holds both joy and sadness for me.

Thursday will mark eight years since I lost my furry son Luke, who was such a special soul that I have yet to invite another cat into my house. He was a floofy blend of love, sass and goofiness, with the occasional burst of anger (if you dared touch his belly, you’d be in for it).

Instead, I get my fix of kitty lovin’ by house/cat-sitting my many fur-nieces and nephews, though that number was depleted by one a few weeks ago with the death of Charlie, the sweetest boy who ever loved belly rubs (seriously, it wasn’t a trap; this cat loved belly rubs, and would give you kisses if he loved you).

*I only attempted belly rubs with Luke when he was asleep or REALLY relaxed. Charlie didn’t care. He LOVED him some belly rubs!*

And then there’s the joy of celebrating my LGBTQ+ friends and family during Pride Month (though I celebrate them all year long; they’re awesome people). But even that is tinged with sadness and, I admit, some fear. With so much unbridled hatred going around, it’s hard not to worry if those friends and family members will be safe.

In some quarters it seems odd to be afraid, especially when thousands showed up to cheer on the SoMa Pride Parade in Little Rock Saturday, but in other areas, I’m unsurprised when my friends opt out for fear of injury or worse.

One of the persistent themes among detractors of Pride Month and Pride parades is the absence of a Straight Pride Month, and it’s a really weak argument, same as for Black History Month and Women’s History Month. (And the argument about months to honor the military is doubly specious, as May and November honor veterans, members of the military and their families.)

*Life is more fraught if you’re LGBTQ+ than if you’re straight. Image found on Facebook.*

Why? “Here’s a blunt way of saying it,” wrote sociologist Todd Schoepflin in a June 2011 post on the Everyday Sociology blog. “Life is a straight pride parade. Walk through a mall holding the hand of someone of the opposite sex. Will that generate a dirty look? Bring home someone of the opposite sex to meet your family. Will there be disapproval? …

“My point is that heterosexual relationships are encouraged and accepted in society. And while there is more approval for LGBT relationships than in past decades, there is still not full tolerance and acceptance for those relationships in society. …

“Lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgender people deserve to live and work in communities that are ‘safe, healthy, and satisfying.’ I think everyone wants this for themselves and their families. Everyone wants respect. Everyone wants to be treated equally. Sexuality remains a major factor in how people are treated in society.”

He’s right. Among other things, straight people never had to fight for their right to exist as heterosexuals. It’s never been illegal to be heterosexual. They were never outed; no one comes out as straight (and sexuality’s not a choice, anyway). They don’t lose jobs or get kicked out of the house because they’re straight. There is no “conversion therapy” for straight people.

*This really makes you think. Image by Disabled by Society.* *Click to embiggen.*

Writer and editor Michelle Harwood wrote on Medium this month: “Most Americans … identify as heterosexual. Their stories dominate media, politics, religion, and education. From reality TV to family sitcoms to advertising campaigns, heterosexuality is not under threat. It is the default.”

Gallup’s 2025 survey on sexuality bears this out; though the percentage of those who identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community has nearly tripled since the first time the survey was conducted in 2012, nearly 86 percent of Americans identify as heterosexual (about 5 percent declined to answer). That’s still fewer than one in 10 Americans who are LGBTQ+, hardly a threat.

But, I’m sure some of you are squealing, “they’re everywhere!” Honey, they always were around, but laws and prejudices kept them from living freely as themselves, so it just seems like there are more LGBTQ+ people now. They no longer have to hide (at least for now), but they’re not throwing their sexuality in your face any more than you’re throwing yours in theirs. They’re just living.

Harwood writes of the question of why there’s no Straight Pride parade, “the question isn’t just tone-deaf. In 2025, it’s dangerously dismissive of what’s happening in real time.

This map grading states on their legislative stance on LGBTQ+ issues is disheartening. Arkansas, of course, is among the negatively graded states. See the interactive map here. Image found on Movement Advancement Project.

“For the second consecutive year, an Ohio bar is running promotions for ‘Heterosexual Awesomeness Month,’ and lawmakers have proposed a ‘Natural Family Month’ that explicitly excludes LGBTQ+ families, celebrating only those led by straight men and their children.

“At the same time, Utah has banned Pride flags on government property—but not Nazi flags—and Idaho has followed suit with similar legislation. These aren’t just symbolic attacks. They’re part of a rising movement to legally and culturally erase LGBTQ+ existence.

“In just the first half of 2025, more than 500 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been proposed across the U.S.—many targeting trans people, drag performances, and inclusive education.”

I wish Drag Queen Story Hour had been around when I was a kid. Seriously, it’s no different than someone dressing up as a mermaid to read “The Little Mermaid.” It’s a costume, y’all. Image found on Arts Council of Greater New Haven.

Straight people aren’t oppressed, nor are white men in general. When you suddenly aren’t getting something once almost guaranteed by your straightness/whiteness/gender, it might feel like oppression to you because you never had to fight for your rights to work, live like others, marry who you want, and hundreds of other things that we so often take for granted.

We must remember the first Pride “parade” was a riot: the Stonewall riots (uprising, really) of late June 1969, protesting a police raid at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village in Manhattan. That sparked a new push for the gay rights movement. The first official Pride parade took place on June 28, 1970, the first anniversary of the raid and start of the riots, on Christopher Street where they happened. President Bill Clinton was the first to recognize Pride Month on the federal level, in 1999 and 2000.

I have no problem celebrating Pride Month because not only am I an ally with friends and family in the LGBTQ+ community, I recognize the fight that has had to be waged just so they could have the same rights as straight little old me. I know the fight continues, and I worry about my friends and family who are part of that community, but I will celebrate the progress made, and do my part to bring more about. Parade? Bring it on!

*I mean, look at baby Gouda!!! Who wouldn’t want to cuddle this boi???? Image from his mom’s Facebook page.*

Right about now, there are certain people seething (at least one about my use of “furry son” and “fur-nieces and nephews”). But c’mon …

While June has its high and low points for me, I choose to embrace the joy. The joy found in cuddling with a sweet fur baby (Sophie and Rose, save some Gouda skritches for me). The joy in being able to live your life out of the shadows. The joy in not having to look over your shoulder when out with friends.

The joy in annoying haters. Sometimes that’s enough.