I'm Proud to be _____sexual!

Pride season is well underway across the country. With the recently passed festivals and parades in San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and many more, LGBTQs are proudly taking to the streets to celebrate. Every year I think about what it is that I'm proud of and how that is related to our queer history that we celebrating in the streets. In other words, what's the point of Pride?

Tonight is the 43rd anniversary of the Stonewall raid and protest, which would carry on through the morning of June 28th. As many of us will recall, Pride parades are a reminder of the Stonewall actions. After standing up the police raid at the Stonewall Inn groups of queers protested up and down the streets in solidarity to put a face to the issue of queerness and to remind the rest of the world that we're not going anywhere. In many ways, our contemporary Pride parades and festivals renew that reminder of our queer presence and pay homage to our brave LGBTQ predecessors, but I can't help but wonder if we're losing the spirit of the initial queer liberation movement.

Response to Rapper T.I.'s Claim of Un-American Gays

In his recent interview with Vibe Magazine, rapper T.I. offered his insights and opinions on a number of topics, including his thoughts on the response of the gay community toward anti-gay slip-ups and slurs from rappers and other celebrities. We have seen responses to the comments of 50 Cent, Eminem, and the incident T.I. is responding to, Tracy Morgan—an incident for which he is still trying recover from the backlash.

To over simplify T.I.'s remarks, he essentially argues that gays are becoming oversensitive about homophobia and that responses to these incidents of anti-gay outbreaks are un-American. I am personally a fan of rap, hip-hop, and T.I. However, this cover interview with Vibe really begs the simple question: "Really, T.I.!?"