How To Have a Safe & Fun Pride Season
By Sassafras Lowrey
Pride season is here! For many LGBTQ+ people, pride is one of the best times of the year where we get to celebrate community, queer history, and have a lot of fun at the same time! When planning your Pride schedule remember that not everyone is going to celebrate the same way, in fact it’s important to prioritize self-care during pride. Don’t feel pressured to attend events you don’t enjoy or find stressful. By prioritizing the kinds of pride events, you enjoy you’ll be able to have a much more enjoyable pride session.
Know Your Boundaries and Limits
Not every Pride event is going to be fun for everyone. You don’t have to attend every parade, march, dance party and gathering to enjoy pride. If you know that you get overwhelmed in a large crowd or in loud places, it can be helpful to self-select into attending quieter events that will be less over stimulating. On the other hand, if you find groups energizing, you might find the big pride festivals and parades exciting and empowering. Something else to keep in mind when looking at schedules of pride events, is that it’s always ok to change your plans. If you get to an event and you’re not having fun or you don’t feel comfortable you can prioritize self-care, go outside and take a break, or leave and go do something else! In addition to prioritizing self-care, don’t forget to lookout for your friends and community while you are out at Pride events. Check on your friends, make sure they are having a good time and feel included. If you see one of your friends struggling or seeming left out spend some quality time with them.
Self-Care Plan
If you’re going out to pride events this summer prioritize your comfort, health, and safety. Drink lots of water so that you can stay hydrated while running around in the sun. Bring a water bottle with you and find more water when you need it. You’ll also want to remember to eat! If the Pride events you’re attending are outside, don’t forget about sunscreen and try to wear comfortable shoes to prevent blisters. If you want to wear fabulous but not comfortable shoes, pack band-aids for blisters, and consider throwing a comfortable pair of shoes into a bag to change into later. Pride is a perfect opportunity to experiment with your fashion, play with your gender, or wear something fun and flamboyant. That said, you don’t have to dress up to attend and have fun at Pride! Pick an outfit that you feel comfortable and confident in. It’s also completely ok to add a second outfit into a bag if you think you might want to change partway through the event.
Go With Friends
For many people the act of being in community is a big part of celebrating pride. Attending events with friends can also make them more fun or feel less intimidating. Don’t be afraid to invite your friends to come with you. Attending events as a group, or even just with one friend can make you feel less nervous about going somewhere new. If none of your LGBTQ+ friends want to go with you consider inviting an ally friend to see if they want to put their allyship into action and go to queer events with you this Pride season. If nobody is available to go with you don’t let that keep you from attending an event that you are excited about. Going alone can be intimidating, but you might meet new friends who share interests with you!
Prioritize Your Comfort
While you’re making your Pride plans it’s always ok to prioritize your comfort. If you are at a Pride event and it isn’t quite what you hoped it would be, it’s ok to decide you want to take a break, or even leave the event early. Pride is yours to experience in whatever way feels enjoyable to you. Our queer ancestors fought for liberation which means you get to live your queer life in whatever way feels authentic for you. Don’t want to go out? That’s ok! You don’t have to go out to experience Pride. It’s always fine to skip the festival to celebrate pride at home or just hanging out with a good friend. If you’re staying in for Pride, consider reading a new queer book, or watch a show or movie with LGBTQ characters.
About the Author
Sassafras Lowrey’s novels and nonfiction books have been honored by organizations ranging from the American Library Association to the Lambda Literary Foundation and the Dog Writers Association of America. Sassafras’ work has appeared in The New York Times, Wired, and numerous other newspapers and magazines. Sassafras has taught queer writing courses and workshops at LitReactor, the NYC Center For Fiction and at colleges, conferences, and LGBTQ youth centers across the country. You can find more of Sassafras’ written works, including an edited collection exploring LGBTQ+ youth homelessness entitled Kicked Out, at www.SassafrasLowrey.com.
