Owning Pride: Overcoming oppression and being true selves
Re: “Keep government out of Pride, whether it’s Trump or Biden,” June 29 commentary
Had I grown up with a legion of Krista Kafers as my parents and neighbors and teachers and schoolmates and doctors and shopkeepers, I would likely think and feel as she does about gay “pride” — live and let live without judging or celebrating someone because of immutable characteristics like skin color or ethnic origin or sexual orientation or gender identity.
I grew up as a closeted gay person. From my earliest awareness of attraction to other boys, I was acutely aware that most of those people would judge and perhaps harm me for who I was.
I read in school books, newspapers and my church bulletins that I was “sick” and “perverted.” In Sunday school I was literally told I would be “damned to hell forever.” When, finally, in my early 20s, I told my parents I was gay, my father said, “You disgust me and are no son of mine”, and my mother shut the tiny door of any affection she ever gave me. I am not “proud” because I am gay. I am proud because somehow I found in the depths of my being, against all these realities of my young life, the courage to simply be and live openly as the gay person I am.
Actually I prefer the term “queer” because it gives me a sense of solidarity with all the others whose rainbow of attributes led to living under similar oppression. I appreciate Krista for not judging me and other queer people. I encourage her to consider that celebrating gay pride is about something we have accomplished and our healing from oppression.
Wayne Thrash, Denver
I take issue with the commentary. Specifically, Krista Kafer tells us her definition of “pride.” In her opinion, gay folks do not use the word correctly.
“It’s understandable that people who feel unaccepted because of their sexuality use the word ‘pride’ in this way. The trouble with identitarian usage, however, is that only some people are allowed to apply it that way. One can be proud to be a woman but not a man, proud to be Black or Hispanic but not white, proud to be gay but not straight,” Kafer writes.
Sounds fishy to me. I can state that I am proud of myself. No person should take issue with the usage of pride in that sentence, contrary to what Kafer says.
Kafer fails to recount the root cause and the beginning of Pride Day. Being gay used to be something people tried to hide in many cases. We need to look no further than the story of Matthew Shepard to see how it could be deadly to be outed as gay, not to mention the risk of job loss or other societal privilege. I think of Pride Day as a day to be proud of who you are with no qualifications. Let my friends in the gay community have their day.
Byron Bergman, Denver
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Kafer: Stealing Pride flags is not cool (but also keep them off government buildings) NYC, San Francisco and other US cities capping LGBTQ+ Pride month with a mix of party and protest Things to do in Denver: PrideFest, a parade and a puppy kissing booth Pride needs a revolution: Why inclusion can’t be optional anymore (Opinion) Things to do in Denver this weekend: Science “friction” series, Boulder Comedy FestWhile I believe Krista Kafer had good intentions in writing her column on pride flags and use of the word “pride,” I think she misses a couple of points about folks who aren’t white or straight, those who she says “aren’t allowed” to use the word “pride” in a positive context.
First, complaining that straight white people aren’t allowed to use a particular word is like a child not wanting to share any of their toys with the other kids. You don’t have to win everything; let other people claim a word if they want.
Second, at the end of her column, Kafer states that she doesn’t take “pride” in being white and straight because she didn’t get to choose those identities. I can assure you that the vast, vast majority of gay and trans-related folks don’t feel they had a choice, either.
D. Laughren, Golden
Give Congress members a taste of their own medicine
Re: ” Trump bill: Senators launch weekend of work,” June 29 news story
After reading how cuts are going to affect real people, not imaginary ones, I think Congress members and the White House occupants should immediately lose their government health insurance and any housing allowance they get to live in the DC area. If they are getting cancer treatment, it should stop, and any experimental treatment or hormone meds should stop.
If it’s OK for them to take health care away, food supplements away, housing assistance, veterans’ care, educational assistance from the American public, there’s got to be some reality check.
Try paying your meds without insurance, Congress; try paying your own rent and your own transportation.
In addition, their pay should stop immediately and they should see how the rest of the real world lives for once. If it is OK for Congress to make deep cuts, how about it directly impacting them?
These actions are akin to what Hitler did in Germany: send away anyone of color or a different religion, starve people, and put people in camps. It sounds familiar. Is that the America we want? I think not.
Cheryl Brungardt, Wheat Ridge
If it quacks like a duck …
Re: “Trump’s ICE is deliberately targeting noncriminals,” June 29 editorial
I’m in absolute agreement with The Denver Post Editorial Board on this subject. What President Donald Trump is doing sure looks and feels like what’s been done in fascist states: targeting specific ethnic nationalities, ignoring the rule of law, and adopting the methods of historical dictators. What’s being done in our country, our democracy, is outrageous and is definitely not making our country great.
Jeannie Dunham, Denver
Too soon to applaud the Supreme Court
Re: “Court limits nationwide injunctions,” June 28 news story
A few years from now, a future president will declare a national gun violence emergency and issue an executive order declaring it illegal to own a gun, saying that today’s gun owners are not part of a “well-regulated Militia.” Of course, there will be cries of “that’s unconstitutional!” and lawsuits by people trying to get their guns back.
Thanks to Friday’s Supreme Court decision to kick the teeth out of the lower federal courts, the only people getting their guns back would be the individual plaintiffs. The president wouldn’t care, knowing that most Americans don’t have the time and resources to sue.
Besides, the president doesn’t have to appeal all the one-by-one rulings against the executive order.
I’m confident the Supreme Court will eventually overrule Trump’s blatantly unconstitutional executive order ending birthright citizenship. But what’s to stop him from issuing another order the next day? Don’t look for help from federal judges who are now stripped of the power of universal injunction.
Andrew Bartlett, Longmont
Kennedy’s bad decisions
Re: “These families don’t forget damage done by diseases,” June 29 news story
Thank you for the Sunday article recounting the history of vaccines. Indeed, vaccines have saved millions of lives and prevented millions of debilitating illnesses and physical impairments. Robert Kennedy Jr.’s own family warned us that he was not a rational-thinking guy. One of my best friends from 60 years ago (I was 15) had a permanent limp from polio. History is clear: Vaccines are not a problem. How is it that “Teflon Trump” keeps getting away with absurdly bad management decisions?
Jim Rankin, Highlands Ranch
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