Pride Month: We’ve Come a Long Way

Every June, someone inevitably asks whether Pride is still necessary.

My answer is simple: look around.

Not because of how far we still have to go.

Because of how far we've already come.

I was born in 1975. I grew up in a world where being LGBTQ+ wasn't discussed—it was whispered about. It was the punchline of jokes. It was something people were warned not to become. For many of us, coming out wasn't a celebration. It was a risk assessment.

Could you lose your family?

Your church?

Your job?

Your friends?

For a lot of people, the answer was yes.

When I was a teenager, there were no openly queer role models in my hometown. No rainbow logos. No Pride nights. No openly gay teachers. No social media communities waiting to tell you that you weren't alone.

There was silence.

And sometimes silence can be louder than hate.

Yet somehow, generation after generation, queer people kept showing up.

We kept loving.

We kept creating.

We kept telling our stories.

We kept surviving.

Today, I serve as a church deacon in a congregation that welcomes LGBTQ+ people exactly as they are. I publish queer books through my own publishing company. I write stories that younger versions of myself desperately needed to read. I live in a world where many people can openly introduce their spouse, hold a partner's hand in public, or simply exist without carrying the same fear that previous generations carried every day.

That's progress.

Real progress.

It didn't happen by accident.

It happened because countless people before us took risks. Some marched. Some protested. Some simply refused to disappear.

Some paid a price we'll never fully understand.

Pride Month is not just a celebration of identity.

It's a celebration of courage.

The courage of the people who came before us.

The courage of the people still fighting to be themselves.

And the courage it takes for every person who wakes up one day and decides they're done apologizing for who they are.

This month, I find myself thinking less about politics and more about people.

The friend who came out after decades of hiding.

The teenager who finally found language for who they are.

The older couple who waited years for the right to marry.

The parents who chose love over fear.

The churches that opened their doors wider.

The communities that learned how to listen.

None of this is perfect.

Human beings rarely are.

But compared to where we started?

The distance is remarkable.

Pride is not about claiming victory.

It's about honoring the journey.

It's about remembering those who never got to see the progress we've witnessed.

And it's about making sure the next generation inherits a world that is kinder than the one we inherited.

At AQ-Books, we've built our brand around stories that refuse to whisper.

That's what Pride has always been.

People refusing to whisper.

People refusing to disappear.

People refusing to let others tell their stories for them.

So this Pride Month, celebrate.

Remember.

Reflect.

Be grateful for the ground we've gained.

And never underestimate the power of simply living your truth out loud.

Because every generation of LGBTQ+ people has helped carry the torch a little farther.

And for the first time in a very long time, that torch is lighting the way for more people than ever before.

Happy Pride Month.

Still loud. Still queer. Still here.

— August Quinn