Happy 2019 Pride Month! Over time, the LBGTQA+ community has grown in acceptance and international recognition. Several key victories have been had in just the last 5 years alone. Just this year, the World Health Organization finally removed the diagnostic classification of "Gender Nonconformity" from their manual of diagnosable illnesses, the ICD-11.

However, the struggles of LGBTQA+ individuals isn't over by a long-shot. While Gay and Lesbian awareness and acceptance is at an all-time high, acceptance of Transgender members is still struggling. More to that, in the United States many barriers to protection from applied stigmatism are still present. Workplace discrimination is rarely handled by the legal system, we still face religious communities which refuse to acknowledge us as people, and the Trump administration in the US has continued to push back on Obama administration policies which enabled more protections for Transgender people.

To this day the LGBTQA+ community faces divisions within itself. Bisexual members of the community continually feel pressured to 'pick a side', and Asexual members face harassment and peer-pressure from folks even within their safe spaces to participate in romantic or sexual interactions. Transgender folks still suffer from a lack of acceptance by certain members of the community, and the continued tensions between all groups under the banner has continued to cause those who support the cause to openly announce that they don't want anything to do with it. The drama, the bullshit, all of that is not what makes us strong, and so help me it isn't worth anyone's time... but it needs addressing. We have to work together and coexist, that's what all the identity-status inclusion is for. The "+" I put at the end isn't for show, there are so many I can't even begin to reliably name who fall under the six-letter acronym's domain of marginalized sexualities and identity statuses.

So, be proud and be vocal. Even as the fight continues, the usual suspects that wish to keep our community down rally once-more not only in the US but in parts abroad as well. I for one won't let us be forced back under the rug, and I hope you feel the same.