My 2020 Pride Speech…Really Can’t Think of Another One

My name is Simon Mouton, and I work as an IT Operations Engineer in a Fintech Company. I am from South Africa and have been in Dublin, Ireland since 2017. But enough about me.

When I was asked to do this short speech for Pride, the first question that jumped into my mind was: “What does pride actually mean to me?”. Not the world, but to me?

I realized that if I am going to touch the hearts of those who are reading or listening, parroting some history and jargon would certainly not achieve that. To achieve what I intend to, it must come from a place of genuineness.

Bear in mind, that I am not in the business of minimizing all the efforts, deaths, and rallies it took, with the special remembrance of the Stonewall Riots and also, the many other efforts that are not so popular, for Pride to be what it is today. Something wonderful and, definitely something to be remembered and celebrated at all costs. However, to make the impact I want to make, I am going to go off the road into my own soul.

So, the Analyst inside me started to break down the meaning of “Pride” and “Proud” and for those that needed to be re-educated (aka me) on the terms, “Proud” is the verb of the noun “Pride”. In my mind, it’s exactly the same.

To have Pride is to be Proud.

So, then the next question is: Proud of what?

In my humble opinion, I want to steer away from labels such as Gay, Bi, Lesbian, and Transgender, and I want to put the emphasis on “Me”.

So, “I am proud of ME?” (I know grammatically that is not correct, but I am trying to make a point).

This is what Pride means to me, looking in the mirror and asking myself, “Who am I?”, and “Am I proud of what I see?” After all, that is what Pride is all about, people rallying and protesting to just be themselves.

We live in a world where labels have somehow become credentials, and “SOCIETY” eventually placed great importance on these credentials that either got you into the best school, the football team, or simply locked up or bullied.

If we strip away these labels to the barest essence, we end up with the truth which is, that we are human beings made up of something far greater than we imagine. So who are we to place these man-made labels out there and start judging people based on these labels? We live in a world where being ourselves is not easy and the cost of it is extreme bravery and in some cases, even death!

Without making a Sunday sermon, the message that I want to give here is the following:

When you see a Rainbow flag, acknowledge its meaning but look beyond what its textbook definition is, and ask yourself, “Am I Proud of who I am?”

If you’re a straight guy forced to play rugby, but secretly you wanted to play the violin but decided not to because of societal constraints, then make the change!

If you’re a woman who wanted to know how to fix cars, but society dictates otherwise, then make the change!

If you’re a man or woman who has a crush or better yet, is in love with someone of the same sex but too scared to reach out, follow your heart and go for it!

These are just small examples of the many conditions, and constraints that exist out there.

Conclusion

Being unapologetically me! That is what Pride is about for me! Each of the colors of the Rainbow flag could be and should be the unique you!

Be unapologetically You! Be Proud!

The End.

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This post was previously published on medium.com.

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