15 reminders for Indigenous peoples x Pride month
Ah June, my favourite month to celebrate all of who I am. I put together this list in honour of both Indigenous Peoples and Pride Month - take a number that suits you.
Pride started as a riot, spearheaded by trans women of colour. We owe everything to them.
After generations of colonization devaluing their wisdom, we have an imperative to restore the inclusion of Two-Spirit individuals into the 2SLGBTQQIA+ acronym.
Land acknowledgments and Indigenous representation should be present at every Pride celebration.
Police presence, on the other hand...
Indigenous conceptions of gender and sexuality are far more expansive than the western world can ever hope to be. Our terms, in our languages, deserve to be revitalized and upheld.
Not everyone gets to access our ‘coming out’ stories, our ‘queer awakening’ stories, our intergenerational trauma or our ceremonial stories for free. Pay your queer and Indigenous storytellers who are willing to share.
On that note, allies: please dedicate your time (yes, your paid holidays) and your financial resources to learning from and supporting us.
It’s best practice to lead conversations with your pronouns and ask everyone to join in.
Yes, you are “queer enough”. Even if you are early in your transition, even if you are in a straight passing relationship, even if you’re in the closet, even if you’ve never been to Pride.
Fluidity is a sacred and gorgeous thing.
Yes, you are “Indigenous enough”. Even if you don’t know your language yet, even if you grew up urban, even if you’re mixed, even if finding your way back to community is challenging.
Intersectionality at the centre, always. Our Indigiqueer kin have so much to say.
Indigenous youth, especially Two-Spirit and queer youth, deserve better mental health services, including identity-affirming spaces, traditional teachings and access to our lands.
Indigenous and trans women suffer rates of sexual assault three to four times higher than their settler and/or cisgender counterparts; we need systemic solutions that keep us all safe.
When we remain resilient in the face of institutions constantly working to erase us, we honour the generations of ancestors who strove before us, and our future ancestors to come.
