What Pride means to Twilions

What Pride means to Twilions

Pride looks different in 2020. With parades and events being postponed, canceled, or taken online because of the pandemic, it won’t be our normal month of celebrating and honoring the LGBTQ+ community. We also feel strongly that the recent police shootings in the US have highlighted the always-present need for intersectionality in the mainstream understanding of Pride. Pride has its origins in Black and brown LGBTQ+ people rebelling against government denial of their civil rights.

The first Pride celebration began 50 years ago to mark the anniversary of the Stonewall uprising that took place on June 28, 1969, when LGBTQ+ people in New York City decided to take a stand against police brutality. Marsha P. Johnson, a Black trans woman, is credited with being one of the first people to courageously stand up along with many other LGBTQ+ people of color.

The successes of the gay rights movement we benefit from today are because of the courageous actions of the LGBTQ+ people who haven taken stances and risen up against injustice since before the Stonewall uprising in New York City on June 28, 1969. As we celebrate this victory we reflect on the words from one of the early movement’s Black trans leaders, Marsha P. Johnson, who said, “No pride for some of us without liberation for all of us.”

We had a great step in the direction for equality last week with the U.S. Supreme Court prohibiting discrimination against gay and transgender people in the workplace. As we continue to celebrate virtual Pride month as well as this particular historic ruling, may we all work to honor those who have gone before us and grown our commitments to solidarity with Black people across the world. While there is more work to be done, we will honor this milestone.

To commemorate the efforts of those who came before us, acknowledge and bring awareness to the ongoing repression of our global community, and celebrate our collective victories towards the liberation and inclusion of LGBTQ+ people everywhere, we asked members of Spectrum, Twiliio’s LGBTQ+ Employee Resource Group to share what Pride means to them. Get to know some of them and hear their answers below.

From all of us at Twilio, Happy Pride and keep fighting.

Zoë (she/her), IT Support Specialist in San Francisco

For me, "Pride" equates to the ability to live authentically in my life, both personally and professionally. When I celebrate "Pride", I am honoring this personal journey of identity and radical proclamation of self-love. Finally, "Pride" allows me to focus on gratitude for the trailblazers in my community and the work that they have done to allow me to thrive in this day.

Maddy (she/her), Principal Technical Lead in San Francisco

Pride is my affirmation of belonging in my community.

Ben Stephens (they/them), Software Engineer (L2) in San Francisco

To me, "Pride" is a space to reflect on our journeys - the historical journey the community has gone through in the fight for acceptance and equality, and the personal journey myself and every member of the community are taking. It's a time to celebrate the doors opened for us through generations of struggle and conflict, to celebrate our own personal growth. It's an opportunity to reflect on where we're headed and what role we each play. Most of all, it's a time to simply celebrate and express our whole selves and the many blessings and joys of being queer!

Tim (he/him), Senior Social Media Manager in New York City

Pride means being fearless and being able to be your whole self. For so long, so many of us have had to hide our true selves from the world or present ourselves in one context different than we would in another. To me, Pride is being able to celebrate all that makes you unique and sharing it with the world. People fought for our rights at LGBTQ+ people, and Pride is honoring them and continuing to stand for justice and equality for all.

Daryl Spreiter (he/him), Senior Director, Sales Enablement in San Francisco

For me, pride means that I am seen, I am heard and I have a voice. Pride in myself is what helped me to come out as the person I am today. I celebrate my Pride every day when using the term "My Husband" - it has become a daily affirmation about who I am and I use it whenever introducing myself and my life to others.

Lyra (she/her), Software Engineer in San Francisco

For me, Pride is about standing in solidarity with everyone else who identifies as LGBTQ+, because we're all part of the same community. Our differences don't weaken us, they strengthen us because they remind us other people deserve our respect even though they make different choices or enjoy different things than we do. Pride is a time where I feel grateful for how privileged I am to show my true face to the world and have people accept me, and fight for everyone around the world to be able to do the same.

Topher (he/him/y'all), Product Manager in Denver

For me, I think as important to say what Pride is, it’s also important to say what it isn’t. The first Pride was a riot let by queer and trans People of Color, a revolution against a system and a civilization that profited from our contributions and our pain. Pride should be, in my opinion, a celebration of the resilience of our people, a reminder to our young and vulnerable that they are not alone, but also a show of force to remind our oppressors that despite their best efforts, despite centuries of violence and abuse, that we are many, and We are Still Here. Unfortunately, I think that some of that has been lost to the double-edged sword of mainstreaming and assimilation.

Corporations draping themselves in rainbows for a month for good PR while profiting from a system that harms our most vulnerable is not Pride. Uniformed police officers marching in a Pride parade while actively participating in and propping up a system of violent oppression toward People of Color (particularly Black trans women and Black men) is not Pride. Respectability rhetoric that devalues queer people who refuse to assimilate into a cisheteronormative white supremacist society is not Pride. Hollow statements from elected officials “honoring” LGBTQ+ people while enacting policies that harm them is not Pride.

Pride is an opportunity, a chance to get back to our roots and remember what those who came before us fought and died for, what those of us who are still here fought and hurt for: To be safe, to be valued, and to love and be loved, not because we are all the same, but because we are all HUMAN, regardless of our differences. To have those differences seen and not just tolerated, but celebrated. To remind ourselves we are not alone, that we have power. To show that kid hiding in the closet for survival that we’re here, that we're on their side, and that we’ve got their back. To show those who force that kid to be there that they’ve had their time, and that time is up; we will not settle for the scraps we've wrested from them thus far, we will not go quietly, and that there is no freedom for any of us until there is freedom for all of us.