Dear Friend,
It is a funny thing how stereotypes work into the world we create. I was in middle school when Will & Grace came out. If you haven’t heard of that historic TV iconography, then I would say you were uncultured and boring. (Stereotyping! See?) I loved watching that show because Will and Jack were the first pop culture examples of gay persons my mother would let me watch. We would laugh together as Jack and Karen would be “so extra” and Will- well- Will was hot!!! I was SO into Will!! He was cultured, sassy, dressed impeccably at all times, and knew how to argue a point.
But try as I may, I was becoming more and more- Jack: flamboyant, silly, a total theatre nerd. I didn’t realize that Will and Jack were teaching me what it was like to be gay in the 90’s from our living room. It shaped me and the other kids like me, living in a world where the sun was just starting to break into the dawn of a new era; an era where we may have rights, husbands, dare I say children? A future of possibilities? To be “out” in public?
It was all so exciting, yet terrifying. What did this mean? Who were we going to have to become? With all of that uncertainty, I found it comforting to become the stereotype of what I saw on television- at least that made it safe for prime time. While I became the person I am today, I am glad that I was able to grow from the stereotypes that shaped my youth and into an adult who can live authentically, with PRIDE.
You too can share in our PRIDE this year. We have a fundraiser going on this week where you can order one of our new tee shirt designs and help us support our cause. They come in a variety of jewel tones and have our QR code on the back to take observers to our donation page. Isn’t that awesome! Which is your favorite color? Betcha can’t guess mine…
PINK!!! (You had to know that based on the theme here, right?)
Thank you for being a part of our rainbow.
Your Fan,
Jacob Reide