By: Kaeson Warnes
“…I have always been becoming who I am right now.”
-Johnny Blazes
Pride is a time for celebration, community-building, and action. LGBTQ+ pride means something different to each person and is ever evolving with one’s own unique experiences. Further complexities exist for those with intersecting identities, where the source of pride can either be enhanced or challenged by one’s other held identities. For me, holding student status at Western has further challenged my own understanding of how I experience pride as a transgender and nonbinary student.
Despite Western’s efforts to promote diversity and community-building, being a transgender student in any setting is never perfect, and WWU is not exempt from imperfection. During a time of rising anti-transgender sentiment, being open about my identity in any setting can feel unsafe and unwelcome. When I first came to WWU, my sense of pride had been freshly damaged from severing ties with the well-established community I was moving from. In an attempt to rebuild a sense of community within my first year, I explored countless clubs, events, and social groups; yet the experiences within these groups left me feeling even more isolated and misunderstood than before.
The LGBTQ+ community is expansive and complex. Simply being around others with similar identities does not itself create a sense of welcome and inclusion. This was something I had to learn the hard way while searching for community at WWU. My discovery prompted a period of self-reflection, where I learned to find pride within my own company, achievements, and growth. By redirecting my main source of pride to within myself, I was once again able to expand out to the WWU community and strengthened my sense of pride through my connections with others.
With the current state of the world, it can be difficult to feel pride in ourselves, our communities, or our actions. And yet, now is the most essential time to build up pride and support for us and those around us. Attacks in legislature with goals to reduce rights for LGBTQ+ communities in the U.S. have been steadily on the rise over the last few years. Compounding social issues across the world demonstrates that we are far from achieving equal rights for all people. Violence perpetrated against any group concerns the wellbeing of the entire community. Finding pride amid stress and pain sparks action towards change.
The photos presented within this article attempt to showcase what pride looks like for me–some of which you may, or may not, find your own meaning reflected in.
A series of photos depicting what transgender pride means to Me. Kaeson Warnes//Wavelength