Live With Pride

Why is Pride important to you? 

Ariel: Pride is more than just a celebration of the LGBTQ community. It is a global commitment to heightened and sustained visibility. It is through visibility that we are able to increase familiarity. And, we know from so many studies and surveys, that familiarity is what accelerates acceptance of and respect for all the members of our vibrant and varied community.

Brandon: Pride commemorates our history, celebrates our accomplishments, and creates visibility that affirms our LGBTQ+ youth. It is a real reminder of how much work we have left to do to realize true racial, economic, disability, and gender justice for the entire LGBTQ+ community! 

What’s a cause that’s important to you for the community? 

Ariel: As a gay father, I am committed to normalizing non-traditional families. I do so through my writing, through my newsletter ABBAPPA, and by being an out and proud Dad along with my husband and co-Dad Brandon. 

Brandon: Visibility, equity, access, and opportunity for our LGBTQ+ communities living and thriving with disabilities. I am the Executive Director of Ivy Street School, an organization focused on deepening skills, access, and opportunity for neurodiverse youth. Too often, neurodiverse people—like many people living and thriving with disabilities—are rendered invisible within our community. It's time to listen, learn, and act. And, we can only do that when we elevate the voices and experiences of our neurodiverse LGBTQ+ community. 

 What does it mean to “Live with Pride”? 

Ariel: It means being unapologetic about who I am and whom I love, and it means being part of a community and a chosen family—celebrating the diversity of LGBTQ people and supporting those who still cannot live their lives freely and authentically. 

Brandon: We are a diverse and beautiful community. To live with pride is to thrive in our interdependence. It is to elevate the voices and experiences of our diverse LGBTQ+ family! 

If you could write a caption under your polaroid that sums up who you are, what would it say? 

Ariel: Dad. Husband. Writer. Student. Optimist in Training.  

Brandon: Dreamer and Doer. Dad. Educator. Activist. 

If you could meet one Queer icon past or present, who would it be? 

Ariel: Edith “Edie” Windsor. A life-long LGBTQ activist, the brave and determined Windsor, at the age of 81, opted to be the lead plaintiff in the Supreme Court case (United States v. Windsor) that ultimately overturned section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, ushering in marriage equality across the country. Windsor was a pioneer in so many ways: the daughter of Russian immigrants, she lived a proud and visible life for decades—” marrying” her first wife Thea Spyer in 1967, becoming one of the first to register for a domestic partnership in New York in 1993, and volunteering with countless LGBTQ groups, making sure their tech was up to speed (Windsor was a career IBM technologist). She was a total rock star! Every day I have the privilege of celebrating my marriage to Brandon (with equal rights and recognition), and I owe a major debt of gratitude to her. Because my marriage is as valid as any other, my family is whole like any other.  

Brandon: Dennis DeLeon. DeLeon was the president of the Latino Commission on AIDS. DeLeon helped bring critical HIV information into Latinx and Spanish-speaking communities. He served as Human Rights Commissioner in 1986 and was one of the first officials to disclose publicly his HIV status in a 1993 New York Times op-ed. He lived with pride. He lived with purpose. He changed the world. As a gay Latino man, I am here because Dennis DeLeon lived with such courage, compassion and vision. 

Why is Pride important to you? 

For me Pride’s importance is visibility. It's a chance to share & show the world a community that has been demonized & disenfranchised still has the capacity, and the capability to welcome with open hearts and minds, all ages, creeds, & religious persuasions. A community gathered together in peace offering hope, love, and acceptance. All hues & definitions standing as one.

What’s a cause that’s important to you for the community? 

Trans & Non- Binary issues. As Trans women of color, our lives are framed to be unimportant & disposable. This dangerous cheapening of existence doesn't stop with the Trans community it infects all humanity with excuses to dismiss, demonize, & criminalize truth, self-awareness. It denies the chance for self-betterment of living authentically. A world willing to look the other way and condone such indifference is doomed to fail to tune in upon and devour itself. For today it is me tomorrow it shall be you.

What  does it mean to “Live with Pride”? 

To live with Pride is to live knowing self that you aren’t unimportant or unnatural. That you: your hopes and dreams matter. That our existence is vital to the world and the lives we touch.

If you could write a caption under your polaroid that sums up who you are, what would it say? 

TRANS LIVES MATTER

If you could meet one Queer icon past or present, who would it be? 

Sir Lady Java

Mathew Shurka | He/Him/His
Born Perfect Co-Founder 
@mathewshurka 

Why is Pride important to you 

Pride is that time when we stop to reflect on the accomplishments of our community and back to work the next day.

 What’s a cause that’s important to you for the community? 

Protecting all LGBTQ people from conversion therapy.

 What does it mean to “Live with Pride”? 

To live free of any constraints of who I am and knowing that I am Born Perfect. 

 If you could write a caption under your polaroid that sums up who you are, what would it say? 

An advocate for myself and my community. 

 If you could meet one Queer icon past or present, who would it be? 

Alan Turing 

Why is Pride important to you? 

Pride is Joy and Strength. Because the opposite of Pride is shame and I’ve done that it it’s not where anyone should be.

What’s a cause that’s important to you for the community? 

Fighting the more than 250  nti-LGBTQIA+  bills that have been sweeping state legislatures in 2021. We are still fighting for basic elemental equality.

What does it mean to “Live with Pride”? 

Pride is every day. It’s about being 100% who I am and living my life authentically.

If you could write a caption under your polaroid that sums up who you are, what would it say? 

This is me. 

If you could meet one Queer icon past or present, who would it be? 

Marsha P. Johnson and Quentin Crisp

Why is Pride important to you? 

The importance of pride has evolved for me over the years. When I was a young queer person pride was about celebration and freedom, but as i continue to grow and lean into my trans identity pride has become more about visibility, activism, advocacy and continuing the fight for equality.

What’s a cause that’s important to you for the community? 

An important cause for me within the LGTBQIA+ community is furthering transgender rights and access to comprehensive quality healthcare, education, job opportunities and housing. 

What does it mean to “Live with Pride”? 

Living with pride, to me, means living authentically as yourself and helping others to do the same.

If you could write a caption under your polaroid that sums up who you are, what would it say? 

Celebrating the beauty of being me, manifesting my greatness and leaning into my gender euphoria.

If you could meet one Queer icon past or present, who would it be? 

Christine Jorgensen an American soldier and one of the first transgender "icons" in American media. I'd love to talk to her about her journey and the pressures of being in the public eye as one of the first people to undergo sexual reassignment surgery. 

Why is Pride important to you? 

It’s your chance to be fully realized!

What’s a cause that’s important to you for the community? 

Creating spaces centering marginalized folks

What does it mean to “Live with Pride”? 

Feeling my fullest self, complete and multi-faceted.

If you could write a caption under your polaroid that sums up who you are, what would it say? 

Effervescence 

 
If you could meet one Queer icon past or present, who would it be?

Audre Lorde