Take Pride in Owning Your Pleasure!
Now more than ever, for all of us laboring for a just world for everyone, the road to the future seems to lead though the past. That arc of change is more like a spiral, and TBH it's giving me flashbacks.
Pride Month, 2025 dawns more dangerously than it did last year, through everything we have seen so far, marshaled against our communities as well as others, was written on the wall in years before. That means Pride is an inflection point and a crucial time to speak out. I know, I know, we go to Pride gatherings for fun, for connection, to celebrate, to feel like part of something larger than our individual selves, and that will be part of this year's marches and gatherings, of course. But so will an awareness that this is a year that will go down in history.
When I came out, Pride commemorated an uprising--as it does today--but so much quiet organizing preceded it, less flashy but necessary groundwork for the explosion of activism that followed. Post-Stonewall queer activism was often joyous—it feels great to speak up, make gains (even the incremental ones), learn more about other communities and strengthen ties with them, and come out and connect. In progressive times and hard times, this has always been true.
And this festive atmosphere we’ve created makes it a thrill to come together, but it doesn't cancel the other reason we take to the streets: to show strength, demonstrate our visibility (to each other, and the world at large), and connect as a community and movement (as well as distinct communities and movements)-- evoking Pride to fight shame.
We do this to support those who are just coming out; our trans and BIPoC community members who are so targeted this year; our elders, whose future suddenly feels more precarious; and all of us who need all the support community can offer, because where people connect with Pride, it's harder to live in a state of shame.
And as pre-Stonewall activism shows us, this work can be continued in good times... and bad.
We stand together at Pride because that's the way we connect, and our connection opens the door to joy, love, and pleasure. We also stand together to say NO to transphobia, homo-, queer- and biphobia, white supremacy, anti-immigrant hate and endangered due process, and fascist moves in general.
Good Vibes came to be, and grew, in an atmosphere that had been changed by Pride—not just its annual celebration nor even the ways it affected San Francisco politics, but the way it affected everyone's understanding that—no matter the specifics of their identity—they deserved pleasure, love and joy. Sometimes that celebration comes with a side of sex toys and sometimes it doesn't, but we always know we are making a difference in peoples' lives when we greet them with respect and a true sense of welcome. As well we should—because without the decades of work to make space for everyone of every consent-based orientation and identity, who knows whether Good Vibes would have had the raw material to center these crucial things we have always stood up for: respect for our diverse customer base, culturally competent sex information to meet our customers where they are, quality products to bring joy and pleasure to everyone.
Our past at Good Vibes is so deeply informed by our founding and fledging in a city that saw (and sees) Pride for what it is: a human right, a foundation for the future, and a beacon lighting our way to the joy, love, pleasure and respect we deserve. And today, worldwide and especially in the US, those values are at risk. Stay safe at Pride this year—and stand up for our, and everyone's, freedom.
