June Is GLBTQ Nude Pride Month

Although Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (GLBTQ) Month varies from city-to-city, country-to-country, the official designation for Pride Month, in the USA, is June, annually. Ever since the Stonewall Inn riots, which happened on the evening of June 27 – 28, 1969, this month has held a special place in this community’s collective history. That riot at that small, obscure gay bar, located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood in Manhattan, New York City, USA, is recognized across the world as the spark that ignited the long struggle for equal rights for all GLBTQ people, no matter where they live.

I’ll post again on the Stonewall Inn riots later this month, closer to the historical date of the actual riot. All that I’ll add here is that exactly one year later, 1970, on the first anniversary of those riots, the very first GLBTQ Pride March was held in New York City, USA. It has been a continuous event ever since. The pride that we, as GLBTQ people feel, in ourselves and in our universal community is because of those courageous men and women who had the courage and strength to stand against oppression, degradation, humiliation and marginalization by the larger society, law enforcement and established tradition, often sanctioned by discriminatory legal actions and inhuman treatment.

Even though June is considered GLBTQ Pride Month, ReNude Pride celebrates it as GLBTQ Nude Pride Month. A month where not only is our sexuality a reason for pride, our nudity is equally a cause for confidence in who we are. It’s all an aspect of our human essence and none of us has any need to be ashamed. We are the person that we truly are, no matter who we love or what we may or may not wear.

Since Gilbert Baker (who recently died, this past April, 2017) created the first rainbow flag for San Francisco, California’s Pride Month parade in 1978, that banner has come to symbolize the fight for GLBTQ equality across the globe. Variations on the rainbow colors have since been used to exemplify pride in being true to who we all are. Just as the men in the images above represent their pride and confidence in being both GLBTQ and bare (without clothes).

We all know that we are able to be proud of who we are without wearing or displaying any of the the rainbow-inspired accessories that are available. Pride in ourselves begins with being proud of  ourselves from within. This pride entails us being confident and accepting ourselves for who and what we are. It comes from us knowing that we are the very best person that we can possibly be and showing this by loving and respecting those around us.

This pride in ourselves bestows on each of us the capacity to understand that others may be different from us and to tolerate and respect the uniqueness of every person. It gives us all the courage to accept and embrace all peoples and to acknowledge our differences. Once we do this, we have the capacity to love others as well as ourselves.

Through our nudity together, we demonstrate and share our love of both our bodies and ourselves. And through our pride in being who we are, we are sharing our love of not just ourselves and our partners/spouses, but our love of humanity. If we’re unable to love ourselves as bare and same gender loving men, then we’re truly unable to love and respect anyone else.

Our pride in being gay bare practitioners (nudists) extends beyond the month of June of every year. It’s an ongoing process that takes place throughout every day of every year. We all should re-affirm our pride and self-worth on an ongoing basis, no matter the month or the season.

This development of our sense of confidence in ourselves doesn’t bestow on any of us the right of arrogance and/or the right of judgment. We, of all people, know better than to make that assumption. Most of us have been the target of of prejudicial behavior (or worse) in our own lives and know first-hand how that makes people feel. Patience and tolerance of others, regardless of the beliefs or values they hold, should be our guide. Our pride in ourselves includes pride in our actions toward others.

Being confident and proud of ourselves involves respecting the rights of others in allowing them to be proud of themselves, too. Our freedom should not entail denying the same to anyone else.

“There was no gay pride before Stonewall, only gay fear and gay isolation and gay distrust and gay self-hatred.”   ~ Edmund White

Happy GLBTQ Nude Pride Month!

Naked hugs!

Roger/ReNude Pride