Irhaboggle Pride (2018) 30 Days, 30 Stories

Who Are You to Judge?

Gale and Tempest reclined on the warm, sun-kissed grass, just watching the rainbow-colored crowd pass by.

"Man, I'm so glad we were able to make it to Pride this year!" Gale sighed, smiling lazily.

"Me too!" Tempest agreed, snuggling up closer to him as they continued to watch the parade.

"Did you want to watch the fireworks later, or do you think spending that much time here would be too much?"

"Oh, either works," Tempest shrugged. "I've got the energy, I think. Besides, either way, we'll be together, and that will keep me going, too!"

"Aww, you!" Gale blushed. Tempest laughed before pressing a kiss to his cheek. The two managed to exchange a few more playful, flirting remarks before they were suddenly cut off by a rather loud, rather rude Pride-goer.

"Hey! Pride isn't supposed to be for cis-hets!" It was a woman about their age, decked out in rainbows, but despite her cheerful apparel, her expression was anything but.

"Hey, you don't know we're cis-het!" Gale sat up with a look of indignation. His warm smile was completely gone, replaced by a scowl.

"Well, you could look a little less heteronormative," the woman scoffed. "The girl in a dress and the guy in jeans and a tee. How original."

"Oooh, someone called the fashion police," Gale rolled his eyes. "If only they'd sent someone who actually knew what the word meant."

"So now you're saying we can only be LGBT if we look a certain way?" Tempest sat up next, looking equally annoyed. "Who are you to judge?!"

"You cis-hets don't need any more validation than you've already got!" the woman snapped back.

"Ok, first of all, maybe we're allies. Even if Pride isn't for us, we're still allowed to be here!" Gale growled. "Second of all, we aren't cis-het. I'm bisexual and Tempest-" he cut himself off. "Wait, sorry, I don't want to say it without your permission," he told Tempest quietly.

"Don't worry, I was just about to," Tempest smiled dryly. Then she turned to the other woman. "I'm an asexual, biromantic, transwoman."

The other woman's eyes suddenly went wide.

"W-w-well, you don't look it!" she tried to look defensive and huffy, but it was obvious that Tempest had left her shaken.

"It was getting too hot to wear my flags," Tempest gestured to a bag resting between her and Gale. She opened the top and, sure enough, two flags were visible inside. Tempest had only taken them off so that she wouldn't get them dirty while sitting on the grass.

The other woman said nothing, clearly at a loss for words now.

"Really, who are you to judge?" Now it was Gale's turn to give the other woman a dry smile. "Forcing people to out themselves just because they didn't seem to fit your narrative at first. Isn't Pride supposed to be a safe space for everyone?"

"Well, not cis-hets..." the other woman mumbled. Gale and Tempest both rolled their eyes. Even though they could understand the woman's annoyance, it was still obvious that she had some internal bias of her own.

"Well, maybe you should've at least had the flag sitting out," the woman gave one last attempt to justify her behavior, but it was still apparent that she knew she'd been beat. She was staring at the ground and, even now, she couldn't bring herself to meet Gale and Tempest's eyes.

"Maybe you shouldn't act like you know everything or demand to know someone else's orientation," Tempest replied calmly.

"Maybe you shouldn't act like sexuality is visible," Gale agreed. "And stop judging other people for how they dress. Even if it is heteronormative, that doesn't make it homo- or transphobic. Girls are allowed to wear dresses and guys are allowed to wear jeans and a tee. It wasn't some sexist statement, that's just what we both wanted to wear!"

"Right? If I wanted to listen to unfair dress codes, I'd go back to school!" Tempest laughed darkly. "But like Gale said, just because I'm wearing a feminine outfit doesn't mean I'm just perpetuating stereotypes. I just happen to enjoy dresses."

"Yeah, I didn't force her to wear that dress, ok? That was her choice, and I wasn't about to tell her she couldn't," Gale nodded. "I was just in a jeans and tee mood, but I certainly wasn't trying to make a statement!"

"Ok, fine, whatever!" the woman finally cut them off, tired of being lectured. "I'm wasting my time hanging around you guys anyway."

"You don't say?" Gale muttered. "Besides, the feeling is mutual..."

The woman glared at him again but began turning away to go.

"Oh, and one more thing," Tempest called out to her, then she raised her middle finger. But she wasn't just flipping the woman off. She was also revealing a small black ring. The woman grumbled under her breath before stalking away in defeat.

"Sheesh, who crapped in her cornflakes?" Gale sneered as soon as she was out of earshot.

"The cis-hets!" Tempest mocked the woman's voice, putting on an angry hiss. Gale burst out laughing.

"Oh, no! Not the... cis-hets!" he joked, affecting a look of horror and pretending to swoon in terror. Soon, both he and Tempest were laughing up a storm. And before long, they'd forgotten all about their unexpected encounter, and it was nothing but sunshine and rainbows once again. It was a much nicer parade with her gone. And, as Gale and Tempest would later decide, the fireworks had been lovely, too.