Hand In Hand: A Pride Month Anthology

Louder

It had started out as a normal dinner. Tay wished she was surprised when it went downhill.

Her father liked to keep the news on when they ate dinner, and the anchor talked about this scandal and that tragedy and the rising cost of gas prices. They drowned it out with their own conversation about work and upcoming events.

Then the story on the news changed.

Tay looked up as the anchor reported on a pride parade, the screen showing images from it. Her heart sank at the sight.

She'd seen pictures online from friends who'd gone to local pride parades. She wanted to go so badly. She wanted to..

She wanted to take Sienna.

Her father watched the TV, a growing expression of disgust on his face. "That's ridiculous. What do they need a whole month for? And what's the point of pride parades? Those people look ridiculous."

"Not like we get straight parades," her mother said.

Tay gripped her fork tighter. She wanted to scream. She wanted to grab her parents' shoulders and shake some sense into their heads.

Why were there no straight parades? Had they ever to worry about being beaten, or even murdered, because of the gender they preferred? When her parents planned their wedding, did they have to worry a bakery would refuse to make their cake? Did they see their right to marry each other become legal in their lifetime? Did they have to endure words like faggot, dyke, and cocksucker? Did they have to fear people trying to "correct" them? Did they have to suffer the emotional stress of coming out to their family and friends, and wonder if they would be rejected?

Tay wanted to spew all those questions at her parents. But she knew she'd be brushed off. Her dad would teasingly say "Aw, did I hurt your feelings snowflake" and her mom would just roll her eyes and say "Every family has a liberal".

Sometimes she was almost grateful for those blatant disregards for her passion on the subject, though. The alternative was the truth, and the truth terrified her.

Tay stood up, unable to sit here and listen to this. Her hands were shaking, and her stomach was coiled in tense fear.

"Tay?" her mom said curiously.

"I'm full. Sorry, mom, snacked too much when I got home from school," she said, scraping the leftovers into the garbage and setting her plate in the dishwasher.

Tay went upstairs, shutting her bedroom quietly and sitting on her bed. She could pull up the news station and watch the rest of the report on the gay pride parade. She could look at the pictures online of people who'd gone to the nearby ones.

But she didn't. She hugged her knees to her chest instead, swallowing the lump in her throat.

She didn't understand it. How could anyone hate someone for loving another? How could parents say such thoughtless, careless things in front of their own children?

She was wrong. She was wrong. She was a mistake.

A hat hung on her bedpost, a free takeaway she'd gotten from a pride day the previous year. Sienna had taken her to a fair that was celebrating pride month with free pride gear like hats, pins, and flags. It was the closest to a pride parade Tay thought she'd ever get.

She'd been over the moon when Sienna grabbed them each a hat. It was inconspicuous enough that her parents wouldn't realize what it was, but the rainbow heart on the back of it had made her heart swell. She'd worn it around the fair all day.