I fumbled conversations with strangers, felt the cold trickle of a drink spilled down my back, and waited my turn to pee. By the time I burst into the early morning air to bike the 20 blocks home, I was relieved to be alone again - and aware that I had already taken a night out for granted. It’s Pride month after a devastating year of isolation and loss.
The pandemic has wreaked disproportionate havoc on LGBTQ+ people, who have been more likely to face bad health outcomes, economic hardship, and mental health strain as a result of Covid-19 and the preventive measures that forced us apart. Now, we’re meant to be making up for lost time, and June being our prescribed month for social and political unity, it’s supposed to mean something.
Some people continued clandestine gatherings all along, as style pages whispered, while others were dragged on social media for doing so openly.
