![\"A](\"https:\/\/smps.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/NathanReyna_MemberVoices-1280x570-1-1.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
What I love about Pride Month is that it\u2019s always evolving. Each year it becomes more inclusive and less about one thing, but more holistic and centered around the individual. Even the pride flag has evolved to reflect and represent the diversity of skin tones and gender spectrum. It represents more than the LGBTQ+ community; it represents everyone.<\/p>\n
To me, Pride is about being proud of being myself. It may seem inward thinking, but I haven\u2019t always felt the freedom to be who I am. I grew up in a conservative, faith-based family in small-town Texas, and though some might balk at that type of upbringing, I\u2019m grateful for it. My family has always been nothing but loving and supportive but growing up gay in that environment isn\u2019t without inner and outer struggles. Rather than accept who I am, I tried to hide. Rather than talk about my identity, I kept a lot locked inside of me. Even though my eventual coming out wasn\u2019t as scary as I thought it would be, it\u2019s still a challenge sometimes to go beyond the surface with my family and talk about my personal life.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve been balancing my professional life, family background, and personal relationships for as long as I can remember\u2014hoping that this one singular thing doesn\u2019t define me. I have a big personality; some might call me loud. But I\u2019ve gained a lot of perspective over the years and my experience has helped inform some of my professional and personal successes. I\u2019ve learned that what I put into life is what I\u2019ll get out of it. While I don\u2019t have it all figured out, I know one thing: The support I\u2019ve been shown by the companies I\u2019ve worked for, the friends I\u2019ve made both professionally and personally, and the confidence I\u2019ve gained in myself is what has shaped me into who I am\u2014and that\u2019s someone I\u2019m proud of.<\/p>\n
But not everyone can say that.<\/p>\n
The LGBTQ+ community is no stranger to prejudice, discrimination, harassment, hate, and violence. As we honor Pride Month, it\u2019s our time to celebrate how far we\u2019ve come with huge wins\u2014marriage equality, the right to serve openly in the military, spousal and adoption benefits\u2014but also to be mindful that there are still many barriers to break down, for all threatened and marginalized communities.<\/p>\n
It feels like we\u2019re at an inflection point as a country, and heck, even as a human race. Everywhere we look, rights are being threatened, freedoms are being trampled on, and people are getting killed. While the LGBTQ+ community continues to advocate for change, it\u2019s equally important for us to stand in solidarity\u2014loudly and visibly\u2014with Black, Asian, Hispanic, and other marginalized communities as they battle daily, sometimes for their lives.<\/p>\n
We all want equal access to quality jobs, education, housing, and health care. Those are big dreams. But right now, I think many people would settle for safety. Transgender men and women are being treated brutally in almost every community. The fundamental rights of women are under attack, and the limits being considered now to remove their freedom of choice and criminalizing the health care they receive weigh heavily on me.<\/p>\n
Everyone should enjoy equal rights. That\u2019s what we celebrate during Pride Month<\/strong>, and until we do each of us has the responsibility to speak out and reciprocate the support each community gives to another. I\u2019m not saying the struggles of every community are identical. Each group has a distinct history and identity, their own challenges and threats, and their own cultures, celebrations, triumphs, and joys. But I believe we have more in common than what divides us. I also recognize that I sit in a position of privilege.<\/p>\n My comfort zone is fairly wide, and I live in New York City, perhaps one of the most progressive and tolerant cities in the country. I have worked for fantastic firms that support their employees in all their walks of life and celebrates events like Pride and movements like Black Lives Matter. While it\u2019s nice to have this sort of freedom, I recognize that there is still so much progress that needs to be made, even here. I stick to the neighborhoods I know are the most welcoming; I\u2019ll go to the same restaurants and bars where I know what kind of crowd to expect; and I surround myself with people who I have most similarities with. This is stuff I need to work on. We can\u2019t always stick to what\u2019s comfortable because that\u2019s not how we advance change. Safety isn\u2019t guaranteed; freedom isn\u2019t guaranteed, but we can make the choice to act in defense of those things.<\/p>\n Our freedoms are hard-won. Pride is a time to recognize the struggles that have brought us here today. It\u2019s also a call to action because the battles aren\u2019t over. If we\u2019re going to have a more inclusive flag, shouldn\u2019t it signify that we\u2019re ready to fight for those represented on that flag? We need to recognize the intersectionality of the movements of marginalized communities, and Pride Month, to me, is a perfect opportunity to do that.<\/p>\n I say all this, because as a Society that\u2019s based on forming relationships and leveraging those relationships to achieve excellence, it\u2019s vital that we step outside our comfort zones. I love that SMPS isn\u2019t just in major cities or red states or blue states; the organization spans our entire country into Canada and represents a diverse, dynamic, vibrant cross section of people.<\/p>\n The next time you\u2019re at an event, engage with someone you don\u2019t know. If you\u2019re planning a panel of stellar thought leaders, make sure it reflects a diverse set of opinions and experiences. We all have the habit of sticking to our groups\u2014and while that\u2019s comfortable, it inhibits our personal and professional growth.<\/p>\n At the beginning, I mentioned how this commemorative month is always evolving. And so am I. At SMPS, we\u2019re here to demonstrate excellence. I can\u2019t think of a better time to highlight the work we still need to do and celebrate how far we\u2019ve come than during Pride Month.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Article written by SMPS member Nathan Reyna, who\u2019s president-elect of SMPS New York.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What I love about Pride Month is that it\u2019s always evolving. Each year it becomes more inclusive and less about one thing, but more holistic and centered around the individual. Even the pride flag has evolved to reflect and represent the diversity of skin tones and gender spectrum. It represents more than the LGBTQ+ community; […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41350,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[700],"tags":[382,437,384,768,769],"class_list":["post-35911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-member-voices","tag-diversity","tag-equity","tag-inclusion","tag-nathan-reyna","tag-pride-month"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/smps.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35911","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/smps.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/smps.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smps.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smps.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35911"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/smps.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35911\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smps.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/smps.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smps.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smps.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}