PRIDE: THE WORD THAT WENT FROM VICE TO GLORY

Pride: The word that went from vice to glory.

ONE OF THE MOST GLORIOUS AND FRIGHTFUL THINGS ABOUT THE UNIVERSE IS THAT NOTHING EVER REMAINS THE SAME.

Fighting against change is like trying to swim up a raging river. It’s a small piece of wisdom that always comforts me when I see institutions, political parties, and conservatives trying desperately to hold on to the status quo.

Even when cruelty is employed, or gains may seem to appear, in the end, the river of change always wins. Always.

With this in mind, it seems like an opportune time to write about the word ‘pride’ and how its meaning has gone from vice to glory. It fills my heart with glittery butterflies just thinking about it.

The word pride has had both a functional shift and semantic drift over the years, driven mainly by the LGBTIQ+ community and its inspiring fight for recognition, and the right to exist peacefully and without discrimination. Used as far back as the 13th century, pride was hardly something to be proud of, as it carried the meaning of excessive self-esteem or an unreasonable sense of superiority. In early use, pride was also often capitalised, referring to one of the seven deadly sins, but that’s probably another article entirely.

Although the concept of pride may still sometimes move between positive and negative connotations, it has most certainly gone from a murky grey word to full-on f*cking rainbow.

Pride possibly took its most significant shift with the queer protests in the 1960s and ‘70s as organisers started incorporating the words ‘Gay Pride’ on flyers, posters and placards. As you’ll read over on p35 in our article ‘Don’t Rain on Our Parade’ by Maxwell Elliff, the shift in the concept of pride has come with much pain and struggle, but setbacks aside, has moved consistently in a positive direction — now being coveted by Mark Latham!

As many countries still struggle with LGBTIQ+ human rights, I feel incredibly blessed and privileged to be in one of the countries where LGBTIQ+ pride has been embraced and has flourished. Even the Pope has recently told the world that, although sinful, I’m no longer a walking-talking crime (p13).

So as we celebrate, hold our heads up high, and champion the art of being our authentic selves, it’s an exciting time to remember that ‘pride’ travels with us as the glorious, every changing, glitter-covered word we love today.

Talking about glamour and being proud, you may notice that FUSE is heavier than previous issues — that would be because of the eight additional pages we have added to this issue to celebrate WorldPride and FUSE turning 14 years. It’s been a long time since our very first issue in 2009, and it’s been an ongoing privilege to contribute to our amazing Canberra community and LGBTIQ+ media in Australia — a huge thank you to everyone that has worked with us along our journey. The future looks bright... and a bit sparkly.

The next few months continue to be packed with pride, as you will notice when you start turning these pages. This issue is jam-packed with exciting LGBTIQ+ events, theatre, film and music, along with our regular FUSE columns, opinions, community photos and features — it’s an issue we can all be proud of.

I’d like to finish up by sending out my personal gratitude to Peter and Celia, who, over the past few years, have provided a safe space for the LGBTIQ+ community at The Boardwalk Bar. They hosted many fabulous parties and events, and it was sad to see them close recently; they will be missed.

Stay safe and be kind,

Alexander Thatcher

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