WHAT BY ALI BECHTEL
PHOTOS BY SUSAN L. ANGSTADT PHOTOGRAPHY
MEANS TO ME
W hat started as a day to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall Riots –
a significant catalyst for the Gay Rights Movement – has expanded into a month of reflection, education and celebration. This Pride Month, we’re highlighting what pride means to three local leaders and what they are doing in the local LGBTQ+ community and beyond to spread inclusion, diversity and love.
T
he second night after Johnathan arrived in Berks from Puerto Rico, he attended an LGBT Center event and has been actively involved in the community since. Two years later, he is the Youth and Health Resource Center Coordinator for Berks Teens Matter, and the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer for Reading Pride.
Education for All
Johnathan Rodriguez Baez Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer with Reading Pride (He/Him)
Johnathan and the dedicated staff at Berks Teens Matter work with more than 32 partner organizations – including local educational institutions, healthcare providers and the City of Reading – to develop programs and practices to improve access to sexual health education and reduce teen pregnancy. But his efforts don’t stop with local youth. “Sexual health education is something that I try to bring to all things that I do. Not only because I’m passionate about it, but also because there’s a lot of stigma around it,” he explains. “Usually, when people put LGBTQ+ and sexual health together, it’s a conversation about STDs and promiscuity. That focus is too narrow; we need to be having a different conversation.” That passion for education and open communication has impacted Johnathan’s role with Reading Pride, too. Reading Pride's mission is to celebrate diversity in the Greater Reading LGBTQ+ community, which it has done through an annual Pride Celebration since 2006. But this year, that mission is expanding. “We want to be more than just a party in the park,” Johnathan says. The
executive board is expanding into educational workshops. To stay up-to-date on upcoming events, visit readingpridecelebration.org or follow @ReadingPride on Facebook.
What Does Pride Mean to You? “I think pride is an ever-changing concept, but at the end of the day, what drives me, what comforts me when I hear hateful or negative things about my community, is being humble,” Johnathan shares. “I’ve been a victim of homophobia, but that doesn’t mean I understand every single act of discrimination or that I’m able to put my myself in someone else’s shoes. But it does always remind me that I have pride, that I’m proud of the things that have happened in my life that made me stand up for myself, to love myself, to love the skin that I live in.” As the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer for Reading Pride, Johnathan says that those concepts, to him, mean genuinely listening when others are sharing their experiences and trying to see them through their eyes, instead of thinking about diversity on your terms and through the lens of your own experiences. “We need to hear more voices of females and femes; we need more voices of transmasculine and transfeminine people. Where are the intersex people when we talk about the community? We just need more presence and representation of all the letters in the LGBTQ+ alphabet. And we definitely need to stop putting together the conversation of LGBTQ+ people and STDs. We need to talk about positive sexual health education and lose the fear that I sometimes perceive of actually speaking about it in a positive way.” berkscountyliving.com | JUNE 2021
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