So, thanks to @WendigoVDB’s July 1st post, I had a thought.

I believe that the best way to make a change is to create what you want to see in whatever area of your life you can. A lot of us here seem to agree that LGBT pride and support shouldn’t be reduced to a charade that people keep up for the duration of June, and are disgruntled that companies are doing just that.

Well, guess what? We’re on Newgrounds. We don’t depend on those companies for ad revenue, and we’re a small enough community that ideas can really spread throughout. We are in the perfect place to be the change we want to see.

So keep drawing pride art, keep your profile pics the same, keep your flags up, all that good stuff. Let’s see if we can keep going long enough to celebrate Prideoween, Pridemas, Pridesgiving. Valentine’s Day would be an especially great time to be confident in who you do or don’t love!

I told all this to a friend over text, and she added on that July is also Disability Pride Month, where we support individuals in the LGBT community who have disabilities of any kind. I haven’t said this to most people yet, as I don’t make a big deal out of either of these things, but I myself have autism and, thanks to my propensity for overanalysis, a terrible case of the questioning that doesn’t seem to be getting any clearer. So I’m going to try my best to love myself this month, for all of the weird ways my brain functions, and keep self-deprecation out of my mouth. (I hope I can deliver on that last one).

Here’s a comic she sent related to why Disability Pride Month is important.

Feel welcome to join in, or not, whatever suits you best. But I think it’ll be more fun if more Newgrounders get together and do something cool. How about you?

-Cass (Thetageist)