I can remember it like it were yesterday, even though it must now be at least 15 or 16 years since it happened. I was walking through Paceville with a close friend; we must have been laughing and talking as usual when something in the air around us changed.
I suddenly felt that we were being watched or that, more specifically, he was being watched. My fears were confirmed when a drunk group of men approached us and started heckling him about his sexuality.
As the insults kept coming in, I found myself calculating what our chances would be like if a fistfight broke out. I clutched his hand till my knuckles turned white as if that was going to make a difference if someone lunged at us. I didn’t want him to feel alone in that sea of hatred. When we didn’t react, they melted back into the crowds, and he broke down; it was weeks before either of us wanted to go back.
He didn’t speak of it again: like girls who get used to being cat called from a young age, for the gay people of my generation, homophobia and bullying were part and parcel of their lot in life. They sadly accepted it, racking up the trauma, trying every day to shine a little less brightly so as not to be inconvenient.
It had been a long time since I had tasted that metallic fear in my mouth again, and yet, over the past week, as more and more LGBTIQA+ articles have emerged in time for Pride Week, I have felt more and more perturbed by many of the things I have seen written and the vastness of ignorance surrounding many issues.
Something doesn’t need to affect you directly for it to matter to you- Anna Marie Galea
When it was announced that Gozo would be holding its first-ever Pride march, I was immensely happy that Gozitans were finally being given their own space to celebrate being able to be themselves. For many years, Gozo has been ignored regarding a number of issues, and I felt extremely joyful that they were finally able to do their own thing.
However, much of that elation was overshadowed when I read a number of the comments surrounding the event. I became concerned and found myself telling my friends to be careful – this in itself upset me because I realised how far we still have to go when it comes to normalising many things.
I am often asked why I take such an interest in the LGBTIQA+ community when I identify as straight, and my answer has always been the same: something doesn’t need to affect you directly for it to matter to you. There is so much beauty in every one of us, and that should always be celebrated; ultimately, we were all created to be different. Why should people have to make themselves smaller to fit other people’s skewed ways of looking at the world? Shouldn’t people have the right to love who they want?
I want to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very Happy Pride and to urge them to really take on the mantle of this year’s tagline, ‘Live Your Truth’. It is only in living authentically that you can live a life that you are genuinely proud of.