The Importance of Pride

Opinion by Mr. Evan Wichman

Pride has meant different things for me at various parts of my life. In middle and high school, I did not identify as gay. Being openly gay felt like I would have been “figured out.” I thought my entire personality would be defined by this singular attribute. My classmates reinforced this, as  I received insulting messages online and verbal threats in class. Coming out, I felt, would only prove the bullies right.

Mr. Wichman with his BF, Jeff in Easter Island last year. Photo courtesy of Evan Wichman.

A few years later, in college, I was ready. I created a dating profile and went on my first date. I wasn’t ready to be proud, per se, but I was headed in that direction. Around that time, Tyler Clementi died by suicide by jumping off the George Washington bridge. His actions were a direct result of homophobic harassment and threats from a roommate. After this tragedy, there was a larger conversation around bullying. One of my professors at the time expressed confusion about bullying, rationalizing that it was just “part of life.” Pride meant something different to me at that moment: LGBTQ+ identity should not be oppressed, and that subjugation should not be written off as “part of life.”

Years later, while teaching in New York City, I celebrated National Coming Out day each year in my classroom; I would tell students a bit of my own story. I even walked in the 2015 Pride March in the city, as same-sex marriage had just become legalized in the United States. I found myself in a rainbow bubble: Pride existed flamboyantly and extravagantly, without fear, and in many ways, so did I.

Once I began teaching internationally, however, this changed. In my first post, I was discouraged from talking about my identity. A student even tried to talk to me about his own coming out, and I was told not to reply to his messages. My actions could be misinterpreted as encouraging “westernization,” and going against traditional values. My next school, while less restrictive, was still unsafe due to parents’ outward homophobic and transphobic remarks against staff. Furthermore, staff were discouraged from asking students to choose their own pronouns.

As a result of my recent experiences, for the last four years, my celebration of pride has remained mostly inward at school. Now, at KAS, I have safe space to live out loud again. The LGBTQ+ representation here is a breath of fresh air: staff and students alike are recognized and celebrated for our identities. Our location in Taiwan certainly helps, as the country feels like a safe haven for queer people.

Pride comes in cycles, I have learned. Not every day has the right forecast for celebrations. Sometimes, the weather is clear and free, while other times the outlook is gloomy and tempestuous. Remember, though, the sun always comes to break up those clouds, and sometimes there’s even a rainbow.