Every Day is Heterosexual Pride Day

When #HeterosexualPrideDay began trending on Twitter towards the end of LGBTQ+ pride month, there was an uproar of commentary on the hashtag. While many users criticized the hashtag, some heterosexual users took it seriously and tweeted out their support for it. Many heterosexual supporters reasoned that it was only fair that they had a day of pride like those of the LGBTQ+ community and that they felt left out of the celebration of pride month.

The supporters didn’t realize that Heterosexual Pride Day already exists! It occurs every single day in every nation across the globe. After all, heterosexual people are celebrated and treated fairly without discrimination across the globe. Heterosexual couples have always enjoyed the legal rights of marriage and the right to form a family throughout history without persecution or repercussions. They are also celebrated culturally, with the standard for entertainment being heterosexual couples whether it’s in movies, television shows, or music. Heterosexual people make up the majority just about everywhere and it is considered the norm to be heterosexual in every major religion. Basically, in all aspects of life heterosexual couples receive preferential treatment and praise, no matter the day.

The reason that LGBTQ+ people have designated pride days and an overarching pride month is because they are not celebrated in their everyday lives like heterosexual cisgender people are. LGBTQ+ people are persecuted in many countries and prohibited from expressing their sexuality or gender identity. They also are not able to receive many of the same legal rights that all heterosexual couples are able to receive such as marriage. LGBTQ+ people are often shunned by their family, friends, co-workers and religious groups for expressing themselves. There is also a definite lack of LGBTQ+ representation in most mainstream media with some countries like Russia going as far as criminalizing it.

Heterosexual people may not have parades designated to them, but they sure are celebrated throughout their everyday lives. Heterosexual people should be thankful that they don’t need a designated day of pride but rather are able to live with praise and comfort 365 days a year. LGBTQ+ Pride days were created to celebrate the right to exist without persecution, something that heterosexual people have never had to deal with solely for their sexuality.