‘We support Pride Month because all of us belong in this world and we all deserve love and acceptance. For my own kids and also for everyone else’s kids, I will always support the LGBTQ+ community,’ – Rhiannon Laakso-McIntyre, Beanie’s Bike Shop. Courtesy photo
BY JOHN GUSTAFSON
Friends of Los Alamos Pride
The Friends of Los Alamos Pride made outreach to local businesses and invited them to provide messages of support for Pride. Here is the final set of messages we are sharing during Pride 2023. We thank the businesses that responded and those that expressed support for the effort and the Chamber of Commerce for helping spread the word. Also, thank you to the local publications that kindly post Pride info!
Self Help, Inc. ‘We support Pride month because we care’.
Wolf and Mermaid supports Pride because love IS enchantment, and the world needs more of both.
‘I support Pride (all year long) because the people who would take away the rights of the LGBTQ+ population LOOK just like I do. The people who would do harm to my trans brothers and sisters LOOK just like I do. The people who would enact laws criminalizing gender orientation LOOK just like I do. Kids in my community think they might be better off dead rather than be gay. Their parents LOOK just like I do. Pride gives us all an opportunity to stand up and say, “I’m an ALLY!! You are safe with me!! I’ll fight for you!!” That is what Pride is about to me. I hear kids in my shop everyday talking about how they’re not allowed to put Pride things in their room. They’re not allowed to be who they are. Their parents don’t approve. Their parents act as if they are legislating their choice of music or their choice of clothing style when in fact they are denying these children’s right to exist. Pride is an opportunity for me to tell these children, “You are accepted. You are loved. You are perfect.” Studies show that when an LGBTQ+ kid has just one supportive person in their life, their chances of survival increase exponentially. We all have a responsibility to make sure these kids know that we are on their side. Happy Pride Month, my friends!!!’ – Anna Dillane, Owner, Boomerang