The First One out of The Closet

From the beginning of my class, I have been open and transparent with my sexuality and being bisexual. One of our first assignments allowed me to discuss what stereotypes came from me being bisexual and as a practitioner of witchcraft (I don't feel connected enough to my Irish or Polish roots to comfortably discuss the stereotypes, but I do wish to get closer to those aspects of my heritage). We'll most definitely discuss the witchcraft elements in another post but I really want to focus on bisexuality and what it looks like in my life and how celebrating Pride looked for me during my trip.

Now, I won't lie that I had little hope as far as celebrations for Pride. I'm not familiar with the history of Pride in Italy which I would love to learn and a part of me worried that I would be treated differently for expressing my sexuality. Sorrento really doesn't have any spaces that are dedicated to LGBTQIA+ people, but I will say the number of pride flags and lights I have seen during June and even July has made my heart warm.

Early in our trip, we were told that we would be designing a banner for a Pride Celebration at the school we were staying with, Sant'Anna Institute. I think there was a natural sense of trepidation on my end because I have never celebrated Pride and I didn't want me or my classmates to mess it up. In addition, (if anyone of my classmates read my blog posts, please don't take offense to this statement), a majority of our class presenting as straight added onto this anxiety. I'm not exactly sure how to word it, but I feel like it's a sentiment that makes sense to my fellow LGBTQIA+ readers.

When it actually came to the day of celebration, I was pleasantly surprised by the number of people who showed up, how the banner turned out, and how natural it came to feel welcomed. Reminder, I never really got to celebrate Pride before this and for a while, all I've been getting is a complete dismissal of my sexuality in my personal life. Maybe one of these days I'll get into this discussion or write about it. Our main activity was to make those string bracelets, and I shouldn't be shocked at how many people it drew in. It was such a breath of fresh air to make these bracelets with some new friends I made from all over the US, to joke around, struggle over literal strings, and cringe at Texas.

I also really love how we were helping the first Pride Organization in Sorrento grow and hearing about the other celebrations in Rome and Napoli. It felt wonderful to be a part of something much bigger than yourself, even if it is a little bit and telling people we need to get the gays gelato (for my Professor, we in LGBTQIA+ use 'the gays' among ourselves as an endearment, please don't fail me).

I'm thankful this was my first celebration with Pride where I felt welcomed, made new friends, and listen to a lot of ABBA. I wasn't looking for anything big by any means, I think I just wanted that happy feeling that I wouldn't be judged. Until my next June Pride celebration, I'll be learning about LGBT History in Italy and in other countries.