Social media is chock-full of images, stories, reports, and blogs of various Pride events happening around the world - and this is a wonderful thing! Aside from June being the first month to bring beautiful, warm, sunshine-filled days in Canada, it is also a celebration of diversity for the LGBTQI community (I hope I have the correct acronym...being gay, I still forget how many letters we have represented in our community but that's a great thing because it's growing!)
Other blogs, tweets and editorials try to educate the ignorant masses why Pride is important and why "straight" Pride is not necessary...
...'cause you know, if the gays can have a parade...however, today's blog is different because as I try to feel comfortable walking in my gay shoes with pride, I'm also battling various bouts of discrimination, in June of all months!
Yesterday was the second time this month that my partner and I have had our lease agreements rejected to rent a condo in the same condo building. Two different units owned by two different couples with the same outcome. We have almost perfect credit scores (I'm an 820!), professional, full-time jobs, accumulated assets and investments (especially from a recent sale of property), and the willingness to offer a larger monthly rent, extended lease agreement, and an earlier occupancy date which would put us with double monthly rents for two months. We don't have pets and we don't smoke (both conditions in the lease agreement) and we're clean, tidy, and don't throw big house parties (anymore!). We went as far as provide pictures of our condo - the one we recently sold - to prove how well we keep up a place of residence. Yet, we've been rejected. The first was rented to a couple of similar ethnicity as the owners (at a lower rent than we proposed) and the second was rented to a single man (also at a lower rent than we proposed). The unit is a one-bedroom plus den and just under 800 square feet - plenty of room for a gay couple. But that's the issue here, are we being rejected because we are two men trying to rent a condo with only one bedroom? I can't prove that we are being discriminated for being gay but it's very suspicious considering the owners are foreign investors from countries that are very homophobic. My frustration
is further intensified (and perhaps I feel more fragile than normal) because this month I've also been blatantly discriminated at work for getting sick. The discussion went: "what happens if you get sick again throughout the year?" I'm not a medical expert, but I think anyone can get sick at anytime, regardless of whether they have a pre-existing condition or not. I'm currently working through the "battle" of being treated fairly, without discrimination, at work, and the thought of dealing with further battles of discrimination render me exhausted.
At this point, I don't know how proud I'm feeling about being gay. I've had to hide it as a teen, it took me ten years after coming out to myself to have the courage and pride to come out to family, friends, and co-workers, and celebrate and share a relationship with another man. I suddenly feel like that scared teenaged boy, worried how my life may continue to be influenced by homophobia and other forms of discrimination. But Pride is not simply celebrating my sexuality; it's a reminder of the work that the LGBTQI community has done to become more visible, fight for equal rights, ...
This year, my pride will be celebrated with hope that I've met my maximum level of discrimination for this month and perhaps enjoy at least one day where I can be myself and not stress or worry about losing out on experiences in life because of my differences.
UPDATE: five hours after posting, we were declined another condo rental and this time our agent has "texting" proof that we're being discriminated for being gay...happy pride!
