Pride is Power, Living Out Loud

What Pride Means:
Billy B of Phoenix, Arizona

For Billy B, Pride isn’t a parade, a party, or a season. It’s a lifetime of learning to see himself clearly and finally stepping into that truth without apology.

Growing up, Billy’s journey of self-discovery began in silence. He didn’t have the language for what he was feeling, only the quiet understanding that he was different from the boys around him. “I could not understand the feelings I was having,” he shares. “I didn’t know why, but I knew I was different. I was liking them in a way that maybe I shouldn’t be.”

Like so many queer kids, he navigated those early years alone until someone opened a door.

His second cousin, a woman he saw as confident and self-assured in her identity, became the first person to show him what possibility looked like. At sixteen, she took him to his very first Pride parade and festival. That day everything changed. The colors, the music, the community it all clicked. Pride wasn’t just a celebration. It was a mirror.

From that moment on, Billy dove into the history of Pride: the protests, the pioneers, the sacrifices made so that people like him could live openly and safely. “I learned all I could about why Pride was called that and the people who fought and sacrificed so I may have the rights I have now.”

Today, Pride carries a deeper meaning for him one shaped by experience, resilience, and chosen family.

“Pride for me means community, family, love, happiness, power, and living your true self.”

Billy’s story is a reminder that Pride is not just an event. It’s a journey. A homecoming. A declaration that every queer person deserves to live fully, loudly, and without fear.

And for #Passporters everywhere, his message is a beacon “Pride is who we are when we finally stop hiding.”