The first pride march was held on June 28, 1970. Known as the Christopher Street Liberation Day March - named after the street on the Stonewall is located - the parade began on Washington Place between Sheridan Street and Sixth Avenue and moved up Sith Avenue, ending with a ''Gay-In'' in Central Park, New York America. It is a time where parades take place all over the world, celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queen (LGBTIQ) social and self acceptance, achievements, legal rights and pride. Every year, Malta takes part in a pride march which is held in Valletta where various individuals from all walks of life, LGBTIQ and allies come together for a good cause.
Acceptance is something which is most of the time taken for granted. Self acceptance is very important to practice in our daily lives. If there is one thing that LGBTIQ people need in order to live a balanced meaningful, more joyful life is self acceptance. It is a journey that most of us go through in our everyday lives. It is the first step in the right direction, before coming out to the world. Without self acceptance and self esteem, life becomes a never-ending struggle to deal with and let others control our lives. Most of us seek acceptance and approval from others before accepting ourselves, when it should not be the case, we should accept ourselves for who we are way before seeking the approval of others. This is because when accepting ourselves as we are, flaws and all - We live in peace and joy within ourselves, and would not need the approval of others. At the end of day, it all begins with self acceptance.
Self acceptance is a destination rather than a journey. The road to self acceptance is most often the journey. This is because, all of us experience self acceptance at different stages in our lives. It takes courage and a good deal of persistence for anyone to become themselves - the person they born to be. It is an on-going process for all of us, one that will continue until we die.Becoming yourself requires you to revisit old beliefs and the emotions that they generated, and ends with self acceptance. With every day that goes by, many LGBTIQ friendly legislations are made law and education is on the rise, however, if self acceptance starts from oneself.
Alex Mangion is a PN councillor in Attard and Malta's first transgender politician