Hays Pride honors the memory of the activists and advocates who have spoken fearlessly, in defiance of public opinion and often at great personal risk, to advance the cause of civil rights and to ensure that the voices of oppressed communities are heard.

The Black lesbian feminist and poet Audre Lorde (1934-1992) wrote, “when we speak we are afraid our words will not be heard nor welcomed,” but she notes that “when we are silent we are still afraid, so it is better to speak.”

Freedom of speech, even of unpopular speech, and the ability to share perspectives that challenge dominant social, political, and cultural assumptions are essential to the civic health and well-being of our local, regional, national, and global communities.

Efforts to penalize individuals for speaking up and speaking out, in the cause of justice, contribute to an atmosphere of fear that stifles the free exchange of ideas essential to expanding the circle of civic discourse, enfranchising historically marginalized communities, and ensuring that all members of our community have a place at the table.

Hays Pride condemns efforts to penalize individuals for advocating, in a personal capacity, for justice or for sharing critical perspectives, drawn from lived experience, that would otherwise be absent from discussions that are critical to our collective well-being and growth as a community.

Bayard Rustin (1912-1987), a gay man and a leader in the Civil Rights movements of the 1960s and 1970s, argued that “we need, in every community, a group of angelic troublemakers.”

Hays Pride upholds and celebrates those who trouble the still waters of received opinion in order help us to see, to speak, and to live more freely and more inclusively.