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Happy June and a very fulfilling, change-making and affirming Pride Month, readers!

Pride Month can be complicated for LGBTQIA+ folks for so many reasons, particularly those of us who are bisexual, pansexual, trans, nonbinary, intersex, and/or asexual/aromantic:

• not being out and not being out to certain people
• corporations co-opting Pride celebrations and profiting off of queer
• fear of violence in or near community spaces
• lack of legal protections like local/statewide/national Employment Non-Discrimination Acts (ENDA) that include gender identity and sexual orientation
• gay-washing/straight-washing of bi/pan/queer and trans/nonbinary/intersex folks
• estrangement from one’s family or community
• racism and white supremacy
• drinking culture
• lack of accommodation for mobility and sensory issues

Not to mention a variety of other reasons!

However you celebrate, acknowledge or grapple with Pride, take time for self care. Stay hydrated, schedule some quiet time, support your local queer folks (support them all year!), wear sunscreen, take a social media break, and be kind to yourself. To stay hydrated, I’ve got a simple recipe for tea you can enjoy iced or hot. And for supporting your local queer folks, buy from and hire actual queer folks, not just corporations trying to look good and take your money.

Support Seattle’s community-funded Trans Pride

Support Seattle Bisexuals marching in Pride*

Learn more about bisexual history on Instagram

What’s good, Sugar Bakery? Don’t think I don’t see you with your pronoun cookies and your “he or she, what will it bee?” gender-reveal cake. Why would you–oh, wait, capitalism.

While I believe that bigotry under the guise of “religious freedom” is not a valid reason to refuse to bake a wedding cake, we also need to hire and support LGBTQ bakers and put the money back into our community. If you’re getting married or having a party, help your fellow LGBTQ folks out by hiring them! Also, bakeries that make both Pride-themed sweets as well as gender-reveal cakes for the cisgender parent/s of a fetus? You cannot be lgbTq allies when you are promoting cisheterosexism and contributing to traumatizing a new generation of trans, intersex, gender-nonconforming, and nonbinary folks. Hold your bakeries to higher standards this June!

How? Well, you can find LGBTQ+ and women/gender-nonconforming people of color in food (chefs, food writers and bloggers, restaurant/bakery owners, illustrators, etc) at the Equity at the Table (EATT) database. To maintain the database, you can also donate to EATT here.

MariNaomi runs databases of queer cartoonists and cartoonists of color – support her on Patreon.

And feel free in the comments to recommend your favorite out LGBTQ food creators, writers, publications, and more!

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On to the recipe! This refreshing tea can be served hot or cold. In Seattle, June temperatures vary between 60-80 degrees F so it’s important to have something versatile (that isn’t coffee) for all the Pride events I help out with/attend. This year, our mint plant showed its true nature as a weed and we have a ton of it. It grows well in pots, and many folks in the Seattle area have mint growing wild/out of control in their yards (it protec but it also attac). Put it to good use!

 

Fresh Mint and Lemon Peel Tea

Time: 10-15 minutes (Active: 5, Steeping: 5-10)

Serves: 3-4

Ingredients

• ~1/4 cup loosely packed mint leaves, washed (about 10 small/1-inch leaves or 5 large/2-inch leaves)
• Peel of one lemon, grated (or you can just cut off strips of peel)
• 4 cups (~1 liter) water
• 1 tsp honey, or to taste

Equipment

• A means of boiling water (hot pot, pot for the stove)
• A tea pot or strainer
• A container for the tea
• Tea cups

Procedure

Add mint and lemon peel to the boiled water. Let steep for 5 minutes, then strain. Serve in a cup that makes you happy. Add honey to taste.

*This is for corporate pride; SBWN and BiNet are community organizations without 501c3 status but the costs of attending even with the nonprofit/community discount price are high. While corporate Pride is problematic for many, many reasons, including the exorbitant rates charged to small nonprofits and community orgs, this is the only part of the parade that represents the bi, pan, queer, and otherwise multi-gender community at Pride.