My name is Grant Lofok. I'm a 36-year-old gay male. I grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and live in New York. And Pride is everything to me.

It's much more than any single event or movement. It's who we are. It's how we live our lives. Pride is courage. It's defiance.

It's a radical act of self-love and self-acceptance in the face of a society that has marginalized and persecuted us.

A society that wants us to believe we're less than. One where we can even be killed. Simply for showing affection toward those we love.

Pride is living openly and honestly in spite of all of it. Pride is community. It's knowing that together we're strong and can overcome even the most insurmountable

of obstacles. It's family. I may never meet you in person and I may never even know your name. But you are my family. And I do care for you. And I do fight for you. And you matter. And you have worth.

And I know we're all hurting. And I know we're grieving. But we're not broken. So hold your head up. Put a little love in your heart. Be proud. And happy Pride, y'all.

Hey, what's up? This is Nikki Paris. And I'm a 23-year-old stand-up comedian from Sad Nylon who also happens to be gay. And to me, Pride is all about being proud of who you are and owning what makes you different.

Gay people are not the problem. We have people in this world that wear pajamas that look like jeans. Clearly we have bigger fish to fry.

My name is Mateo Lane. I'm 29 years old and I'm originally from Chicago Illinois. And to me, Pride means sense of humor. My older brother is also gay. And one of the few things he did for me when I came out of the closet was he gave me a burn to CD of a few podcasts called PNS Explosion.

And I was 18 years old and I listened to these three gay men. Being able to not only laugh at themselves, but enjoy each other's company and not feel afraid.

And they were just so fucking funny. Patrick Powers was so funny that that that sense of humor that that laughter I still remember that today being able to laugh got me through those real dark days of being in the closet.

So to me, I would say Pride is about a great sense of humor, a great sense of community.

My name is Bianca Moore. I am a bisexual from Columbus, Ohio. Pride is more than being a gay, fit white man. You see at the front of the parade. It is also being a queer person of color that only has one night of week to be in a space for themselves.

Sometimes it's that night. Sometimes it's hip-hop night, but as the only night we feel welcomed in our own community.

Pride for me is making peace with the demons and insecurities we all have inside and realizing that you are not alone, that there are people out there rooting for you to be you.

Pride for me is about finding confidence in myself and realizing that we have to empower those who don't see the light.

It gets better. Don't give up. We all love you.

Hey, this is Frank Liyadi and I'm going to tell you what Pride means to me. You're allowed to get plowed. God, no, I'm kidding.

Pride means to me being proud, truly proud of who you are, which means you stand up for yourself when it's not always the best or most comfortable time.

You're proud of being different. I'm proud of being different. And be proud to love.

Whoever you not choose to love but whoever makes your heart go flip-flop fucking crazy. Love who you feel you're in love with and be proud of that.

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