LGBTQ+ Poem: We Will Be Loud, by Kevin Roberts

They ask,
Why Pride?
Why march?
Why color the streets with rainbows and song?
Why the need for special days,
for parades that dance and echo long?

They do not see
the lockers slammed,
the whispers sharp like knives in halls.
They do not hear
the silences that follow
when a child finally dares to speak
their truth —
and loses home, and love, and peace.

They ask,
Why not straight pride?
But they’ve never had to hide.
Never had to beg a parent
to still be called their child.
Never been told their love is a phase,
a sin,
a sickness to be prayed away.

We still bury our young
whose hearts could not bear
the weight of being different.
Still see kids sleeping on sidewalks
because they were too brave to lie.
Still see men
in the shadows of hospitals
fading
because no one marched soon enough.

And so —
we march.

We stand not for privilege,
but for presence.
Not for attention,
but for existence.
We are not your invisible inconvenience.
We are breathing.
We are becoming.
We are here.

So yes,
we will be loud.
We will be proud.
Because silence left too many in graves
before their time.
Because every young soul
who doubts their worth
deserves a world that says,
You belong.

And if you want straight pride —
throw a parade.
We’ll cheer with you.
We love a good party too.

But never ask us
to shrink
to make you more comfortable.
Because every time we stand tall,
some kid
somewhere
learns how to live.