Today marks the first day of Pride Month, the celebration of the LGBTQ+ community. Like virtually every organization and corporation in the country, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums put out a brief statement of acknowledgement, as well as sharing photos from past and present Pride celebrations at different member facilities. Most of the responses were very positive; presumably most of the folks who weren't interested felt free to keep on scrolling. As always, you get that one comment, though:
"Just stick with running the zoos and aquariums.
There were similar statements in the past when zoos and aquariums expressed support for the Black Lives Matter movement, or other social justice causes (yet strangely never any complaints when the zoos express appreciation for, say, military veterans on Memorial Day or Veteran's Day). Almost as if the objection isn't to any deviation from strictly focusing on animals, but in instead about prejudice. Hmm...
Zoos and aquariums are about animals, but they are made up of people. Some of those people are gay or lesbian, or transgender. Some are Black, or Asian, or Latino, or Indigenous. These communities are also reflected in the populations that the zoos and aquariums serve. So yes, the animals themselves don't care about such things, but acknowledging and celebrating these communities does help support and empower the staff that make the zoo run.
So, Happy Pride Month. And don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
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