Standing in Our Pride

Upper School students joined members of the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging and Faculty and Staff Pride Committees for a special Morning Ex to wrap up Pride Week at Parker. The theme for this Morning Ex was “Standing in Our Pride.”

As the presenters recognized, the LGTBQIA+ community has increasingly been under attack by a rise of hate and discriminatory legislation enacted across the U.S. However, for this Morning Ex, they focused on the positives in life that are worth celebrating and shared things about themselves they were proud of and their favorite LGTBQIA+ community icons and allies.

For example, one student said, “I am proud of how far I’ve come. As a senior, this year has been super-tough: balancing rejections, colleges, schoolwork, etc. I’m so proud I’ve handled this year by showing up (even when I don’t feel like it) and knowing my self-worth even when it gets hard.” Some of the presenters’ favorite notables were Emma Watson, RuPaul Andre Charles, Hunter Schaffer, Martina Navratilova, Joey Soloway, Becky Hammon, Reneé Rapp, Josephine Baker, Sara Ramirez and Stephen Sondheim.

The Morning Ex ended with an inspirational video, “#ProudToLove,” which celebrates marriage equality and Pride Month.

Parker is extremely proud of the work by this group of students, faculty and staff to bring Pride Week to a close on such an inspirational and uplifting tone. While the rise of hate speech and legislation may make the world seem dark right now, this group’s hard work reminds us that there are many individuals and stories to admire.

A special thanks to the group of faculty, staff, students, LGTBQIA+ community members and those who are allies who made this Morning Ex possible: Elise Allen-Study, Joe Bruno, Gabrielle Druger, Sienna Holt, Brianna Ifft, Karen Liszka, Pau Maset, Tom Moster, Amy O'Brien, Miriam Pickus, Erika Prahl, Anna Swanson and Kirstin Williams.

Click here to see photos.