Every day of Pride Month,cultural appropriation eroticizes Mashable will be sharing illuminating conversations with members of the LGBTQ community who are making history right now.
When Raymond Braun was in high school, his American History textbook barely scratched the surface of LGBTQ history.
So after school he tried to learn as much as he could. "I was still very much coming out and coming to terms with my own identity around the history of the LGBTQ rights movement," said Braun, who traveled the U.S. attending Pride events for State of Pride, a documentary released on YouTube this month.
As part of his research, he watched The Times of Harvey Milk, a 1984 documentary about San Francisco's first openly gay supervisor as well as the Oscars acceptance speech for best documentary feature from its director, Rob Epstein.
"That was in the '80s and he stood on stage and talked about an expressive love for his partner, which at that time, was very revolutionary and a huge moment of visibility," Braun said.
Fast forward to the present and Braun is now promoting the film he made alongside Epstein and another Oscar-winner Jeffrey Friedman.
State of Pride, available to stream on YouTube, shows the 29-year-old, who has his own YouTube channel about LGBTQ issues, interviewing people as they attended -- or chose to skip -- Pride events. It delves into issues faced by trans people, a gay man from a devout Mormon family, a refugee attending his first Pride event, and others.
One of Braun's biggest takeaways from making the film -- which, arguably, is its own piece of history -- was the need to establish Pride events in as many places as possible.
"We are literally everywhere, in every crevice of the country, in the world, from the smallest little rural towns to the biggest cities, and Pride should reflect that," he said.
"Because I think it sends a really powerful message to people in those communities that there are people like them where they live."
Mashable spoke to Braun about the State of Pride, bringing his mom to her first Pride event, the latest accusations against YouTube's response to hate speech, and his admiration for the LGBTQ community's resilience.
The interview below has been edited for length and clarity.
Mashable: Talk to me about what you learned while filming the movie.
Raymond Braun: Just because you identify with one letter within the broader LGBTQ+ umbrella doesn’t mean you inherently understand the challenges or the lived experiences of other people who represent different letters within the LGBTQ umbrella. It really underscored the importance of talking to and being in a community with each other and developing personal relationships with people who have identities and experiences and backgrounds that are wildly different from our own. I think through those conversations, those friendships, those relationships we can more naturally learn how to empathize with each other and be allies for each other.
While the idea of Pride is to create a space where everyone feels accepted and celebrated and welcome, that isn’t the reality for some people within our community. We still have work to do so that Pride lives up to its ideals and standards and is a place where everyone can come and be who they are and be celebrated for that.
SEE ALSO: Nyle DiMarco on embracing his identity as a Deaf, LGBTQ activistMashable: What are some of those growing pains, or growth points, that you see the community trying to shake off or achieve in the coming years?
RB:The leadership and organizing bodies need to reflect the diversity of the community. I’m encouraged to see there being more intentional efforts for leadership to reflect the diversity of the community, but there’s still work to be done there.
A lot of it comes down to visibility. Whose stories are being told around Pride? There are so many decisions being made at every Pride event that’s organized. Who is in leadership? Is there a parade? Is there a march? Is it more of a party or a protest? Which corporations or brands are involved? Who gets the microphone and how much time do they get? What’s the order of the parade and whose most visible? Who gets to go on the local news and talk about Pride?
All of those decisions send a broader message around inclusion and which voices and identities and perspectives are being centered.
Mashable: Taking this thought further, something I noticed while watching the film was the diversity of the people you spoke to. You interviewed trans women of color as well as a gay man who left the Mormon church trying to convince his religious family to fly a rainbow flag at their home. By showcasing this range of people, what are you trying to get across? What are you trying to say?
RB:Well, first and foremost we wanted to include as many voices and perspectives from the community as possible. LGBTQ people are as diverse as the world that we live in. I don’t think anyone can make a definitive statement around the meaning, purpose, and value of Pride because it’s different for everyone based on how they’ve experienced Pride events and what their personal journey has been.
What we really wanted to do was spark a conversation, to give you as many different perspectives as possible from people who absolutely love Pride and look forward to it every year and see it as this life-affirming, life-saving, celebratory event, and people like Daroneshia [who was interviewed for the documentary] who say I don’t feel welcome at Pride, and I won’t be attending.
Mashable: The man who left the Mormon church invites his family members to the Salt Lake City parade, and his mom attends her first Pride event on camera. What was it about that story that you wanted to highlight?
RB:We really wanted to explore this tension between religion and the LGBTQ community. The number one justification used for discrimination against LGBTQ folks historically has been religion. Of course we know that more and more congregations are becoming more accepting and inclusive and there are a lot of LGBTQ people who are also deeply religious. When you talk to a lot of LGBTQ folks, a lot of them have faced discrimination or family rejection or shame around religion. Salt Lake City as a community is permeated by religion. If you look at the United States, that’s one of the most iconic cities thought of as having a strong connection to religious belief. We thought it would be really interesting to explore Pride in a city that has a really religious backdrop.
And then I think so many LGBTQ people crave the acceptance of their family and particularly their parents. I’ve interviewed, at this point in my career, thousands of LGBTQ people and so many of them say that the hardest part of coming out is their relationship with their parents and trying to educate their parents, seeking their parents’ approval and understanding and support.
I think so many people can relate to the story of Carson and his mom. Both from Carson’s side of craving that acceptance and love from his parents and then from his mom’s side. I’ve had a lot of parents reach out who have struggled with a similar question: How do I reconcile my very devout religious beliefs with my unconditional love for my child?
One thing I think we see from Carson’s mom that I think so many parents experience with their first Pride is just this sense of awe at the magnitude of support that exists. There’s this narrative that a lot of parents have, when their child comes out they say, ‘I just don’t want your life to be harder’ or ‘I’m worried about all the discrimination and the potential for violence and the potential for oppression and just having a harder life.’ So having a parent attend Pride kind of flips that narrative because, they see in their own city, in their own community, this outpouring of love and support and celebration.
I think one of the most powerful scenes in the film is when we’re on Carson’s mom's face as she’s walking through Pride, and you can literally see the gears shifting.
Mashable: You also brought your own mom to her first Pride, too. What was that like for you?
RB:I have such a close relationship with my mom, and I wanted her to be part of the documentary and the journey and the experience. She’s always been supportive of me and curious and had questions about Pride, and I thought what a great opportunity for her to experience her first Pride in the nation’s capital, one of the biggest Prides in the country. That was a really special experience for both of us. I think my mom was most moved by the level of support. She kept talking about how in awe she was of the layers and layers and layers of people as we walked the parade route that were there cheering and supporting and celebrating.
Also the educational component. In D.C., they have the parade on Saturday, and then on Sunday, they have the festival. There’s lots of different booths and nonprofits and grassroots organizations and political organizations that raise awareness about different challenges that our community faces. Having a chance to walk through that with her and talk about the disproportionate violence against trans people and the alarming rates of LGBTQ youth who experience homelessness because they’re kicked out of their homes really provided an educational opportunity for her to meet people who were directly impacted by certain policies and legislation, and just to learn more about what the community faces.
It was this duality of being in awe and celebrating the magnitude of support, but also going deeper and learning about the work that still needs to be done.
Mashable: Before State of Pride and before becoming a YouTube personality, you used to work at Google and you created the #ProudtoLove campaign, YouTube's first foray into LGBTQ marketing. I was wondering what your thoughts are on YouTube and CEO Susan Wojcicki’s handling of criticism after refusing to remove anti-gay videos?
RB:I’m really proud and happy of all of the LGBTQ creators and activists who are speaking out about this issue. I think that so many of us are passionate about it because historically YouTube has been a space where we come to seek community and to seek that connection. And as someone who grew up in a small conservative town in northwest Ohio, YouTube and social media were one of my first lifelines and connections to creating a better understanding of myself, getting access to resources, perspectives, and voices.
When you see a space that’s been a huge part of your journey of accepting of yourself and meeting other people and you see speech that is offensive, and disgusting and derogatory, and inflammatory, it’s incredibly painful. And I agree that there needs to be a lot of work done to create a space on YouTube now where LGBTQ people feel truly safe and included and respected and that includes enforcing the anti-harassment and hate speech policies. There should be zero tolerance for hate speech, harassment, and discrimination on the platform. I don’t work for YouTube any more, but I’ve shared very strong feedback with them on all of this.
Mashable: What do you experience? Do you experience the same sort of harassment on your own channel?
RB:I think that creating content online and putting your voice out there on all social media platforms, you experience people who have really horrible things to say. And I hate that that is a reality for so many of us who speak out on LGBTQ issues. I think that all social media platforms, including YouTube, should be vigilant every single day to enforce policies and do everything they can to try to eliminate that toxic culture that can exist online for LGBTQ people who are sharing their stories or speaking out about issues that are important to them.
Yea, I have experienced it personally and I think most LGBTQ creators who speak out on issues have experienced that online, and that’s why we’re so passionate about trying to change it.
Mashable: What’s something social, political, or cultural that has been on your mind lately, something that you’ve been thinking about, that’s been fueling your activism? What’s something that you want to change?
RB:I’ve really been thinking about this idea of Pride as both a party and a protest. How can we create a space where people can come and exhale and celebrate each other and be in a space where they feel welcome and included? And also how does Pride honor its roots, which are in activism and protest and rebellion?
Also, I would like to see inclusive Pride celebrations in literally every community across this country. I’ve traveled across the country and around the world and met so many LGBTQ people and I can say definitely, and I think it’s something that we all know, that we are literally everywhere, in every crevice of the country, in the world, from the smallest little rural towns to the biggest cities, and Pride should reflect that.
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I don’t think people should have to travel far to attend a Pride event where they can meet and be in community with people like them. I’m really excited about more Prides like Tuscaloosa, Alabama, which was only in its third year in the documentary. This idea of smaller and smaller towns adopting their own Prides. Because I think it sends a really powerful message to people in those communities that there are people like them where they live.
There’s this narrative that I don’t like that tells a lot of LGBTQ kids, well if it’s not good where you are, if you don’t like where you live, or if it’s not LGBTQ inclusive, just move to one of the cosmopolitan big cities. And first of all, a lot of people don’t have the resources or access to move, and they may not want to move. Maybe they have family or roots in the location. I want to shift the narrative to talking about how we make every community more inclusive so that people don’t have to move.
That can come from having more local Pride events. It forces a conversation. If you see that there’s a Pride event in your hometown newspaper, people have reactions to that and it opens up conversations. It’s incredibly affirming for the people in that community who identify as LGBTQ to see that there are folks like them in their own community. And if people aren’t supportive of the community, Pride could open up a conversation or debate that could lead to more education. I wanna see more Prides sprouting up in every community across the country.
Mashable: You’ve become a role model for people who watch your YouTube channel when you yourself have said you didn’t have any gay role models growing up in your town. What do you think about this change of fate that you’ve had?
RB:It’s always really deeply moving to me whenever I meet someone, particularly younger people who have in some way been moved by the work that I put out. I just know and remember on such a visceral level how powerful and affirming it is when you’re in the most vulnerable and scary and intimidating moments of your coming out process, your self-acceptance process to find someone who gives you that moment of hope or possibility or excitement or opens a window into what your future could be.
I hope I can pay that forward and encourage other people to pay that forward. I feel like in so many ways our identities as LGBTQ people are politicized. Sometimes being out and sharing your story in and of itself can be an act of advocacy. You don’t know who’s watching, you don’t know which kid is reacting to your story to see you being visible. When you really get to know people who are LGBTQ, you have those conversations at the kitchen table, or you really get to know your colleagues who are LGBTQ, it personalizes the issues that we face.
When you hear about anti-LGBTQ legislation, it’s not just a headline any more, you’re thinking of your friend or a person that you love that’s impacted by it. The more of us that come out and tell our stories, it creates a triple wave of acceptance because through the internet you can scale those one-on-one kitchen table conversations.
Mashable: What is something about yourself that you're most proud of?
RB:I am proud of my curiosity and ability to go into all different conversations and situations and connect with people. That’s something I’ve always loved doing is going into a variety of situations, sometimes contentious, sometimes completely foreign or different, and finding a way to connect with people on a human level. I’m proud of my willingness and ability to do that.
Mashable: And what is something about the LGBTQ community that you're most proud of?
RB:Oh my gosh! There’s so much! I am proud of the incredible resilience, brilliance, creativity, and talent of the community despite having to, in many situations, face targeted violence, harassment, depression, discrimination, and shame simply for being who you are. And yet despite all of that we are some of the most creative, resilient, powerful, expressive, empathetic people. I think if I had to distill it into one sentence, I’d say I’m most proud of our resilience.
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