Excitement celebrates Pride in the month of June and year round. We like to recognize the contributions of our LGBTQ+ team members every day.
Pride month is largely celebrated globally in June to honor the 1969 Stonewall Uprising and strives to achieve equal justice and equal opportunity for the LGBTQ+ people regardless of background. The history and fight for justice of LGBTQ+ and Black communities are directly connected. During these times of social unrest, LBGTQ+ people stand united with the Black community, everyone fighting for their civil rights.
Any injustice based on prejudice is an injustice to all.
We believe in understanding, respecting and embracing our differences across all dimensions of diversity.
Excitement loves to attend pride festivals each year to join the cause but unfortunately due to current circumstances, we will not be attending any festivals at this time. With that said, we are celebrating in our stores and hope you can celebrate with us.
Meet the Staff: Pride edition!
Excitement’s amazing staff is really what sets us apart from the rest. We are a group of open-minded, inclusive, knowledgeable people with a strong desire to serve our community. To celebrate Pride month, I wanted to highlight some of our staff members that are a part of the LGBTQ community, by having them share with you what Pride means to them. You’ll find their personal responses are not only thoughtful, but inspiring. I’m so proud to be a part of this team and I hope you enjoy reading about their personal experiences.
Mark (he/him)
What does Pride mean to you?
Well, pride first started out as a riot. It was in 1968 as the stonewall riots. They were against police brutality and the discrimination of queerness. It was black trans women who threw the first bricks. I think keeping that spirit alive is important because they fought for so much back then and we should continue to fight for that today. I think queer people owe it to the black community to support the black lives matter movement after they started our movement. A yearly pride is a great way to remember what they thought for and to continue to be activists for the queer community.
What was your first Pride experience like?
My first pride, I was working at the Excitement booth in Harrisburg. I was working so I wasn’t able to look around that much, but from what I saw there were a lot of booths. It was really empowering to see so many queer people showing up to support everybody.
Lauren (she/her)
What does Pride mean to you?
Pride is a safe space for everybody in the LGBTQ community and their allies. It’s a space to celebrate each other’s sexualities and gender identities, in the middle of a mainstream society that doesn’t always tolerate them. It’s a generally uplifting and positive environment. As a bisexual woman, I’m not just there for me. I’m there to support all my friends and family that are a part of the community.
What was your first Pride experience like?
I didn’t work the booth, I was just a participant. I was just so happy to see people of all ages there. I think about how the older generations have remained in the community and are still showing up. This didn’t exist before. Everybody is just so happy and laughing and having a great time and they’re doing what they wanna do. There's something for everyone whether it’s food, the flags, or performers.
Kayla (they/them)
What does Pride mean to you?
The first thing that comes to mind is the idea of being yourself despite those who refuse to see validity in your existence. This is my first year being out as a non binary person. It’s been a hugely empowering thing. Spending so much time being unable to reflect on yourself and come to an identifying conclusion is so powerful, on its own. I spent a lot of time knowing about others’ identities but not being aware of an identity that reflected myself enough to claim it as my own. It’s important to always be reflecting on yourself in order to be the most authentic version of yourself. This label is so important to me but there's no promise that this will be forever because labels are just labels. They’re ways to be comfortable in your existence. That's not to say that they are unimportant, they are super important in how they help you feel authentic. However, the labels we use don’t have to be permanent. Sexuality and gender identity are fluid.
What was your first Pride experience like?
I haven’t gone to a pride event yet. I’m going to try to attend the postponed event in Lancaster in October. I’m excited to experience pride as an “out” individual.
Loretta (she/her)
What does Pride mean to you?
Pride to me means celebrating who you are without fear or judgement. A time to celebrate and stand for equality with the LGBTQ community! At Pride you are surrounded by people who love and accept you, some don't get that from their own families. I remember attending my first pride, it was a very memorable moment for me. When I looked around all I saw were people who were genuinely happy, everyone celebrated, some cried, they chanted, I felt at home for the first time in such a long time in my life, I felt welcomed and I was loved!