5 Poems About LGBT Rights And Progress

Assuming you haven't been hibernating for the past month, then chances are you know this June means a lot to same-sex couples in the United States. Not only is June National LGBT Pride Month, but this year, same-sex marriage bans have been ruled unconstitutional — and to celebrate, I've compiled poems about progress. This is a huge occasion, so why don't you read or listen to some spectacular poetry that celebrates the progress that we've already made in the fight for LGBT rights?

That's right, I said poetry. You know, that thing you studied in school that everyone keeps telling you is a thing of the past? Well, I am here to tell you that it is still very much alive, and it is a great place to turn to if you want to take a good look at our culture and what is important to it. Poetry has long been a marker of where our society has been, and where we would like it to go, especially when it comes to human rights and equality. Poems have been cries for revolution, calls for protest, political statements, confessions of love, expressions of loss — and when it comes to poems about the progress (and lack there of) in the realm of same-sex marriages, they are a little bit of everything. Some of them celebrate the strides that have already been made, while others shout in outrage about all the work left to be done; some are love poems filled with sentiments of joy and unity, while others are about heartbreak, discrimination, and being torn apart. All of them are honest, heartfelt, and sincere, and all of them deserve to be shared.

So, in honor of Pride Month and of the landmark SCOTUS ruling, here are five written and spoken word poems that capture the love, heartache, blood, sweat, and tears of progress:

1. "Until We Could" — Richard Blanco

2. "I do" — Andrea Gibson

3. "Chasing Home" — Holly Painter

4. "A History of Marriage" — Stephen S. Mills

There were days when we spoke

of leaving. Of moving to Canada,

Spain, South Africa. The poster boys

of marriage equality. There were days

we felt defeated by our own desires.

Our bodies moving in different

directions. There were days we

accepted the beauty of our love.

Our choices. Our rules. There were

days spent with other men. Nights

in other bodies. Sometimes together.

Sometimes alone. There was the day

we separated love and sex and placed

them in boxes beside the bed. No longer

needing approval. There were fights

in the bright sunlight of our apartment

and in the shadows of night

where fights are meant to thrive

and eventually die. Then there were days

when we could only bear each other.

My body on your body. The world

outside desperate to define us.

5. "Pride" — Joanna Hoffman

Images: Danielle/Flickr