Stories of Pride in Higher Education: Micky Ross
When I look at my life now and compare it to before I became involved with Higher Education, it has changed so much.
I grew up in an acutely heteronormative society in which there was no room for difference.
I often felt suffocated. This was especially by those who saw the world in monochrome. The slightest diversion from perceived norms was policed and called out as being inappropriate or plainly wrong.
Looking back at those days, I do sometimes wonder how the hell I survived. Especially, as there were no obvious LGBT+ role models (at the time) that I could positively identify with.
My life is so far from that now and higher education has played a big role in helping me get to my current place.
It facilitated a number of things. In basic terms, it allowed me to make a fresh start and connect with new and different people. However, and importantly, it also enabled me to reframe my experiences and reposition myself in the world.
By doing this, I was able to reinterpret the experiences of my past, to see them in new ways, and to recognise and utilise the power that there is in being different.
For me, this is the real meaning of Pride.
Pride is looking at things in new and different ways. Pride is embracing, mobilising, and utilising the power of being different. Pride is empowerment. Pride is pushing back against the enforcement of perceived norms. Pride is experiencing a genuine self.
Now that I work in higher education, I can sometimes forget about these things.
This sounds kind of weird, but it’s actually because I’m not made to feel different. I go about my daily working life, not feeling that I have to fight to be my genuine self. I just do it.
This, to my mind, is a great success.
We should be “proud’ of the progressive social environment that we have structured in higher education. We should pay tribute to those who trailblazed it and play an active role in maintaining what we’ve all achieved.
In fact, this active role might be the most important thing.
Unfortunately, the experiences of being LGBT+ in Higher Education are not universal.
I am sometimes reminded of this when I step out of the Higher Education bubble.
Back in the outside world, a number of things can still be experienced. This could be the hate of outright homophobia or the passive ignorance of assumed heterosexuality.
When I experience these things, I feel reverberations of the suffocating and policed heteronormative environment that I experienced in the past. It’s uncomfortable for sure. But now I’m much more able to deal with it and to push back against it.
And perhaps feeling discomfort isn’t such a bad thing because it can act as a reminder.
It’s a reminder that we should never take our rights for granted because they are not guaranteed. We should never become complacent.
Ultimately, that’s why Pride matters and that’s why we should never take our foot off the gas.
Written by Dr Micky Ross, ELA for International Students