My problem with “Pagan Pride”

I like the concept: a celebration of the diversity and beauty of our community. But, really, the name "Pagan Pride" is so unfortunate.

It seems like the originators of the Pagan Pride Project stumbled upon the name, and now we're all stuck with it, despite the sometimes negative connotations of the word "pride" and despite its conflation with the much more important Gay Pride¹.

I am proud of the accomplishments of members of my community, I believe in the ideas of Paganism to make us better people and to bring us spiritual satisfaction, and I am glad to claim "Pagan" as one of my identities, but I am not proud to be Pagan. Claiming a religious affiliation isn't something to be proud of; it is neither an inborn trait nor an earned title².

I wish it could be "Pagan Awareness Day" or "Pagan Community Day", but we probably can't change that. Regardless of the name, we can make our local events great through volunteering, participating, and offering our time, energy, and money to showing our community to its best. Happy Pagan Pride Day to all those whose celebrations are still coming up; let's make our events something to be proud of!

1. People are still killed in our country for being LBGQT. Pagans do face misconceptions and occasional discrimination, but few of our lives are in danger in North America.
2. Those who have earned degrees or similar through hard work are rightly proud of their accomplishments, of course.