As a gay libertarian, I’m often asked my thoughts about gay pride month. After all, isn’t the holiday a celebration of the very group identity politics that libertarians seeks to combat? While some gay special interest groups will undoubtedly try to push their own agenda, pride month is fundamentally a celebration of individual autonomy and the freedom to pursue a happy life according to one’s own terms.

Unlike most other minorities, being queer is a profoundly individual, and often isolating, experience. LGBT kids are born into straight families without a support network or anyone to turn to as they figure out they are unlike most others. For this reason, a public celebration of the LGBT community is vital, broadcasting to the world that queer people can find love and acceptance if they have the strength to seek it.