As I think about it, I have no regrets for deciding not to participate in San Francisco’s pride weekend this year. This decision is providing me with numerous opportunities for self-care, visiting with a few friends in a quiet atmosphere and providing me with opportunity to sleep in Saturday morning.

As I continue to embrace my queerness, I find that celebrations like pride weekend are important on many levels for those who are curious, coming out, feeling their exuberance, and in some cases for drunken revelry.

Many of us enjoy daily opportunities to celebrate who we are and do not limit it to one weekend a year. I believe that being a member of the LGBTQ community is more than just being in a parade, buying a rainbow necklace from a vendor, or dancing the night away with a 1000 other people.

Liberation must also be about internalized freedom for many of us who live in cities like San Francisco or New York City or San Diego or Miami. Internalize homophobia and transphobia is alive and well within the LGBTQ community. It is this liberation that we need to continue to work towards, especially for those of us who are in the generations that remember a world without AIDS and marriage equality.