Written By Shreeta Waldon

It’s hard to celebrate when the spaces we’ve built for safety are being bulldozed in real time.

All across Kentucky, communities that have fought for belonging, for dignity, for the right to simply be, are once again under attack. The very sanctuaries we created out of necessity;  harm reduction sites, mutual aid hubs, community ceremonies are being stripped of funding, recognition, and protection.

This isn’t just politics. It’s personal.

While we usher in Pride Month with parades and rainbow hashtags, state leaders are moving to cut Medicaid and SNAP, gut harm reduction programs that have directly reduced overdose deaths, and abandon LGBTQIA+ Kentuckians in favor of performative patriotism and regressive tax agendas. It’s a playbook strategy straight out of the federal culture war and Kentucky is marching right along with.

Let’s be clear: budget cuts are not neutral. Snatching resources from communities who rely on them to survive is an act of violence, not fiscal responsibility.

Oh, we will not leave out our fine institutions of higher learning either. Our two largest  universities here in Kentucky;  their cancellation of cultural graduation ceremonies for Black, Latino, LGBTQIA+, and other historically excluded groups was not some sort of logistical decision. It was a loud, calculated message: You are not a priority. You are not protected. You are not welcome.

To those who say we’re being dramatic; no, we’re being honest. These are the same institutions that profit from DEI branding and then go ghost when it’s time to defend marginalized communities from real harm. Folks, it’s not equity if it only exists on paper.

To the students and community members who organized their own ceremonies, to the harm reduction workers stretching dwindling resources, to the queer and trans youth showing up anyway- that’s not just resilience. That’s rebellion.

And lastly, to those watching quietly from positions of power: your silence is loud and complicit. Neutrality in moments of targeted harm is a deadly stance… and it’s on the wrong side of justice.

This Pride Month, I beg, don’t let the glitter distract you. The attacks on our bodies, our care, our survival…they’re happening now. We need more than celebration. We need confrontation.

So no, I’m not lighting sparklers in celebration. I’m lighting torches of resistance. I’m standing with every Kentuckian who refuses to be erased, and asking:

How much more will we allow them to take before we say “enough”?

In resistance and radical love,

Shreeta Waldon, MA, LCADC

About the Author:

Shreeta Waldon (she/her) is a Licensed Clinical Alcohol and Drug Counselor, harm reductionist, poet, and Executive Director of the Kentucky Harm Reduction Coalition. As a lifelong advocate for the people, she leads with radical love, bold truth, and an unwavering commitment to dismantling harmful systems directly affecting the most impacted. Shreeta is the Legislative District Chair for District 44 in Louisville and co-host of the podcast By Any Means, where she brings unfiltered conversations to the forefront of social change. Her work is rooted in both faith and resistance; bridging the spirit of justice, poetry, and policy to create a world where marginalized people don’t just survive, but lead.