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There were a few months of the year June has always looked forward to the most. There’s October, of course; her birthday + Halloween was always a good combination. March is Alex’s birthday, and although it’s his special day, she has a special fondness for the month that made her a big sister. Now she gets to celebrate not only Alex during March, but his partner as well; a man she’s come to think of as a bonus brother. She’s also gotten to add December to months she looks forward to as well, for Nora.
Then there’s June, the month with which she shares a name. When she was really little, and saw all the rainbows in the logos and store displays and she asked what they were for, and she was told it was for Pride, because June is Pride.
“I’m proud to be June!” she’d exclaimed, and she was met with smiles and laughs, sometimes accompanied with a ruffle of her hair.
As she got older and understood what Pride really means and represents, she’d pushed down her complicated feelings about it and celebrated publicly as a self-proclaimed ally. She takes her responsibility as a public figure seriously, and always posts about Pride. During her mother’s first term, she sometimes posted the picture of the White House with the rainbow lights, and sometimes a Pride flag flying near the Austin capitol building. She always adds some words about the progress on queer rights – how far the country has come, and how far yet they have to go – but it’s all very official.
“Go curate your Instagram!” Alex had thrown at her on more than one occasion, and he’s not wrong. Her Instagram is very specific and carefully curated. She can be a little freer on her stories, though she’s still somewhat careful – the stories may disappear from her profile after a day, but screenshots live forever on the internet.
Pride month has come to mean something more than just a call to activism, though, since she’d discovered more about herself in recent years. Something that feels like belonging . Still, her social media hadn’t made any personal declarations.
She and Nora had discussed how to go public with their relationship, and they’d settled on… well, they hadn’t really come to any specific conclusions, other than deciding not to hide anything. They’d posted pictures together, walked around town holding hands, and on more than one occasion, the paparazzi had caught them making out in public. Yet, somehow, the general public still haven’t caught on to the true nature of their relationship. Even Buzzfeed published a listicle titled “BFF Goals: June Claremont-Diaz and Nora Holleran: best moments of the White House Trio gal pals!” It’s exhausting.
June brings it up one evening when she and Nora are cuddling on their couch. “I’m already out, babe,” Nora says with a shrug. “It doesn’t matter to me, but I’ll support you however you need. You know that.”
June remains quiet, deciding not to do anything this particular evening, but in the back of her mind, she thinks about the fact that she hasn’t posted anything official for Pride yet this year. Nothing had felt right. She’d shared a few others’ posts, including Alex’s, the Claremont administration, and others. She’d even shared Nora’s own, adding a sapphic heart sticker that no one had picked up on. Well – not no one; her closest friends had replied – the ones who already knew. Pez had sent several messages in response, starting with how much he missed them, and then the topic had shifted from there.
The next day, she carefully curates a post. She takes a picture of her and Nora kissing, overlays the pan pride flag, adding a thoughtful caption about what Pride means to her, and how important it is for everyone to be themselves, including each person coming out on their own timeline. She refers to Nora as her love, and the petty part of her thinks “Take that, Buzzfeed!” – though, of course, that’s not the reason for the post (it’s just a fun bonus). She looks over the picture and caption critically before posting. She nods, satisfied; tapping “share.” June really is her month.