To start, thanks for being an ally and wanting to show up for Pride! We love being a part of a big, festive crowd during Pride. It fills our queer hearts with joy! If you are a straight person and are thinking about going to your first pride and are curious about how to be the best ally, you’ve come to the right place. In this article, I’ll help you decide what to wear for pride, how you can be the best ally and how to make the most out of celebrating pride with us.
We love pride in our house! It is a time of celebration, fun and folly. I have actually been to pride in over 6 countries, not to brag (bragging, wink wink). And I love it! It’s so thrilling to join in the local queer scene and be a part of the festivities. It’s such a great time to celebrate ourselves and others. It’s a time to let loose and let LOVE!
As a straight person dressing up for pride you can go a few directions with your outfit. You can show support, or you can be creative, let go and explore expression! Anything goes as long as you are having fun.
What To Wear To Pride
Good news, there is no particular dress code to celebrate pride. In fact, you don’t need to stress, you can show up however you want. It’s totally okay to come wearing whatever you are wearing right now while you read this (that is unless you are naked, and even then, that works for some Pride events).
While you are free to dress however you like, Pride is the perfect time to go all out, especially because everyone else around you will! If you are wondering, “Is it disrespectful to queer people if a straight person wears rainbows or waves a rainbow flag?” The answer is, not at all! In fact, that’s originally the whole point of pride items– to show support for the LGBTQAI+ community.
We also don’t assume that anyone who wears pride colors or rainbows during pride is LGBTQAI+. We won’t aggressively try to hit on you, and if it does happen, a simple, “Thank you for the compliment but I’m an ally,” is a fine and easy way to express your point.
When deciding on what to wear, you can go in two main directions, you can show your support or you can dress up to the tens, aka extremely festive. We will unpack both options in detail below.
Showing Your Support As A Straight Person
Show your support for your LGBTQIA+ friends and or family members by wearing your support at a Pride parade or festival. There are tons of clothing items that help show your support for, whether your friends or family are gay, lesbian, non-binary, trans, bi, asexual. Don’t worry, there is something for every member of the community when it comes to Pride clothing. The more specific you can be for your friends or family members, the more seen they will feel.
Showing your support as a straight person like this can be life changing for your friend and or family members. Being seen, feeling accepted, and loved are crucial things for humans. Lots of people don’t realize how challenging, hard and truly painful it can be to feel socially rejected because of your sexuality. So, if you show up being supportive during Pride it really can be a healing experience. Many of us find Pride to be immeasurable in terms of support and feeling like a community, so thanks for being part of it!
Here are some outfit ideas that are supportive to consider during pride.
This Flowy Rainbow Cover Up Kimono
Drape yourself in the vibrant colors of a flowy rainbow cover-up kimono, the perfect attire to celebrate and showcase your pride at any lively event.
This Backless Rainbow Knit Crop Top
Rocking a fabulous rainbow knit crop top at pride? Totally awesome! It’s a fun and stylish way to celebrate in full-on colorful pride mode.
This Cute Ally Cat Tarot Card Shirt
Because who doesn’t love a cute supportive ally cat!
This Multi-Supportive Be Kind Shirt
Or you can wear this “Be Kind” rainbow shirt as a way to show your support for, well, everyone during pride as an ally.
This “Ok To Say Gay” Shirt
You can get specific with this “ok to say gay” shirt from the Human Rights Campaign and have 100% of your purchase fuel the fight for full LGBTQAI+ equality
This Trans Rights Are Human Rights Shirt
Show your support for trans rights with this statement shirt, because trans rights are human rights, duh!
This Big Pride Flag
Another great accessory is the pride flag you can get from Amazon, which is super fun to wave around at a parade, wrap around your shoulders or put in your front yard during the month of June, or Pride month.
Dress Up Creatively And Crazy For Pride
The other direction you can go during Pride is to dress up in the craziest outfit! It’s a super fun time to let loose as no one cares and it is the perfect time to experiment with your outfit and makeup. You can go in drag, do your hair big, wear that wild and expressive eye makeup you always wanted but didn’t dare to. You can wear that short dress or go in bright colors! We don’t care as long as you have fun!
It is seriously a time to really go for it and explore expression, color and being BOLD! Even if you go in the ugliest glitter onesie with a unicorn on it, live your best life! If you need some inspiration, I’ve got your back.
This Fun Metallic Rainbow Two-Piece Suit
To start, check out this insanely fun metallic, rainbow two-piece suit. I’m sorry but this is fun, fun, fun (even if it might be hot) I say, do it for the bit!
This Fishnet Rainbow Bodysuit
This fishnet rainbow jumpsuit, is a sexy bodysuit that anyone can wear (who wants to show some skin and be sultry as heck.
These Pride Rave Leg-Wraps
These rave, leg-wraps are super fun and also rainbow festive for those who are going to show a little leg.
These Metallic Short-Shorts
Speaking of showing a little leg, these metallic short-shorts are great for men who dare to wear them.
This 3-Piece Metallic Swimsuit
Celebrating Pride somewhere hot? Show some skin with this 3-piece metallic swimsuit!
However you want to go, go all out and go all in! It’s the perfect time to show support for being exactly who you are and being free in your expression!
How to be a Good Ally During Pride
We love all the support and love we get from our allies during Pride. This support and love has definitely grown a lot over the years, and our community wouldn’t be where it is if it wasn’t for our allies.
Unfortunately being queer still isn’t all rainbows and sunshine and it sometimes feels like we go one step forward and two steps backwards with the acceptance of our community. The recent developments in The US with the anti-drag protests, straight pride parades and the ‘Don’t Say Gay Bill’ in Florida have a big impact on the morale of our community. To be a good ally, it’s important to know what being an ally actually means. An ally is anyone who supports or empowers another person or group.
Being an ally is very simple and doesn’t require you to do anything big like organize events or start a LGBTQAI+ project. It all comes down to making sure your words and actions are consistently promoting an inclusive environment for people, no matter their gender or sexual identity. Being an ally is not just an intellectual matter. You don’t need to know all the historic events that the LGBTQAI+ community has gone through or know all the right terms and meanings. The main thing is to realize that being an ally is a matter of the heart and requires you to be empathetic to your fellow human.
Simply put, being an ally is to imagine yourself in someone else’s shoes, realize and understand their struggle as if it were your own. Another important quality of being a good ally is to speak up when someone is being hurtful. The person might not even realize that they are being hurtful, so politely correcting them can make a big difference.
Handy Tips for Celebrating Pride
Now that we are ready to have the best time of our lives during Pride, I wanted to give you some tips on celebrating Pride based on my experiences. There is lots of standing and walking because of the parade nature of Pride– so make sure you have comfy shoes!
Unless you are celebrating Pride in Iceland (which would be super cool of you), it will most likely be warm and summery when Pride is happening, so make sure you apply lots of sunscreen. Pride can get very busy and crowded, so make sure your pockets are not easily pick-pocketed. You can wear a money belt or tuck your precious things in other unreachable places.
Conclusion – Have Fun!
Being an ally during Pride is about humanizing the queer experience, being understanding and supporting those who have walked a more challenging path when it comes to their sexuality. Pride is about celebrating freedom of love and expression.
Thanks for being an ally and for taking care that you are showing up in the most respectful way possible. I appreciate you visiting this page and learning about how to be a great ally this Pride season. You are already an ally that I am proud of!
We are so happy that you want to show up and support us in Pride. You can wave your ally pride or dress up wild and crazy in rainbow colors! Do what feels right for you and have fun! Happy pride!
