Celebrating Pride with Erin Keen

We are excited to celebrate Pride Month in 2023 with our supporters, partners, and associates. Pride is a special month to us, as it gives us an opportunity to reflect on our commitment and support to the LGBTQIA+ community, something that is integral to the culture at Sea-Bird Scientific.  We celebrate Pride Month in June, and all year long to demonstrate our duty to members of the Pride community.

This year, we are excited to feature associates who are proud members and allies of the LGBTQIA+ community to showcase what Pride means to them, and how they celebrate.

This week, we are excited to feature Erin Keen, Field Sales Support at Sea-Bird Scientific.

What does Pride Month mean to you?

Pride Month is a time to celebrate all individuals and how unique they are while also bringing awareness to the history of Pride.  Embracing all the ways people can identify with the common thread being acceptance, love, and respect.  Sharing the past and learning from it so we can work together to continue to grow in how we treat each other and lift each other up throughout the year.

How do you celebrate Pride Month?

Rocking those beautiful rainbow colors is great – but in addition to that I try to support queer culture and have open and supportive discussions with my queer/LGBTQIA+ friends and family.

Examples:

• Attend a local drag show (drag brunch anyone?)
• Tune in to some LGBTQIA+ content like podcasts, TV shows, and movies (huge fan of Dragula)
• Donate to a cause like the Trevor Project
• Check in with your friends/coworkers/family – are you using the most up to date pronouns for them?  Do you know someone who is transitioning – ask them how it is going?  Be there to support them.  Check in with your younger cousin who recently came out as bisexual.  How are they doing?  Do they need help/support talking to other family members about it?

What do you want people to know about Pride?

I would like to share the quote featured in the music video for the song, “The Village,” by Wrabel, “In nature, a flock will attack any bird that is more colorful than the others, because being different is seen as a threat.”  Pride month calls us to challenge that concept that we may see in parts of history, society, and the world and recognize that these differences make us special and who we are.  Pride is about embracing and celebrating being different and your true authentic self-inside and out.  This is reflected in the bright colors of the various Pride Flags.  What I like to say is, “Let your unique flag fly, being normal is boring and overrated.”  Plus, what is “normal” anyways?  We all have some vibrant colors in our feathers.

What’s your favorite thing about Pride?

Truly how celebratory it is of the human race – what it means to be human – how we identify and experience the world.  While Pride should have a focus on highlighting the history and current state of how some groups are more targeted/marginalized than others, Pride is truly for all to celebrate whether you identify as an ally or as a member of the core community.  I identify as a cisgender, straight, she/her female.  However, I consider myself on the queer spectrum – I just fall “closest to those titles” I listed.  Personally, I believe gender and sexuality both can be experienced as a spectrum.  Just sit back and think – how interesting and cool is that?  The human race is fascinating.  There is only one ‘you” and that is worth loving and celebrating not just in June, but year-round.

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