Our regular columnist, student Daisy Dewsnap, turns her attention the month of Pride.

As many of you may know, the month of June is dedicated to celebrating the LGBTQ+ communities worldwide and is sometimes referred to as ‘Pride Month’.

All of the Pride celebrations and events that take place throughout this month mark the anniversary of the Stonewall riots that took place in New York City in June 1969.

The rioting has since been acknowledged as the foundation and provenance for the modern LGBTQ+ liberation movement. So, in light of this, I wanted to put together an article highlighting the importance and vitality of acceptance and liberality towards everyone – especially in this day and age!

Acceptance is recognised as the ‘ability to see that others have a right to be their own unique person’.

It is the key to a positive mentality and is so fundamental for our own happiness as well as that of those around us. Receiving respect from others is so important because it enables us to feel safe and comfortable and we are able to express ourselves.

Liberality describes the quality of being open to new ideas and free from prejudice.

This encourages us to acknowledge and respect everyone around us, regardless of our differences, and also allows us to unapologetically be ourselves without the fear of being judged and diminished.

While we are aware that everyone has ideas, opinions, thoughts and values of their own, this is no excuse for seeing ourselves as better than anyone else or not accepting them purely because of these certain qualities or ideologies they may have.

If anything, this should make us keen to accept others even more because we can learn something from every person around us. Everyone in our life will teach us something, every friendship, every encounter with another human being, every conversation, will give you some new knowledge or a new insight and perspective into how you are living your life.

Acceptance, liberality and respect makes people feel comfortable, free to fully be themselves, secure and it benefits all of us!

So, whether you agree with someone’s viewpoints or not, take the time to question what you can learn from them and make an effort to address any conscious or subconscious prejudice you may have.

Learn to accept people for who they are, and not who you want them to be.