Preface for Walking the Rainbow Bridge

The year is 2025. Many strange things have happened this year. This year is a time of economic collapse, with rising unemployment rates and a lack of ability to communicate or listen. Many of my people have committed suicide this past year in response to the hatred they have received.

You may wonder what it is I am talking about. I am speaking primarily about the LGBTQIA+ community and the violence and discrimination against them. In many places, it is possible to be killed for not appearing as the gender someone wants you to look or talk like. It is also possible that your family will disown you and kick you out of the house before you have graduated high school because they found out that you are attracted to someone of the same sex rather than the opposite sex.

Transgender and gay people are not the only ones who face additional challenges. Racism also appears to be increasing or, at the very least, becoming more apparent. With the growing number of companies ending their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policies, people on Facebook, Reddit, Quora, and LinkedIn are asking questions about what it means.

• Will they be fired because they are black?
• Will they be deported to their country of origin even if they have legally immigrated to the United States?
• Will the marriages of millions of gay, bisexual, or transgender people be no longer considered legal?

And perhaps more importantly, how can anyone afford to live when they are losing their jobs, prices are rising, and they cannot get new jobs because the Artificial Intelligence overlords have decided their resume is not good enough to pass to a real human to read it?

I know these thoughts may seem unrelated, but they have been on my mind lately, based on real conversations I have heard and read, both online and from coworkers at Walmart.

These questions deserve answers, but it will not happen unless we have difficult conversations. Allow me to begin by telling you what I stand for. Look at this picture of the Progress Flag.

The Progress Flag is one of the most important symbols to me personally. I consider it the ultimate symbol of Diversity. The different colors and shapes represent different groups of people. One of the key interesting things is that the black and brown stripes represent “people of color”, such as those with darker skin colors.

Skin color and/or race does not have much to do with being gay, transgender, or intersex, but what we all have in common is that our differences have been used as an excuse to exclude us from employment, voting, restrooms, marriage, and even life itself when we are murdered or sent to prison for life without having committed a crime.

"I've paid my dues
Time after time
I've done my sentence
But committed no crime" - Queen

What is the solution to the hatred, misunderstanding, and violence we face? I do not have all the answers, but I want to contribute my part in beginning the conversations to educate each other on our different experiences. We are stronger together because of our Diversity.

What we have in our society is a great divide. We seem to be on two sides of the Grand Canyon. I was thinking to myself that what we need is a bridge. And then it just so happened that I came across an article where hundreds of people lit up a bridge in rainbow colors using only flashlights.

It was at that moment that I remembered a conversation I had in a dream with Honesty the Unicorn about how a rainbow is created.

H: Like others before you, you will speak and write about the things you have learned. In fact, even now you are typing our conversations on your computer as we speak. You can tell others what you have learned. Though others will probably call you insane or a liar, the evidence speaks for itself.

You have the power of perseverance. If you keep on speaking, you will be heard. If you keep on seeking the truth you will find it. For he who keeps asking questions will receive the answers. He who keeps seeking will find them sooner or later, and he who knocks on enough doors will find one answered eventually. You don’t know how to give up. You have too much stallion pride for that.

C: You’re right, Honesty. I don’t know how to give up. But where will I go? How do I know where I will be listened to and where I will find the answers?

H: Everywhere! Go into all the world. Ask every question, knock on every door, and search everywhere that you have a chance to find the answers. Find those who do not stop you or shame you for singing, dancing, or crying. Do you see that rainbow in the sky, Chastity?

C: Yes, how long has that been there?

H: Since the moment we first met. In the human world, a rainbow is created when white light is reflected off of water droplets. In Animal Sanctuary, the Light of Truth reflects off the tears of those with a pure heart. By this you shall know that wherever and whenever you see a rainbow, you will know a unicorn is not very far away. For the truth is revealed in tears without a single word said. This is my promise to you, Chastity. You came here because of your tears, and you will return again, as will all those who are honest enough to cry the tears of joy and of pain. For it is as I spoke long ago, blessed are the Pure in Heart, for they shall see God.

I ask my fellow Rainbow people to metaphorically walk the Rainbow Bridge this Pride Month of 2025 as we write, speak, and listen to what our different voices have to say.

As for me, I will remember the Promise of the Rainbow as I was told by Honesty the Unicorn. I won’t give up, and neither should you. Please let me know if there’s anything I can do to assist you. I am just a poor transgender writer and Chess player, but I offer my skills and knowledge of computer software to anyone who has a story to tell.