Happy Pride 2023!
This year, Pride’s theme is all about Strength in Solidarity. At DeeBee’s Organics, we are so excited to honor this month with both our beautiful community and one of our longtime favorite LGBTQ2S+ role models, Danny Wakefield!
Fostering a Colorful World: Color With Us!
Did you know that championing inclusivity is one of our three brand pillars? To us at DeeBee’s Organics, we will always believe that everyone around us should feel welcomed, valued, and respected–no matter who they choose to be or where they come from. This year, we’re so excited for you to celebrate Pride with us. Join in on the fun and share in our joy of celebrating the LGBTQ2S+ community with this printable Pride coloring sheet!
We’re also continuing our longstanding commitment to the Trevor Project by financially contributing to the efforts of this incredible non-profit organization. Everyone deserves to thrive: The Trevor Project provides information, support, counseling, and community for LGBTQ2S+ young adults. This month, we invite those who are able to donate to this important cause as well.
Danny Wakefield on Pride Alongside Parenthood
What is your favorite way to celebrate Pride, and how has that changed since you became a parent?
“My favorite way to celebrate Pride is through creating deeper connections with my community, especially with other trans/queer families. This has changed a lot over the years, and has shifted from wanting to celebrate around a large crowd of people to focusing on having deeper connections and more one-on-one interactions in smaller settings. Since becoming a parent, celebrating Pride is more about teaching the history of Pride and honoring the Black Trans Women who have gotten us here instead of going out dancing!”
What does a colorful world mean to you?
“To me, a colorful world means diversity, people showing up as their authentic selves’ versus the person society wants them to be. A colorful world also means inclusivity, honoring our differences, and then letting them all shine bright like diamonds.”
Has parenthood changed how you view yourself? In what ways?
“Parenthood has absolutely changed the way that I view myself! I’m more gentle with myself in ways that have ushered healing. I’ve also found a home within myself that I never knew existed. For example, I have a dimple chin that I’ve always hated. Then I had a baby who has the most amazing dimple chin I’ve ever seen. And you know what? It’s the same exact dimple chin I have that suddenly now holds a new value to me because: how could I hate my own chin but come to love my child’s? Having a child has skyrocketed me into a beautiful world of self-love that feels like coming home.”
Who is your favorite LGBTQ2S+ role model, and why?
“My role models are the youth who fight to stay alive every single day as anti-trans laws pile up. One person who I look up to in the trans community is Ashlee Marie Preston. Ashlee is a Black Trans Woman and has one of the most powerful voices I’ve ever had the pleasure of crossing paths with. She’s also an openly recovering addict like myself whose visibility has carried me through some of my darkest days. Her activism, paired with her visibility as a recovering addict, has made her a rock and role model for me!”
We have loved every second of seeing you embrace your skin and become a parent over the years we’ve known you! What have you found most surprising about parenthood?
“The thing that I have found the most surprising about parenthood is how conflicting it can feel at times. It truly is the most beautiful gift watching my child grow up, but the truth is that it’s also heart wrenching wishing I could just stop time in this moment forever. I’ve also been surprised about how much my heart grows every single day just because of my child. It’s surprising how much it really does feel like your heart is walking around outside of your body once you have kids.”
How do you choose to engage your child, Wilder, into important conversations about the LGBTQ2S+ community year round?
“We read books and talk about them! The truth is, kids are capable of grasping far more than society gives them credit for, and my child has been learning about the LGBTQ2S+ community since they were born! They know they were born to a papa and that some of our friends had two moms or a trans parent because we talk about it. But books will always be one of my favorite ways to ignite conversations and introduce topics.”
What do you think we all need to work on to make sure that the world becomes safer for everyone?
“One thing that I think we could all work on to make the world a safer place is to be more conscious of the privilege that we walk around the world with, and then use that awareness to lift the voices of those communities that are the most targeted and unsafe, such as Black Trans Women. If we aren’t fighting to keep everyone safe, then none of us are truly safe.”
