On Being Proud
By: Ethan Wheeler (They/Them), President of OUTLaw, 2025-26
“Until my dying day I will look back with pride that I found the courage to come face to face in battle against the spectre which for time immemorial has been injecting poison into me and into men of my nature. . . . to deal the initial blow to the hydra of public contempt.” – Karl Heinrich Ulrichs, 1867, a German jurist after filing a motion to combat European anti-homosexuality laws.
Dear, beautiful colleagues:
Pride is an enigmatic disposition. As I and many others were taught as children, it is a deadly sin to hold oneself as superior to the Abrahamic God; to express excessive self-love; to hold your own truth and creation to be absolute at the expense of the dignity of others, or of such God. Sadly, I fear this disposition has re-conquered some of its territory over the public attitude toward the LGBTQ+. An attitude which, when wielded by authorities against people who are born and raised differently from themselves, creates an all-too-familiar fiend of man’s creation.
A fiend whose stench stills the air, foreclosing speech. A fiend whose jaws breach psyches in private, and flesh in public. A fiend whose gaze touches upon everyone, but lingers on some more than most. I speak of the “hydra of public contempt”: the monster, Shame.
I have the pleasure of writing today, not to forebode, but to encourage: because the machinations of the creature Shame are just as feeble and hollow now as they were one thousand years ago. The law as we learn it today is not less plagued by the moralistic platitudes and policies of yesteryear; but, as the Supreme Court itself recently notes, what holdings constitute “good law” can be egregiously wrong. However you chose to grapple with the ever-changing landscape of rights our government chooses to respect, or however you grapple with public condemnation generally, I hope you grapple Proudly.
Pride, to me, is not merely the self-glorifying, self-authenticating disposition I once believed it to be. In fact, these qualities are not detrimental in any respect. Pride can be the virtuous cry of communal dignity, flying open doors for those around you. Pride is the celebration of the shared triumph of overcoming the minute and everyday visages of public disdain. Pride is a self-affirmation, guided by the wisdom of proud people before you, spoken even in the quiet privacy and safety of a closet, consensually entered. Pride is indeed a powerful prophylactic against Shame; a quasi personal-communal protest which dulls its rotten teeth, freshens the air, and shades its eye.
This month, LGBTQ+ History Month, is a time to reflect on our proud heritage. The work of Karl Heinrich Ulrichs and his progeny of international rebel lawyers. The ballrooms of 1880 spurred a grand cultural wave still reverberating in clubhouses and homes today. Artists, like the playwright Larry Kramer, pop graffitist Keith Haring, and Marvel writer Gabby Rivera (who will be on UR’s campus later this month), all succeeded to celebrate our stories and center them in public view. The LGBTQ+ people are indeed quite capable of boldly trudging forward through the mire and smog of public condemnation.
The monster Shame is implicated throughout the rich history of the LGBTQ+ people. But, though it frequently strikes with ferocity, shame always struggles against the powerful bellows of Pride. Stay safe, elevate one another and, always, be proud of yourself.
Proudly, together,
Ethan Wheeler | They/Them
President of OUTLaw, 2025-26
For LGBTQ+ History Month (October), the Muse Law Library invited OUTLaw to write a guest post for the Law Library’s blog. I would like to thank Ethan Wheeler for their beautifully written and inspiring post, as well as the entirety of OUTLaw for their contributions to the University of Richmond Law School community! Let’s all remember to be proud this October, and don’t forget to celebrate National Coming Out Day on October 11th! – Mads Ball, Student Services Librarian