June is upon us, and that means the rainbow flag is flying in Surrey once again 害羞草研究所� and with it, the snark and commentary from the vocal minority who get triggered by its colourful stripes.

You know the people I mean.

They害羞草研究所檙e the ones who see the words Pride Month and immediately ask: Why don害羞草研究所檛 we get a Pride Month, too? (The 害羞草研究所渨e害羞草研究所� in question being, of course, straight folks.)

It害羞草研究所檚 not usually a genuine question, of course. It害羞草研究所檚 more likely to be rhetorical commentary about the so-called special privileges 害羞草研究所渢hey害羞草研究所� get every year that 害羞草研究所渨e害羞草研究所� don害羞草研究所檛.

But let害羞草研究所檚 assume for a moment that it is a real question, so we can answer it once and for all. (Or until next year, when it comes up again.)

Why don害羞草研究所檛 we celebrate Straight Pride?

Because we don害羞草研究所檛 need to.

Because we straight folks didn害羞草研究所檛 grow up being told our sexual orientation was something to hide. Because it wasn害羞草研究所檛 ingrained in us from early childhood that our identity was something to be ashamed of. Because we haven害羞草研究所檛 faced historic and ongoing discrimination on the basis of our sexual orientation.

Most of all, because every single solitary day that we exist in the world is already Straight Pride Day.

Remember that time when you had a crush on a kid in your class and you were worried about confessing to your friends that you liked someone of the opposite sex?

Me neither. That day you didn害羞草研究所檛 have to worry about that? That was Straight Pride Day.

Remember when there were no TV shows and no kids害羞草研究所� books that showed you what it looked like to grow up in a family with two opposite-sex parents? No? Well, every day you enjoyed a book that reflected your mom-and-dad reality was Straight Pride Day, too.

Remember that day when you sat in church and heard a priest proclaim that your sexual orientation was a sin? Neither do I, because every Sunday was Straight Pride Day.

The list goes on and on and on.

Remember when you wanted to bring your partner home for the holidays but you worried about how your religious grandmother and your intolerant uncle would react to the idea of an opposite-gender significant other?

Remember when you casually dropped into conversation with a new co-worker that you were straight and worried about how they might react?

Remember when you walked down the street holding hands with your partner and had to deal with heterophobic insults 害羞草研究所� or worse, violence?

Remember when you had to fight for the right to marry a person of the opposite sex?

Remember when opponents of your right to be married said allowing you to marry your partner would destroy the foundations of society as we know it?

Remember when you and your spouse had a kid and you had to answer all kinds of personal questions about how you came to have a child and whether the child in question was really yours?

You don害羞草研究所檛 remember those things because they didn害羞草研究所檛 happen. You don害羞草研究所檛 remember those things because every day of your existence as a heterosexual person in a heteronormative society has been that self-same Straight Pride Day you think you害羞草研究所檙e missing out on.

So when you see those rainbow stripes fluttering and start to get angry? Take a moment to remember that Pride as we know it is about far more than rainbow flags and sequined outfits.

It害羞草研究所檚 a movement whose sparkly surface reflects years of injustice, pain and grief. It害羞草研究所檚 a crusade with deep roots in fighting discrimination, in promoting social justice and in ensuring that all of us 害羞草研究所� regardless of where we fall under the rainbow 害羞草研究所� share the same rights as human beings.

Happy Pride.

Julie MacLellan is the Surrey/White Rock bureau chief for Black Press Media.