Segmentation exists within our community, whether it’s the lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender persons, persons with HIV, persons HIV negative, monogamous, nonmonagamous, parents, singles, people of color, MSM, youth, seniors, the proud, the out, the in, the homeless, the healthy, the persons with chronic illness, the buff, the bears, the butch, the femme, pet owners… you get the picture.

Pictures of who we are and who we represent make for a diverse, inclusive community, and those images go a long way in terms of reducing the shame we often carry with the labels we wear. If you see someone like you, you’re less likely to feel isolated and alone. Shame and isolation are destructive to each and every one of us, and to our entire community.

Go take a look at the photos from this year’s Bunnies on the Bayou, held downtown on March 31. Then click on the beneficiary link to see how much Bunnies on the Bayou celebrates, honors and rewards our diversity. Bunnies on the Bayou has raised $750,000 (THREE QUARTERS OF A MILLION DOLLARS!) for local charities.

And among those organizations, there we are. We are so grateful that our Hatch Youth and SPRY Seniors programs are associated with such a generous and dedicated group of people. Because of Bunnies on the Bayou, these two segments of our community have a voice and are present instead of silent and invisible. Years ago, when the SPRY program began, one of our young educators gave a presentation to an aging population and started it off with by asking, “Why would I be the one to come talk to y’all about these issues? Well, for one reason, nobody ever listens to people your age or people my age.”

It is obvious that Bunnies on the Bayou makes a conscious effort to be a diverse organization, with a diverse board and membership, and we commend them for year after year of proudly representing all of us. Thank you, Bunnies, for recognizing the work that we do and the work that so many organizations do to lift us out of a place of shame, invisibility and isolation and into a place of true community.