My friends and I were out on the night of the Pulse nightclub massacre, celebrating the end of Boston Pride and losing ourselves on the dance floor, belting our hearts out to “Freedom” by George Michael.

While we threw our arms around each other’s shoulders, shirtless and drenched in sweat, I closed my eyes and reflected for a moment on how far we had come, and on all the trailblazers, from Stonewall to ACT UP to the marriage equality movement, who fought to get us here.

I knew that we stood on the shoulders of giants, and it made me proud — proud to be gay and proud to have been part of those struggles.