LGBTQ people are not outsiders. Expanding our rights is patriotic.

In my life, I’ve had the joy of going to games for each of Philadelphia’s five major sports franchises, and I always sing along to the national anthem. Hearing the anthem at a game has always felt like a moment of unity. Different teams, different cities, and thousands of fans are connected in an instant of national pride.

On June 23, the Phillies invited the Philadelphia Gay Men’s Chorus to sing the national anthem at their Pride Night. The queer community has always been viewed as outsiders, and while we might seem like odd guests, we gladly stand and sing for the America we believe in.

The American flag, the national anthem, and the colors red, white, and blue are our national symbols — and they are undoubtedly political. We use these symbols to lend a cause patriotic credibility and to identify ourselves with the spirit of the nation. But in recent years, right-wing elements of American politics have claimed sole ownership of America’s symbols.

If you see video from any Donald Trump event, it will be positively star-spangled. But by what right can they claim to be the “real” America? When groups like Moms for Liberty promote banning books, they do not embrace free speech. When Republican state legislatures criminalize drag, they demean the inalienable right to pursue happiness. They act with an exclusionary, nationalist spirit and call it patriotism.

For over 200 years, America has failed to live up to the ideal that we are all created equal. In 1776, there was no racial equality, no gender equality, no equality for immigrants or the disabled or Native Americans or the queer community. Each of these has been fought for, and that fight is far from over.

The history of our nation is defined by the struggle for acceptance and justice. The spirit of our nation is an eternal hunger for more equality and for more liberty.

The LGBTQ community is not some horrifying other, bent on the destruction of America. We are your neighbors and your family, your colleagues and your friends. We are your fellow countrymen and women. For centuries, our freedoms have been curtailed by the American government because we were different, and for decades we have been fighting to right those wrongs. Our fight is for ourselves and for those who will come after us — not to the detriment of heterosexual and cisgender people, but for the expansion of liberty for all.

I am not an outsider because I am gay. I am not un-American because I oppose a return to a country where LGBTQ people must live in fear. I am a patriot because I demand more of my country, and I am willing to fight for it. The expansion of rights and acceptance for the queer community is a point of national pride, and those who would reverse this progress and cast us back into the shadows should be embarrassed. They are not the best of this country. They are the soldiers of hate and intolerance.

Founded in 1981, the Philadelphia Gay Men’s Chorus is a haven of community and acceptance. We have long been a voice for freedom and the true spirit of America. We are white, Black, brown, Asian, and Latino singers. We are cis men, trans men, and nonbinary people. We are immigrants and born citizens; hometown Philadelphians and regional transplants; from cities, suburbs, and farmlands around the world.

We are not outsiders. We are America, and the heirs to its rights, symbols, and promise.

When we sing, we are inviting you to feel unity with us — to feel pride in being Americans who embrace equality and justice — and to feel an American spirit to share rights, safety, and community with people who are different.

Peter Macoretta is a tenor in the Philadelphia Gay Men’s Chorus and a lifelong Philadelphian.