Some people — even in our own community — question if we still need to celebrate Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Pride.

When we are surrounded by openly LGBT teachers, fire fighters, ministers, pro sports figures, actors, and yes, a growing number of elected and appointed government officials, we might be inclined to ask: “Why is there still a need for a weekend to express pride in who we are?”

When we witness, as we did last month, gay marriage in Canada and the end of sodomy laws in the United States with the overturning of Bowers v. Hardwick — two watershed moments in North American LGBT history — we might believe that the battle is over and we’ve won, that society is evolving faster and better than we ever could have imagined. So why celebrate Pride when it seems we’re achieving all that we had hoped to achieve?

Clearly, the times are changing rapidly. A few years back many of us liked to joke about just how much things had improved over the past decade. The positive changes for the LGBT community in the 1990s seemed to dwarf the evolutionary progress our community experienced in the decades prior.

We are finally nearing a point where we can genuinely feel that the LGBT community has a new sense of place in American society. Consider this: a majority of Fortune 500 companies now offer some sort of LGBT anti-discriminatory protection and/or domestic partner benefits; certain presidential candidates are actively courting and including the LGBT community and its issues in their campaigns; legal protections for transgender individuals are being enacted weekly, it seems, across the land; and you can’t flip the channels on your TV these day without viewing, and in most cases enjoying, LGBT characters or themes on mainstream stations and shows. It seems, quite frankly, that this is our moment. We have arrived. So why continue to celebrate Pride when we’ve achieved so much? Isn’t Pride now arguably superfluous?

For a variety of reasons, I’d counter that now, more than ever, we need to proclaim our pride more boldly and loudly, for even though we’ve seen unprecedented and rapid changes throughout much of North America, there is still much work to be done.

We’re still not allowed to serve openly in our own country in the U.S. military, at least in peacetime. However, ironically, when it comes time to send LGBT men and women to fight and possibly die in a war, the military turns a blind eye to sexual orientation. It seems we can die for our country, just not serve it as proud and out LGBT service members.

In many states, we still can’t adopt children, and in far too many cases, our partners who have helped nurture, love and raise our natural-born children are denied adoption rights — and in cases of dissolved relationships, visitation rights.

The IRS tax code still doesn’t recognize our domestic partnership rights for income tax purposes. Additionally, we’re penalized by having to pay for health and insurance benefits with after-tax instead of pre-tax dollars — a clear case of discrimination.

We simply aren’t there yet. Each and every day across America — in small towns, rural areas, big cities, and yes, even in San Diego — we still face discrimination because we are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.

And let’s not forget about our youth, who, in the face of all our community’s recent successes, are now coming out at earlier, younger ages. They face obstacles and challenges that many of us never even dreamed of. Meanwhile in our ever-ageist society, our seniors continue to face the prospect of being forgotten, marginalized and isolated.

We have plenty of work still to do, laws to enact, communities to protect, issues to back, people to educate and sensitize, candidates to elect (and re-elect!), and coalitions to build and foster.

Perhaps now more than ever, with momentum pushing us ever forward, it’s the perfect time for our diverse community to band together to plot a new strategy that will finally give us the full and equal rights we deserve as United States citizens. It’s clearly our time for a place at the head of the table. However, I’m pretty sure we’re not quite done preparing the meal in the kitchen yet.

So as you celebrate pride in yourself and your community this weekend, please take time to join with me in acknowledging our community leaders and activists, who come in all ages, races, religions, creeds, and academic and socio-economic backgrounds. Let’s thank them for the work they do every day of the year to help chart our future.

This weekend’s celebration is for all of us. Expressing and reaffirming our pride helps us focus on the goals ahead, and re-energizes our community for the battles in front of us.