Pride definitely has a lot of stereotypical appearances/behavior on display and plenty of outlandishness. But that’s a feature, not a bug. Pride gives us a “day off” from heteronormative society. It allows us to “let our hair down”, so to speak, and just go nuts and have a good time.
Plus, if we don’t accept the flamers, the ultra-butch, the drag queens, etc., what grounds do we have to demand acceptance from society at large? I definitely don’t think we’re going to advance civil rights by throwing fellow queer people under the bus.
Practically speaking, the most important aspect of a person’s identity is the one other people want to kill you for. If there were no homophobia, there’d be no gay pride. If other people didn’t insist on making our sexuality such a big deal, our sexuality wouldn’t be a big deal.
Or even thought to be, with no actual proof; just some asshole (with my apologies to exit sphincters) who decided that specific subordinate/ candidate/ student was gay and got them fired/ hired someone else who didn’t ping their gaydar/ flunked them, etc.
Helpful, up to a point. When I drive through DC and see a big parade or protest, of any kind, it makes me aware that a lot of people have an interest in that subject. It isn’t just a few people doing things I might find icky in back rooms. That is a first step toward learning to accept other people or learning to accept certain things about yourself. A gay pride parade makes me aware that there are a lot of gay folks out there. It makes me ask questions about what you want and who you are. Those are good things. It also once made my kids ask why those two men were kissing and why that other man didn’t have any pants. Not subjects I wanted to discuss while driving through the nightmare of DC during an event but I can see why gay people want those questions out there.
I think of Ren Fairs in the same way. I’m nerdy and I wouldn’t mind dressing up in fun costumes, talking in a bad accent and pretending for a while. A Ren Fair would allow me to do that if I wanted. In the end, such events make me aware that there are a lot of people out there that have similar interests and even if I am not interested myself, I can at least see they aren’t crazy people. Just a little different.
When events become huge parties they are bound to alienate the non-partiers, like me. The wilder partiers can easily become the image people remember.
Nabisco posted a rainbow Oreo on their Facebook page in support of gay pride, so the tide is turning in corporate America, though some conservative heads are still exploding:
It’s not like The 700 Club was exactly gay-friendly to begin with, though. If someone has an agenda that requires them to depict homosexuals as godless and immoral then they’ll find a way to do it, pride parades or no.
Yeah, I agree and think it would be a lot more harmful to have gay pride events where everyone pretended that drag queens, etc., didn’t even exist. While I think it’s best for all involved if participants in pride parades – and other parades – refrain from violating local laws regarding public nudity, etc., if everyone but the “middle-class suburbanites” were forced to hide then the event wouldn’t be about *pride *at all. It wouldn’t even be much of a parade.
I just don’t know why gay pride parades have to be so sexually charged. I’ve read everything from public sex, to people walking around butt naked around children from some parades and police ignoring it. Why go that far ? What possible good for the cause can come from that ?
Don’t get me wrong I see absolutely nothing wrong with homosexuality but if equality is the goal they should be arrested just like the rest of us if we pulled the same stunt.
I’ve heard of gay-supporters participating, though. After Brent Sopel won the Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks, he road a float in the parade with the Cup. And I don’t believe he’s gay, at least not that I know of. And I don’t think the Stanley Cup is gay.
He did so to honor Brendan Burke, the late son of Brian Burke, the Maple Leafs’ GM.
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After all, shows like the 700 Club used some of the more outrageous images from pride events in their efforts to show just how Godless and immoral those homosexuals were.
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I actually saw that piece on The 700 Club years back. I practically wet myself - it was one of the funniest things I ever saw on TV.
It’s impossible to answer as there are all sorts of pride parades. There’s pride parades where at least somewhat well-dressed and at least somewhat well-behaved people march with banners and signs and push a message of mutual acceptance, tolerance, and respect under the law and within Society out in the open.
Then on the other end there are parades with hairy, nearly-naked 300-pound men dry-humping each other like sex-starved orangutans - and screaming women boob flashing the crowd and carrying giant 6-foot inflatable double-ended dildos. (Yes, I’ve witnessed this.)
Obviously, I feel one is helpful and one is harmful. As a card-carrying LGBT member, the latter makes me unhappy.
If the goal is to “let your hair down” then go for it. But don’t ever delude yourself that you’re creating goodwill among the vast herds of American whitebread rabble who given a chance and the right religious leader wouldn’t willingly vote to set up LGBT internment and re-education camps.
