Do You Feel Pride Parades Hurt Us?

I believe Harvey Fierstein addressed this issue quite well...

Harvey Fierstein on Gay Pride

[YOUTUBE]0_OQeA3GiRw[/YOUTUBE]


The answer, btw, is an overwhelming NO, and fuck anyone who wants to take all the fun out of Pride Parades.

 

Nope, and I think that a rehash of the assimilation debate would be quite unfortunate to have.

The sole argument I would offer is this. We are up against evil. Evil cannot be reasoned with or appealed to on a human level. It simply has to be opposed vigorously, with coercion, whether it be shame, ostracism or even force, for the better defense of the human project. Evil will not somehow cease on the basis of our appearing respectable. We should not have to negate our lives and pretend we don't exist in order to placate those who want to cause us suffering, to abandon us or to kill us.

The assimilation question reaches beyond the gay community and infringes upon transgender expression. Those who don't quite pass will be seen as "part of the problem" with respect to outside perception of the queer community as hedonistic freaks. Even if we banned nakedness, being underdressed, or showcasing of leather communities at Pride, transgender expression would still come under the attack of the assimilationist liberal strategy.

 

I think that Pride Parades are not intended to make straight people feel comfy, nor should that be a consideration. The point of the'pride' part of the parade is to not be ashamed of who and what we are.

Straights glorify their heterosexuality and flash naked flesh around on a massive scale all the time and think nothing of it and certainly don't spend even a second worrying about whether or not it's sending the 'wrong message' to LGBT people. Think cheerleaders, think Mardi Gras, think the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, think Victoria's Secret, and Playboy and Penthouse sold on open shelves in airports and some convenience stories and so on and so forth.

When you're done with that, think about how much straight culture glorifies infidelity, promiscuity, and even sex with underage children (I've never seen a gay male stripper or model dress up to look like a little boy in short pants - yet it's not uncommon to see strippers and prostitutes depicted in fiction and videos and film (porn and not) as dressed in little girl school uniforms or dresses, sometimes with oversize lollipops)

If they can do all that, we can certainly have a few parades with some skin showing. And if they don't like it, too damn bad.

Todd

 

One day is too much for them to stand? There are many legitimate criticisms of pride events, but straight people's feelings aren't legitimate. The straight people who don't like gay pride are the reason why it has to go on. Whether or not you enjoy the actual event, opposing its existence is gross when straightness is celebrated on every day of the week, and it's so ingrained that their opposition to queer events is because they'd rather forget we exist.

 

Pride Parades do not hurt us at all. For those who want to present a "more mature" image, let them do that at the pride parades. There is no rule dictating that you can only wear rainbow colored thongs. I agree with Pret Allez and still refuse to assimilate for the sake of assimilation.

 

They say seeing half naked men

Let me ask you something. Does it not strike you as odd that the people who complain about this can see half naked men all over the place in adverts, on TV and films and magazines, literally EVERYWHERE without issue?

They don't care that the guy is half naked or acting a fool, or they would spend every waking moment protesting against the media.

What they care about is that the guy dancing around is gay. He's not a normal half naked guy! He's one of those half naked gay guys that turn your children queer!

 

^ This!

 

God forbid queer people acknowledge their existence one day a year when we have heteronormativity shoved down our throats every single day.



P.S. go to any bar on Friday night and tell me straight people don't look equally foolish....

 

Straight people always have an issue with it it seems. They never have an issue with Marti gras though.......with all the girls flashing their boobies, and the straights having drunken sex in the streets. Funny how it does not offend them when it applies to them.

 

depends really, people wannna celebrate, go ahead haha, it's a celebration of differences

 

Well, I was hoping that attending one would help cure my internalized homophobia... but the word "dyke" is in the "Dyke March," so it most likely won't.

 

What the heck is that holiday? I think Pride is pretty embarrassing to the LGBT community, but I wasn't aware straight people were doing things like that. I guess both sides should agree to keep things a little classier lol. I guess in Canada it's different, there's no Mardi Gras, so the only time when you see things you shouldn't see is Pride. So, it's not really good publicity, but then again, people don't really care, so yeah, idk.

 

Yes. They should be more mature. Nudity, under-dressing, and fetishistic expressions should not be permitted. If anyone has a problem with a transgender person who doesn't pass, screw 'em. That's like having a problem with a blonde showing up; it's totally different than setting maturity levels.

 

This

 

I think part of the problem is two fold. One, People are scared of the unknown. I think a lot of people do not understand what gay pride is. I know I am in the boat. I have a vague understanding of it, but I do not understand the history behind it.

Two, Americans as a whole are conservative when it comes to nudity. We are trained as small children to keep our bodies covered and to be embarrassed by them.

 

I feel like they unintentionally paint a target on themselves but honestly who cares what anybody thinks.

 

slutty? what about mardi gras? jershey shore is wayy past forgotten and has been pretty irrelevant since it started haha. any type of individualism is always oppressed.

i agree! US has a couple of weird "holidays", though, they should just call it Pride instead, so both parties can keep it shut we already have a couple of dedicated days like Silence or Coming Out. If that doesn't happen, sooner or later in history, we're going to treat straight people the same way (as in prejudice and snobby), which would be unfair to them(for those that "allied" with us). it's already hard for me as a spanish guy for everyone to automatically assume i don't speak english. why not just celebrate it for everyone's own sake of difference. if anyone doesn't want to appreciate that, doesn't really understand. that could be said for most nay sayers, on both sides.