While I agree with what the article said, I think the person is also living a fairy-tale life. The only time I went to pride, I saw more almost naked people than you'd find at a lingerie store. There weren't booths on how to fight for gay marriage or workshops on how to handle the negativity we face - just a lot of sex related things going on. The parades are probably much better, but this article just... Seems like it isn't facing reality.
I think the author has made some good points about why gay rights campaigning is still necessary, but I disagree that pride events are necessarily the big answer to our problems. I feel pride events neither help nor hinder the community. The problem is the majority of people who attend pride events are either lgbt themselves, or already supportive allies - so they don't exactly change anyone's opinion; it just isn't very impactful. And because of how the media works (most papers will only carry a couple of pictures of pride) the wider public don't get to see much of the diversity of people at an event - just a snapshot of someone having a good time (probably half naked). At the very best people will just think "well he is having a good time, clearly everything is swell for LGBT people", at worst, well you know what people can be like. I feel gay pride events are good if people enjoy them and want to go and unwind/have a good time, but I don't think they are necessarily the great platforms for activism they are portrayed as. Besides, pride events are about fun and frivolity - its not a place where real serious issues facing gay people are discussed and faced, that would be too much of a "downer". The real big changes happen in daily life with people getting on with their lives against whatever odds, standing up for themselves and fighting discrimination where it arises. The only way to win against homophobia is to confront it head-on, which I don't think pride does (its like the idea of having to have a gay-friendly areas or specific gay "capitals" instead of having the wider world open to us - self-segregation I call it).
