Gays want to be seen as "normal" yet they dress up feminine at pride events.

Wow, Just wow…

I'd tell you what's wrong with that line of thought but I wouldn't know where to begin.

 

Yes, not all people in the community are like this, but we still need to support those that are.

Just because you don't like/don't conform to a certain stereotype doesn't mean you get to throw those people under the bus to make yourself look better.

 

Some gay men want that. Others don't give a shit and are quite happy to be more flamboyant. Pride events offer an opportunity to indulge.

 

Kind of like cosplaying at a comic/anime convention. I'm guessing these guys don't dress like this all the time the same way you wouldn't dress as your favorite character in your everyday life.

 

I see where you're coing from, as the extreme butch stereotypes of lesbianism make me extremely insecure and uncomfortable (which is a big reason why I've never been to a pride parade, aside from their overuse of the slur "dyke").

Still, people should be themselves, even if it's stereotypical. Plus, like J.J. pointed out, they usually only dress like that for special events, not everyday life. I used to cosplay (I plan on getting back into it soon), but that doesn't mean I run around with my Pikachu ears and tail at the DMV, or go work at McDonald's dressed as Envy from FMA. There is a time and place for that.

 

I actually agree the op. It would be like a black pride parade with people dressed up as drug dealers. Or a woman's parade with people dressed up as 50s housewives. It just propagates a stereotype. It's not the femininity it's the fact that they are all dress up like freaks and say this is what being gay is. No it is not and a lot of us are not like that. It's not so much the people in these pictures I have an issue with it's the people with their tops off and have kinky gear on.

These people do not represent gay people. If it was called flamboyant gay pride I wouldn't have a problem but because it's called gay pride people think this is what it is to be gay. And these flamboyant people don't denounce it. The reality is that the gay stereotype doesn't come from homophobes it comes from flamboyant gay people who's attitude is that "straight acting" gays (not that I like that term) are just closet cases. I once knew someone who thought that ever gay person was camp. That wasn't homophobes who created that attitude in people it was other gay people. When people come out as gay, people assume that their friend will turn into a freak because of this stereotype. Sometimes I think the biggest obstacle for people coming out is sometimes other gay people rather than homophobes.

 

I'm surprised how many people agree with OP. In my opinion a person of any gender can dress however they want. They could dress up like that all year round and it wouldn't be wrong. Gender roles are just a bunch of hogwash invented to keep people in line anyways. Men can be feminine and women can be masculine all they want.

 

Did anyone else notice the sentence "if you want the world to look at you in a good light then stop associating homosexuality with femininity" ?

As if femininity were a bad thing. That is also exactly why gay men are generally less accepted than lesbians, because society as a whole still thinks that masculinity is superior to femininity - in either sex.
Seriously, this has to stop. Being feminine does not make a person weak, or less than.

On topic: some people like to dress up like that for pride, some dont, both is fine.

 

How about people just express who they are and dress how ever they fucking want to? If a some guy regardless of his sexuality wants to wear a chiffon gown or whatever then he should be able to wear the fuck out of that dress and shouldn't be look at as a freak or abnormal because of it.

 

Yes but not under the banner of gay pride. Gay pride was originally meant to show everyone that gay people are just like anyone else. Now it's the opposite. It seems to be about how gay people are different to everyone else. Also these people aren't really dressing up like females it's more than that they are flamboyant. Hence it doesn't have much to do with gender roles or at least that's not my problem. There is nothing in principle wrong with that. However when they pretend to represent the gay people it propagates a stereotype. Yes I wouldn't have anyone stop them. They can wear want every they want under whatever banner. I think their doing harm to other gay people by propagating the stereotype. I doubt that it's their intention but sometimes I think they are. Lets be honest 9 times out of 10 a gay person is shown on tv. 1) They are a feminine gay male 2) They are a butch lesbian. My point is that these stereotypes don't come from homophobes but events like gay pride.

 

And hey you know its a whole lot more progressive and helpful to try to destroy gender stereotypes rather than focusing your time on telling people to be masculine and not to express themselves in a feminine style..

 

I think the point they make is that that Carnival-style fabulousness IS normal. Why shouldn't they be allowed to dress like that? Granted it would be obnoxious in every day life, but in smaller doses, it is an expression of who they are and that is fine.

Personally I'd love to see a world where either gender is free to appear how they would like to, if only because feminine guys can be quite hot

With the idea that "gay pride means we're just like everyone else" I guess it would do our cause justice to show that there are crazy people like the rainbow peacocks up there, as well as Neil Patrick Harrises who look sharp in a suit. Because it stands to reason there is a whole spectrum of people that just happen to like their same sex.

 

I don't think "feminine" is quite the right word for that. I've met feminine guys, and their clothes are fairly conventional (cross-dressing is not a personality). No, I think the word you are looking for is "flamboyant". Seriously, a banana wig? What a waste of perfectly good food. I am also masculine, so I see OP's point. However, like I said earlier, it's not really femininity that's the stereotype; it's flamboyancy.

Normally, I'd say "do what you want", but perpetuating these stereotypes isn't helping our case. It just confirms homophobic beliefs. Get your priorities straight: we can and should accept the stereotypical, but having them be the face of our movement is a bad strategy.

 

Wow! I'm completely befuddled by the OP and those agreeing with him.

Alright so I too am a masculine gay, I would never dress up like that, but does that mean that I have to tell those who want to dress flamboyantly that they shouldn't? If people want to dress like that so then be it. I thought the gay community was about acceptance, tolerance and forgetting about what society thinks about you. That's the whole point of these costumes, and has been a staple since the inception of the gay pride parades. We're the same as everyone else, but also a bit more colorful. Now people should stop doing that so that others view them less stereotypical? Please, we're gay and proud. Some are masculine, some are not, but lets respect each other and the worst thing that can come out of this in the future is the gay community being divided by those who want to feel like gays should be ONLY masculine, and those who don't give a damn.

Stop telling people how to live their lives... so you want to be seen as ultra masculine, does it mean that others have to as well? Maybe these people have no issues being labeled effeminate and don't feel ashamed to dress up that way.

This topic only bothers me because there should be unity within the community. We're all different in many ways, but for such intolerance to be present is completely incomprehensible.

 

How is a gay man dressing as feminine a problem I just don't get that ?

That's like people telling me just because I just feminine and not butch I will be taken seriously as a lesbian :dry:

 

I mean, I have a right to wear masculine clothes or however I please to. Shouldn't they as well? I don't think that it's the flamboyant gays' fault for perpetuating any stereotypes. Sorry, but that's the ignorant John Doe who still associates flamboyant gays at Pride with every single gay person on the planet. You're basically saying "they should stop dressing like how they want to because people are going to associate them with every gay guy!" Well, whose fault is it really? The flamboyant gay guy who is expressing how he feels in an okay manner or the straight guy who does know any better and thinks that the gay community is a one size fits all?

 

You are bi, but you're still homophobic.
Yes, yes you are.
You distance yourself from those who deviate from the norm and try desperately to prove to everyone that you are just as normal as straight people. Why do you even give a fuck about the normal?
We are all people, and in the end we all want to live our life to the fullest. If you think the message Pride sends is: "Look at us gays and our weird flamboyant lifestyle", then you are sorely mistaken. Pride is meant to celebrate diversity and everyone's right to be happy with what they are, to find joy in living your life free of other people's opinions. In thinking that all gay guys "want to be seen normal", you are shoving normative thinking down those people's throats.

What is normal? Why does it matter? Why is it so important to be masculine, what's wrong with being feminine, or flamboyant, or weird?

 

I can see both sides to this - yes, it is right that they are able to express themselves as they wish. However, as someone who is questioning and may well be gay, I have absolutely no desire to be stereotyped as similar to those in the OP's photos purely because of my sexuality. So my interests align with the OP as the stereotype which is propagated by such people at gay pride events does harm me, but I won't go as far as to say that anyone at pride should change or do anything differently purely because it doesn't suit me or those similar to me in the GLB community.

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it" - Evelyn Beatrice Hall on Voltaire's beliefs

 

Well, that last guy did show a shameful waste of perfectly good bananas.