Does Anyone Think That Gay Pride Parades Just Perpetuate The 'Gay' Stereotypes?

I was actually just talking about this.

Yeah, it's flamboyant. Yeah, it's over-the-top. I used to think they did more damage to the gay community than good.

But then I went to one and realized that it's all just a parody of the stereotypes.

When I went to a parade it was really the only time that I truly felt carefree. It was nice to be able to do something with the gay (and supporting) community, and them only. If we didn't have gay parades, there'd be no big events.

It was a really fun 5 hours. The saddest part was after the parade and festival, when I was walking back to the car. There were a few other people walking the same way, including 2 guys who were holding hands. When we got to a busy intersection outside of the park where the festival was held and had to wait for the light to change, one of them looked really sad and said, "We can't hold hands anymore. There are people here who didn't come from the parade." Sometimes it's the only time when people can really be themselves and not care about what anyone else thinks.

 

but would others take it as just a paroody of stereotypes?

I personally feel such behavior is ultimately counter productive. though still, this is suposed to be a free country. dont like gay people being honest and open about themselves, move to iran!

 

Hey,

Most of us (I won't say all, because i don't represent everyone here) live in a country where freedom of speech and a right to public demonstration are allowed. If people want to parade on the streets and show how much they love the way they are, GOOD ON THEM!

I wouldn't be game to go to one myself, but i can definitely see the advantages and the awareness that it helps to raise. If people didnn't show their pride, and let others see - it would be that much harder for us to admit it to ourselves.

Kaleb.

 

Well, ive defended pride many many times, all i really have to say at this point is...

Dont diss on Pride before you go. If all you know about the event is either 1) From the mainstream media, 2) From word of mouth, 3) From one specific pride in one specific city, then you really have no right to diss pride in general. Because its not going to always be the 30 second HIGHLY-edited clip you see on the news of the most flamboyant parts, and its going to vary from city to city and year to year.

If you think pride is too "Stereotypical" then think of this: Who make up the gay's that march in that parade? Its definitely not the ones afraid to be seen and its definitely not the closeted ones. More than not this only leaves you with the "stereotypical gays". You get the queens, drag and otherwise, you get the "dykes on bikes", you get the most flamboyant of them all. Maybe its because these people, the ones often discriminated against the most, are the ones who are the strongest. They are trying to make the world more accepting by showing the world they are there. They are not just out there for themselves, they are out there for all of us. Because being gay should not be something you have to hide, and unless people stop hiding it then how is that going to change?

I dunno, as everyone can tell i have strong feelings in this subject. People want to be accepted, but they often dont want to accept others. I just think that if you dont like pride because "you dont want to be associated with the stereotypical people" then you may need to do some soul searching to see if thats because you have a problem with them. No one is telling you be a part of pride or your not allowed to be gay, so why not let the people who want to be seen, and therefore further the cause for all of us, be seen?

 

As someone who voted negates the cause, I must say that is definitely something I hadn't recognized in myself until you mentioned it now..

 

I am not really meaning to diss Pride, but I still belive that it turns alot of people off. then we get prop 8 on the ballet, and the voters, some who may look at pride events, and see it as a threat *when it isnt, you cant really control people's reactions*.

We would probably get more support from the straight community if we presented a face to them that isnt, well, in-your-face, we might move towards equality faster.

Like I said, this is suposed to be a free country *sometimes it doesnt feel like it*, and so we have a right to be open about these things. those who dont like homosexuals being, well, homosexual, then they should move to iran... they would fit right in, or learn the error of their ways.

 

Do you really believe African-Americans got as far as they did just because of MLK? What about Malcolm X and the Black Panthers? The civil rights movement was as much about revolution and rebellion as it was about black people dressing up in their Sunday best.

The powers that be don't give up bits and pieces of their power because you go up to them and say pretty please. They give up (some of) their power when they believe the consequences of giving it up outweigh the consequences of holding onto it.

This is particularly the case with the gay rights movement--go see Milk, for goodness sake. It was at least as much about rioting and angry marches as it was about showing straight people we were "just like them." Which we're not, not really because there's some kind of essential difference but because society will not let gay people be the same as "normal" people. Gay people trying to show straight people we're all the same is simply playing the game by the rules of the people in power, and ultimately futile. We should focus more on trying to show people it's okay NOT to be the same, not to be cookie-cutter cardboard cut-outs.

 

EXACTLY. You can't really control people's reactions, so why try to pretend to be all straight-laced? The fact of the matter is that there are probably, numerically, far more "kinky" straight people than gay people--we just get saddled with that reputation. We're the easy scapegoats for weak pathetic people's fears about their own inner demons and non-normative desires.

Prop 8 did not pass because of Gay Pride Parades. Prop 8 passed because psychotic religious freakazoids from out of state poured millions of dollars into a campaign against gay marriage and played on people's fears about gays. They very successfully turned it into a racial issue, too, which is pretty demoralising when you realise what went on. Essentially they played one minority against another, a divide-and-conquer strategy which often works wonders for people seeking to maintain control.

 

I agree with Numfarh.

All I have to say is, instead of googling pride pics and saying 'oh that looks bad', go to a parade, waive you're little pride flag whilst you're marching next to a drag queen and a half naked muscular guy painted in silver and tell me you didn't have a great time

 

When I was at Pride this year, I looked around me at everyone else that was there, not just the drag queens and the most flamboyant people. I'd say 80% of the people were there were just like me - your average guy or girl, wearing some rainbows, holding their partner's hand, and looking thrilled to be a part of something that big. I loved being able to look around and think "I have something in common with everyone here and they're not going to hate me for being who I am". That's what I love about Pride and that's what I wish people would pay attention to.

 

^Don't forget about all the awareness organisations and such
They were everywhere !

 

I don't agree with some of the listen stereotypes as being negative but I do agree that Gay pride events definitely promote more of the very stereotypical gay lifestyle aspects.

The Mardi Gras (worlds biggest Gay Pride event) was just on in Sydney and I had a heap of friends go (both straight and gay) most of them only came back with negative stories of attempted rape and drug spiking.

The media picks up on this promiscuity and drug abuse as being major factors of gay lifestyle, it's total BS factor.

 

Oh yes, everyone likes to take pictures of the drag queens and men in leather But nobody takes pictures of the men in business suits. Go to a pride parade and believe me, there are plenty.

 

Yes, and that's part of why I don't like them. I feel glad that people get to break out and be themselves, but it really pushes some of the most ridiculous stereotypes that I don't come close to fitting. Feather boas, giant headdresses, almost everyone is wearing NOTHING AT ALL, leather daddies, pop music, makeup, drag, all the things that people use as caricatures of homosexuals. I guess I have a resentment towards anything that pushes a stereotype I don't fit, but that's just me.

 

I absolutely disagree with you. The gay rights movement is not just for the quiet little conformist homos that are willing to clean themselves up and put themselves back in the closet and shut the fuck up to try keeping straight people from being a bit uncomfortable. The only reason the gay rights movement is even on the map is because a bunch of drag queens at Stonewall finally got pissed off enough at police harrassment to do something about it. It wasn't the quiet conformist assimilationist homos that were just trying to blend in that started things. It was the DRAG QUEENS. It was the guys in leather in the '80s. It was the people that were willing to make and wave rainbow flags around in the '70s.

OK, let's get something perfectly clear right now. We ARE different than straight people.

Yes I did just say that, and I'll say it again. We are NOT the same as straight people.

Straight people have never had to deal with having their sexuality and orientation deemed an abomination by most major religions. They've never had to deal with being beat up and attacked because they looked a bit too gay. They've never had to deal with coming out, being denied the right to marry, or having other people treat them differently just because of the gender of the person they're with. No one gets harassed by the police for having a Playboy Bunny sticker on his car.

Please, give me a break. Straight people have Brittany Spears and her 55-hour marriage representing them. They have pill-popping racist anti-women divorced three times fleshbags like Rush Limbaugh representing them. They have a 50 percent divorce rate representing them. They have people like Hugh Heffner representing them. Yet somehow straight marriage is STILL held up as the "gold standard."

Really, you're worried about how someone in leather chaps is representing us?

Let's clarify that it's not the leather chaps or the drag queens that make straight people dislike gays. It's the fact that we love members of the same gender. That's all. Being a quiet conformist little assimilationist doesn't change that. Hell, if anything, it exacerbates the straight dislike of gays because there's more shock and surprise when the truth comes out. People appreciate honesty.

And if that honestly makes some straight people a bit uncomfortable, well, TOUGH SHIT! Oh noes, a straight person is uncomfortable that I have a boyfriend! Fuck 'em! Let them squirm. I have to have their relationships shoved in my face day in and day out, so I have no compassion for them if straight people are uncomfortable with gay people. The gay rights movement is not just for the quiet little assimilationist homos. It's for ALL of us, not only including, but ESPECIALLY for the drag queens, the leather daddies, the gender non-conforming, and everyone else who wants to be free to live their lives.