I was watching the news today with my mom and they covered the gay pride celebration the city had today because of the Supreme Court rulings and I almost died. There were images of shirtless men, "debauchery," and the like, y'all know how they are :icon_wink. We don't talk about me being gay and seem to have a "don't ask, don't tell" policy about me being gay but I feel that such events will make it hard for her to see that LGBT people are just like everyone else. I sometimes wish Pride events were more traditional (both because I really can't identify with all of the lasciviousness that pervades such events and because I feel it makes people think of us as "that much more different"). Any opinions? Anyone have parents that view Pride events as distasteful? Do you like how Pride events are and the image they portray of us?
I also, don't like how Pride looks. The fact that most times the people are all half naked, makes it looks like all we do is just have sex., and that we only care for appearances/vain. I think they should tone it down a bit, while we should celebrate our differences, I don't think we should do so, so flashy. I hate how most of my friends naturally assume I think it's all 'so cool' , when in reality I don't ever plan on going, or associating myself with the event. It's stuff like that, that makes me embarrassed to be gay.
yeah i don't see the "pride" in parading around half/full-on naked dry humping the man/woman closest to you and forcing sexual iconography in people's faces. fair enough you're supposedly "sexually suppressed" (as i've heard some LGBT people argue) in conventional society, and i also agree that sexuality as a whole should be spoken about respectively in those societies where it's a taboo subject, but there's nothing wrong with standards. at this rate we'll always be the laughing stock of the modern world. as a solution to this, why not just do as latin people do when it comes to parades/carnivals and the like, only cleaner of course, still fun.
I agree with you. I've always thought it was silly and when my parents see those things on the news its impossible to take gay peopke seriously after that. However I do believe everyone is free to express themselves I just wish it wasn't so...Showy, somtimes
I think that everyone has the right to, but I don't like such open displays of sexuality. However, making pride less "open" would be repressing sexuality, something the conservatives force us to do every day. I'm the sort of guy who wants to be in a quiet, romantic relationship, but not everyone is like me, so I won't stop them. I just make it clear that I'm not that sort of guy.
I think that we should keep the clothes on but keep celebrating. I really don't think that we should be shutting down people's expression, because that's going to end up hurting trans* and genderqueer people, who are no doubt going to be callously told "be who you really are, rather than a freak."
I haven't been to one, largely because I don't like crowds and excessive noise, having never been to a concert and to few sporting events in stadiums. That said, I've seen parts of Pride shown on TV or seen photos of it in the newspaper. It's really all over the map. The floats or exhibits alternate markedly. There might be marching bands, people from affirming churches carrying their banners to welcome people to their congregations, a cluster of people revving up in motorcycles clad in leather, and ... in one city, the media displayed a float that was carrying a giant effigy of a penis for which there were fewer than the necessary amount of wires to keep it from moving, so it was sort of bouncing around, either due to the movement of the truck or possible wind. I'm far from a prude, but I didn't care for that.
I understand completely. In a way, I know I am being callous because the LGBT community is very broad. We are all similar, yet different. I guess being cis-gender clouds my judgment and makes me wish I can just be accepted as "one of the guys;" at the same time, not everyone has that privilege and we have to stand together. I'll be happy if we all keep our clothes on in public.
I really get what you are saying because I felt exactly that way about pride parades when I first started coming out. The one thing that I would say to keep in mind is that the parade is not meant to represent you or LGBT people as a whole. The people that put the parade on don't have that goal, the people going don't have that goal, and no one really cares about representing someone else. Everyone involved in any parade or event is there for themselves and in order to have a good time. You have to get out there and put in the work in order to have a place that you are proud of. No one else will do it for you. Also, if you haven't gone to a pride parade before, I highly recommend it. There are some cities that will be more wild than the others, but for the most part Pride parades are very tamed. Here is an example of the one in my city if you are interested in seeing what a pride parade can look like “Gay Pride was not born of a need to celebrate being gay, but our right to exist without persecution. So instead of wondering why there isn’t a Straight Pride movement, be thankful you don’t need one.” -Anonymous
Gracias, las fotos son muy buenas. I understand Pride doesn't represent me personally, but I feel other people use it as a proxy for all gay people. I guess it's like when the Rodney King riots erupted and law-abiding African-Americans were embarrassed that other people of the same ethnicity were giving them all a bad name (I'm not trying to offend anyone, it was the first example that came to my head). But I think it's "worse" for gay people because we are such an insular and small community that any actions taken by some magnifies the effect on the entire gay community.
This is actually a burden that EVERY single minority has in one way or another. When I go out as a hispanic I'm representing all colombians, hispanics and immigrants with my actions, the way I talk, etc. But it is your choice, and yours alone, to decide whether or not you will allow society to put such an unfair burden on your shoulders. We have to remind ourselves that only we can represent ourselves. No one has the responsibility to represent me and I don't have the responsibility to represent anyone else. And trust me. If someone hates LGBT people because of something that happens one day a year, then there have much bigger problems going on inside.
I really want to know where these wild crazy pride parades y'all talk are at. The one in Austin is pretty tame and could use a lot more half naked boys. And girls, need more half naked girls too, as I don't want to leave anyone out. I really don't care what my parents or anyone think. A little debauchery every now and then is a healthy thing.
One year over here there was one float out of 50 that had semi-naked men and there was a couple wearing ass-less pants. They were the focus on 80% of the news coverage. I think that's the main reason why people have such a bad impression of pride.
There's nothing to be embarrassed about, shirtless man are perfectly fine! *hides camera* I don't see the issue with shirtless males though, and I'm not implying anything sexual here. There are plenty of males who walk around shirtless during summer, albeit usually the ones you'd rather they'd keep their shirt on, but I digress. It's always been a non-issue. The Pride Parade is mostly about letting people loose to celebrate. It's all for fun, and what is seen there is not something that should be taken as representative of the LGBT community because the purpose of the event is to have fun, not be ashamed, and of course to raise awareness.
Butte pride was pretty tame. It could be argued that I was doing "poor representation" since I was crossdressing, but I don't really care about people who want to just assimilate.
I am okay with traditional pride parades, where people actually dress properly. But the one you are talking about is a big disgrace to the LGBTQ community. It's so degrading. p.s. Cross dressing and being almost naked/wearing S&M clothing are two completely different things. There's nothing wrong with crossdressing (as long as you don't show half of your butt or wear only bras and bikini). Don't get me wrong, i really like S&M. But one shouldn't wear those outfits with chains in public, it's for the bedroom.
you can't go by just what they show on the TV/Paper/etc since 'the media' in general is likely going to pick the more extreme examples for pictures...
All aboard the assimilation train, amirite? Destination: homonormativity.* *Mad props to Mogget for that word, even if he may not agree with my use thereof. Sorry guys, I'll wear business formal to the next one. Hugs and kisses, Adrian