Does anyone else think pride parades go too far?

Bigotry is not an exclusively straight trait, either.

There have been cases of prejudice of gay and bi people against straight people, as well.

Normality is inevitability.

People like Justin Bieber and "rappers" claim to be different and hip.

But look what happened.

It became mainstream and a norm for our society.

Hipsters are a short-lived idea. The moment someone differentiates themselves from others, others follow it, and inevitably that new and hip thing just becomes part of the norm.

 

But you and many others seem very concerned about whether or not LGBT persons are perceived are normal.

 

The question, good sir, is whether LGBT people should be considered a part of society, with no difference in rights and personality.

Normality, when I say it, means that gays shouldn't be singled out and seen as abhorrent.

I mean we should be accepted by society in all ways that matter.

---------- Post added 17th Aug 2014 at 03:38 PM ----------

It shouldn't affect our ability to get a job.

How people act towards us.

Our love life.

It shouldn't be affected so decadently by a society that constantly judges and tarnishes the ideal of freedom and truth that it claims to uphold.

 

way I see pride events is it a celebration of who you are if you want to look glamorous -fabulous to express yourself then do so its also a way of raising awareness of various issues as well as having fund raising events dont think people are aware just how much money is raised at a pride events its tens of thousands of pounds.

 

You may be normal, but part of pride is being proud regardless of whether or not someone is normal.

---------- Post added 17th Aug 2014 at 03:43 PM ----------

Prejudice against someone for being straight is extremely rare and is orders of magnitude less than the prejudice LGBT individuals usually face all the time.

 

But yet it still occurs.

Even if it is less common, I have seen instances where it is just as vicious.

Just because it doesn't happen as often, it doesn't mean it should be dismissed and that those who did it should be just let off and seen as incorruptible.

 

You took the words right out of my mouth. If I could thumbs up your post I would.

 

Wow, Massive, that actually is quite eloquent.

Guys, whatever the case, we can all agree we are proud and happy to be gay, bisexual, transgender, or whatever the hell you decide you are!

 

But what does it mean to not be normal? To feel like a part of you is not acceptable? Your ideas stem from this constant idea that feeling like your not normal is okay, which it shouldn't be. The problem is that you're seeing normal as a narrow lifestyle, whereas normal to me is a variety of lifestyles that are felt as comfortable to the people who follow them. It's not about "you have to be a straight person with a wife and kids and...", it's about "You are who you are, and you're proud of that. If you're proud of it, then it's normal to you".

 

...regardless of wether or not we are seen as "normal" in the eyes of society.

 

I respectfully disagree. Gender terrorists in anti-gay religious groups are psychopaths who want anyone not like them to suffer. Some of them even want us dead. These are individuals who are sick and cannot ever be made to see the light. They have no compassion whatsoever.

I mean, Brian Brown of the National Organization for Marriage cried with sadness when marriage equality passed in the New York state senate.

Therefore, I don't understand the calls for us to "present ourselves better." Even if we all went to every pride parade ever in business formal attire, we would still be faced with the fact that a very substantial minority of people in the country have so much hatred for us that they want to use the coercive power of the State to injure us. Why beg for humanity from the inhumane?

 

Bob, as long as you're happy with who you are, in the end it doesn't matter.

I disagreed out of sake for the big picture, thinking of the LGBT community as a whole.

---------- Post added 17th Aug 2014 at 03:57 PM ----------

Personally, yes, I agree we should be who we are as we see fit.

 

These arent my words but I 100% agree with what they are trying to say.

“Where’s the straight Pride? Why do the gays get a special day to themselves? It’s not fair.”

If I had a pound for every time I was asked that question, well, I’d have quite a few pounds.

Straight Pride is being able to walk down the street holding hands with your other half without being catcalled by groups of teenage boys hanging around on a street corner.

Straight Pride is being able to walk into a club or a bar without someone threatening you, without men putting protective arms around the women they are with and glaring at you. (Because gay women fancy ALL women, don’t you know? Especially the ones with large, insecure boyfriends attached. Challenge, innit.)

Straight Pride is being able to tick the ‘straight’ box on an equality and diversity monitoring form at work without wondering who might actually read it, and what their views might be about your sexuality.

Straight Pride is being able to kiss who you want to kiss, wherever you are, without self consciousness or a quick furtive glance around you afterwards to see who might have been looking.

Straight Pride is being able to exchange rings and vow and make a lifelong commitment without having to kowtow to an almost second-class, businesslike ‘partnership’, when what you actually want is a ‘marriage’.

Straight Pride is when your dad is awarded an MBE, meaning you can get married in St Paul’s or Westminster Abbey… But you can’t take advantage of that, because they won’t let you marry a woman in there.

Straight Pride is where strangers don’t ask you whether you’re ‘straight’ – because your sex life isn’t their business.

Straight Pride is being able to say ‘no’ to a man without being told ‘I could turn you’ – as though your sexuality is completely malleable, silly you, for thinking that you couldn’t change it.

Straight Pride means being able to live your life without fear of bullying, harrassment, and rejection.

Straight Pride is not having to come out to friends, family, colleagues and strangers, over and over again.

Straight Pride is not having to lie through your teeth about your love life because it’s easier than telling the truth.

Straight Pride is never having to worry if your son will be bullied at school because his mum is gay.

Straight Pride is never having to suck it up when your straight female work colleagues organise weekends out clubbing over your head and in your earshot – but don’t invite you because they’re not sure “where your sort hang out”.

Straight Pride is not having to walk through a crowd of jeering protesters with banners saying GOD HATES FAGS and men and women shouting in your face – in order to attend a Stonewall conference.

Straight Pride was never uninvited to a wedding for wanting to take their partner.

Nobody was ever kicked to death for looking a bit straight, or correctively raped for falling in love with someone of the opposite gender.

I was assaulted in a bar in Southend a few years ago. I had my hair cropped in a buzz cut. If there’s anything ironic about the situation, it was that I was mistaken for a gay man. Apparently, to the drunk fellow skinhead standing to my right as I entered the bar, that was all the justification he needed to shove me, punch me, and tell me that “faggots aren’t f***ing welcome here.”

I’ve been told I’m “too pretty to be gay”, perpetuating the damaging and insulting myths that all gay women are those bottom-of-the-heap rejects that are only gay out of choice because “no man wanted them”.

Straight Pride is taken for granted every single day. It’s invisible, unshocking, quietly permeating everyday norms.

It’s straight pride and straight privilege that asks the belligerent question, Why do the gays get their own special march?

I’m thankful that, due to tireless campaigning and a gradual shift in attitudes, I am growing up in a generation where I CAN hold hands with a woman in public, cut my hair short, and come out to thousands of people as quickly as I can hit a ‘Publish’ button.

To bastardise the Martin Luther King quote, I have a dream that one day a man will be judged not by who he falls in love with, but by the content of his character.

I’ve done the keeping up appearances thing, had close male friends I take to events because I don’t want to upstage the bride or “cause a scene”.

This wasn’t supposed to be an ‘outing’ post – but I’m tired of suppressing a smile when a journalist asks if I have a boyfriend. And if I lose fans and readers by unceremoniously strolling out of my closet, then so be it. It was going to all come out one day anyway, so to speak.

And with the short shaggy haircut, the sleeve tattoos, the Magnum walking boots, the thumb ring, and the consistent lack of a boyfriend – I’m not exactly a stereotype, but I’m girl called Jack, for crying out loud. A gay one, and a proud one.

For anyone interested the website is JACK MONROE: | COOK. CAMPAIGNER. COLUMNIST. MOTHER. AUTHOR. GIRLFRIEND. IMP.

 

The definitions from Google might help:

 

I completely agree with this, specially the part in bold.

 

If you don't like gay pride parades don't go to one.

 

I also care about the happiness of others as well.

 

That's not the point I'm trying to make.

Yes, care about others.

Care about yourself as well.

But being normal isn't something to be sneered at.

---------- Post added 17th Aug 2014 at 04:05 PM ----------

Nobody should be defined by their sexuality. It's their actions and individual choices that should show who they are.

 

I don't think people are sneering at people for being normal. I think what people are objecting to is the opinion that those who aren't "normal" should sacrifice their own happiness so that other LGBT people can be percieved as normal by the rest of society.

 

A friend of mine sent a photo of a guy flapping his dick in a pride parade, so...Yeah. I think that's too far. Your honk-a-donkin' should be kept to you and your partner. Sometimes they do go too far.