should we have a 'pride' or not?

Greater amounts of acceptance as in 20 years ago things like section 28 exsisted in British law.

Do you still not see greater amounts of acceptance?

 

Section 28 was INTRODUCED into law in 1988. It was not something that was left over from old legislation, it was NEW legislation introduced by the right-wing government at the time. It was probably the most homophobic pieces of legislation introduced in the UK in the last 40 years.

 

THIS IS ALL JUST A RANDOM TRAIN OF THOUGHT (not particularily my thoughts on the subject... just bringing it up for the sake of discussion), DONT CRUCIFY ME PLEASE

I agree to a degree. I am going to be the devils advocate (which means these arent my thoughts, this is just to create discussion) for a minute okay?

what if what we need is seperation? what if by understanding our differences we can learn to appreciate and accept all the parts of our communities.

Its like men and women, people want to fight for us to be the same, but we are not. Excluding the physical differences (muscle growth, metabolism, hairloss...), there are biological (hormonal differences that lead to emotional differences) and psychological (difference in taste and inclinations to maths, science or arts) differences.

I mean, maybe if we start to accept the differences in people, we will learn to be a more functional society.

For example, if someone feels more themselves dressing like a "fairy" (something that might seem revolting to some people) to understand that that is just the way they are might make people more open minded towards more things.

Maybe what we need is to flourish in the things that we are different in and be appreciated for those things.

For Example: some gay guys are unbelievably talented when it comes to Decorating or Fashion Designing, and some people find that weird.

The gay pride parade is just another celebration of a community. I mean... Why do we have china town? Why are there Italian mingling nights at the community centre? hahah.

Wow... I am probably way off... just hack at what I said. hahaha.

 

Oddly enough, I agree. I don't think it's other people's right to tell us our business, and we should go about it as we want to. If I wanted to wear a pink feather boa and makeup for a day of flamboyant partying, I have every right. In the same way that the homophobes have every right to do anything they like, so long as it doesn't infringe on other people.

I'm not really sure what it has to do with the homophobes. I pity them somewhat - because frankly, we're all living our lives on our own terms, and they spend their lives trying to stop something that makes no difference to them in the end. Something that's totally irrelevant.

 

>>>For some people, who know nothing of the "gay world", have a look at gay pride and think that is how things are done!

Then, to quote a famous rat, "that's their problem".

There are some people who think that all gays are effeminate, mincing, and dress in rainbow shorts. They're wrong. But that doesn't mean gays that ARE effeminate, mincing, or dress in rainbow shorts are to blame. They do that because they LIKE to. Because that's who they ARE. And I for one am not going to tell them they can't act like that, for fear that some twit will see that and think I'm like that, too.

If you watched the gay pride parade in our city last year, here's what you would've seen.

* The governor of the state.
* The mayor of the city.
* Many other politicians.
* Floats and marchers from at least thirteen different churches.
* Native Americans in full native dress.
* Dancing airplane seats. (You kinda had to be there.)
* Lesbians on motorcycles.
* At least twenty volunteer groups, some holding up props like giant forks.
* Two large PFLAG groups.

And, yes, some floats with rainbow flags and scantily clad guys. And a some guys dressed in leather.

If someone watched that entire parade, and came away thinking that "gays are just a bunch of girly guys in rainbow clothes", they were using some MAJORLY selective vision. If they want to think that, hey, I can't stop them. And I'm certainly not going to try to keep those people out of the parade, either. They may not represent ALL homosexuals, but they're just as vital and important a part as any other, and it wouldn't be the same without them.

Lex

 

personally i think pride is necessary. people say that there's no black pride or women's pride etc but you can't hide you ethinicity or your gender. however you can hide your sexuality, hence the closet. pride is a yearly event for people to be who they are without being afraid of being judged, or attacked, or villified. it is especially important in small towns where there isn't much of a gay scene.

in my town we had the first ever gay pride in south yorkshire, and south yorkshire is a fairly big county in england. we have only one gay bar and it's a bit of a dive. i went their last year with my gay friends and i didn't even know there were so many gay people living in doncaster. it was a great event and it was needed in our town as we mainly have a population of chavs. we're having another one this year and this time we are having a march. i'm defiantly going and am looking forward to the event.

also i should mention that the people who organised pride last year received death threats but they went ahead with the police's support. that just goes to show that we need pride to try and educate the homophobes. and at least it's one place where the police can protect you from them. and there were no floats with balloon penises. there were market stalls and information about STDs, AIDs, safe sex, free condoms and dealing with homophobia. pride is not just for people to dress up and party, it is about being safe in our community and giving information for and about homosexuals.

 

Well, yeah, I kinda agree. But I don't think that they're prideful of simply their sexual orientation. I am, but I'm also prideful of all the other strong people I know in this world. To me, it's the pride of standing up to prejudices, not just the sexuality itself. "We're here, we're queer, get used to it" doesn't emphasize the queer as much as it emphasizes the strength to SAY it. Yeah, sexuality is a give-in, but acceptance isn't.

 

ride: ride: :newcolor: :thewave: I have no shame!!!!!!!

 

Quoted for truth.