Anybody else notice that the clip showing the British gay soldiers marching in the gay parade also showed (in the background) a crowd of gays in sex slave outfits, complete with leather face masks? At that moment I said to myself, “Well, we just lost the support of about a half million housewives.”

hehe.. that reminds of this from the Onion:

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28491

Gay-Pride Parade Sets Mainstream Acceptance Of Gays Back 50 Years

WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA–The mainstream acceptance of gays and lesbians, a hard-won civil-rights victory gained through decades of struggle against prejudice and discrimination, was set back at least 50 years Saturday in the wake of the annual Los Angeles Gay Pride Parade.

“I’d always thought gays were regular people, just like you and me, and that the stereotype of homosexuals as hedonistic, sex-crazed deviants was just a destructive myth,” said mother of four Hannah Jarrett, 41, mortified at the sight of 17 tanned and oiled boys cavorting in jock straps to a throbbing techno beat on a float shaped like an enormous phallus. “Boy, oh, boy, was I wrong.”

The parade, organized by the Los Angeles Gay And Lesbian And Bisexual And Transvestite And Transgender Alliance (LAGALABATATA), was intended to “promote acceptance, tolerance, and equality for the city’s gay community.” Just the opposite, however, was accomplished, as the event confirmed the worst fears of thousands of non-gay spectators, cementing in their minds a debauched and distorted image of gay life straight out of the most virulent right-wing hate literature.

Among the parade sights and sounds that did inestimable harm to the gay-rights cause: a group of obese women in leather biker outfits passing out clitoris-shaped lollipops to horrified onlookers; a man in military uniform leading a submissive masochist, clad in diapers and a baby bonnet, around on a dog leash; several Hispanic dancers in rainbow wigs and miniskirts performing “humping” motions on a mannequin dressed as the Pope; and a dozen gyrating drag queens in see-through dresses holding penis-shaped beer bottles that appeared to spurt ejaculation-like foam when shaken and poured onto passersby.

Timothy Orosco, 51, a local Walgreens manager whose store is on the parade route, changed his attitude toward gays as a result of the event.

“They kept chanting things like, ‘We’re here, we’re queer, get used to it!’ and ‘Hey, hey, we’re gay, we’re not going to go away!’” Orosco said. “All I can say is, I was used to it, but now, although I’d never felt this way before, I wish they would go away.”

Allison Weber, 43, an El Segundo marketing consultant, also had her perceptions and assumptions about gays challenged by the parade.

“My understanding was that gay people are just like everybody else–decent, hard-working people who care about their communities and have loving, committed relationships,” Weber said. “But, after this terrifying spectacle, I don’t want them teaching my kids or living in my neighborhood.”

The parade’s influence extended beyond L.A.’s borders, altering the attitudes of straight people across America. Footage of the event was featured on telecasts of The 700 Club as “proof of the sin-steeped world of homosexuality.” A photo spread in Monday’s USA Today chronicled many of the event’s vulgar displays–understood by gays to be tongue-in-cheek “high camp”–which horrified previously tolerant people from coast to coast.

Dr. Henry Thorne, a New York University history professor who has written several books about the gay-rights movement, explained the misunderstanding.

“After centuries of oppression as an ‘invisible’ segment of society, gays, emboldened by the 1969 Stonewall uprising, took to the streets in the early ’70s with an ‘in-your-face’ attitude. Confronting the worst prejudices of a world that didn’t accept them, they fought back against these prejudices with exaggeration and parody, reclaiming their enemies’ worst stereotypes about them and turning them into symbols of gay pride,” Thorne said. “Thirty years later, gays have won far greater acceptance in the world at large, but they keep doing this stuff anyway.”

“Mostly, I think, because it’s really fun,” Thorne added.

The Los Angeles Gay Pride Parade, Thorne noted, is part of a decades-old gay-rights tradition. But, for mainstream heterosexuals unfamiliar with irony and the reclamation of stereotypes for the purpose of exploding them, the parade resembled an invasion of grotesque outer-space mutants, bent on the destruction of the human race.

“I have a cousin who’s a gay, and he seemed like a decent enough guy to me,” said Iowa City, IA, resident Russ Linder, in Los Angeles for a weekend sales seminar. “Now, thanks to this parade, I realize what a freak he’s been all along. Gays are all sick, immoral perverts.”

Parade organizers vowed to make changes in the wake of the negative reaction among heterosexuals.

“I knew it. I said we needed 100 dancers on the ‘Show Us Your Ass’ float, but everybody insisted that 50 would be enough,” said Lady Labia, spokesperson for LAGALABATATA. “Next year, we’re really going to give those breeders something to look at.”

—-

The story has to photos, the captions are:

Members of the Laguna Beach Leatherdaddy Association make their final pre-march preparations.

Participants in Saturday’s Los Angeles Gay Pride Parade, which helped change straight people’s tolerant attitudes toward gays.

Not really relevant to the interview, but yeah he is. However, he’s not single

Enquiring minds want to know!
And damn, i just knew the story wouldnt have a happy ending.

Anybody else notice that the clip showing the British gay soldiers marching in the gay parade also showed (in the background) a crowd of gays in sex slave outfits, complete with leather face masks? At that moment I said to myself, “Well, we just lost the support of about a half million housewives.”

I forgot about that part. You’re right and it made me uncomfortable watching that as well since I personally do not care for that sort of thing. Even when DADT is repealed someday, I hope they keep the ban against marching in racy pride parades for awhile longer.

Okay not that it matters to the discussion, but this guy is cute. Is he single? Maybe it’s just the uniform? No, he’s cute.

Not really relevant to the interview, but yeah he is. However, he’s not single as his boyfriend who was highlighted in the interview can attest.

Thanks for the heads up on the interview, John. I never watch 60 Minutes or anything from CBS News… just like I never listen to NPR -for the same reasons. Thanks for the link to the interview…

You’re welcome. To be honest, I’m the same way and if I hadn’t found out beforehand that it was on I never would have known. NPR does have one podcast at least that I enjoy: Story of the Day. Besides that, I rarely pay attention to them.

So when you come out and say that X is happening because of Y and we need to change Y immediately, then you come along and say, “Well, X isn’t really happening because Z is going on, but we should change Y now anyway”, I shouldn’t be skeptical?

Only if you wish to be absurd. It’s not exactly a secret that the number of discharges during hostilities decreases only to go back up after peace is declared. In fact, SLDN and others have been highlighting this fact as it shows the hypocrisy of the policy, i.e. when “unit cohesion” is tested the most suddenly gay servicemembers in the ranks do not matter.

It just seems to me that the ones who are really concerned the most about their jobs is the professional bitchers.

Yes, these folks can equally do harm and good to efforts to repeal DADT. Yet failings among “professional bitchers” doesn’t mean that we should ignore everyone who this policy effects. Don’t forget that every group has this bunch, including conservatives.

The wing-nut comments are disgusting but typical. This guy is doing a good job under fire. He should be commended.

Who said he isn’t and shouldn’t be? You, sir, are disgusting but typical.

Otherwise you will find yourself in deep doo-doo.

Unless you’re on the George Soros dole. Then you’re a “whistleblower” who “stood up to the evil Bush empire”.

Sgt Manzella, if you are reading this email me at houndentenornyc AT aol DOT com.

HT has it right: “This guy is doing a good job under fire. He should be commended.” And in a time of war, that’s all that should matter.

The wing-nut comments are disgusting but typical. This guy is doing a good job under fire. He should be commended.

TGC: Bit hyperbolic, dontcha think? Discharges usually go down during wartime only to rise when hostilities are ended. Rather makes the whole “unit cohesion” argument rather absurd since it doesn’t seem to apply when it’s tested the most.

So when you come out and say that X is happening because of Y and we need to change Y immediately, then you come along and say, “Well, X isn’t really happening because Z is going on, but we should change Y now anyway”, I shouldn’t be skeptical?

It just seems to me that the ones who are really concerned the most about their jobs is the professional bitchers. In this example here, the “victim” doesn’t seem much like a victim. Seems more like a tool to me.

But that’s just me.

Synova: He did notify them beforehand.

David: I agree that he does a very compelling story, he’s a medic which is one of the most respected postions in the military. It’s the timing I have problems with. If he were under investigation or had voluntarily left the military and decided to do the interview at that time, that would have been better IMO. By doing it now, I have to wonder what this does to the people who went to bat for him by ignoring DADT so he could stay in.

TGC: Bit hyperbolic, dontcha think? Discharges usually go down during wartime only to rise when hostilities are ended. Rather makes the whole “unit cohesion” argument rather absurd since it doesn’t seem to apply when it’s tested the most.

Just me: Agreed. Just look at the remarks of former Marine Commandant Jones in the interview. Sure he supports DADT, but even he has softened on it and I doubt would remain steadfast against repealing it if such a move went forward.