Thoughts on Gay Pride 2008
This weekend is Los Angeles Gay Pride (or officially just LA Pride). Given how crazy busy I have been these past weeks, I had intended to spend a quiet day at home, reading and taking it easy, but having been invited to several parties (especially given the hostess of the earlier one), I decided I’ll step out tomorrow and join in the festivities.
Three years ago when I had also resolved to spend a quiet day at home instead of partaking in those festivities, I wondered if Pride were “passé:”
the purpose of Pride has changed since the first parades of the 1970s. Back then it was a chance for gay people to be more visible. They called it “Pride†to counter the sense that, having not been open about our difference, we were ashamed of our sexuality. Today, as gay people becoming increasingly visible, it’s beginning to seem that “Pride†is passé. Pride now seems to be merely the name of the gay & lesbian street festival where people gather to have a good time one spring weekend.
Today at a brunch for my synagogue, I talked with a gay man nearly a generation older than me and shared my ambivalence about “Pride.” He sort of shared my attitude, but offered an understanding observation, “That’s because you’re younger” and pointed out how much more the visibility, the public declaration of pride, mattered when he was coming of age as a gay man in the 1970s.
Pride was once a sometimes transformational event, allowing gay individuals to find validation and recognition in the public square. Now, it’s just become primarily a community celebration similar to those of other groups organize at various times during the year. Pride just happens to be the name we assign it, the word today having more historical than social or political significance as it once did.
As I wrote three years ago, I’m neither proud nor ashamed to be gay. “I just am gay.” That word has neither positive nor negative connotations. It is merely descriptive. But, we’ve come a long way to make it so. Perhaps the whole notion of pride was necessary to help erase its negative connotations.
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I celebrate gay pride by not celebrating it. I do not need a parade to validate who I am.
Comment by ShermanStreet — June 8, 2008 @ 2:35 am - June 8, 2008
I am also neither proud nor ashamed to be attracted to the same sex. But “gay” has taken on a whole new connotation in some respects, and has become almost synonymous with “militant leftist.” And yes, I am often ashamed to be associated with the gay community in regards to their politics, their hate and their behavior. That’s why I’m so glad to see blogs like yours and others like it. I think society, even the dreaded Christian right would be a lot more welcoming of gays if they didn’t think we were all a bunch of radical left wing America/Christian/capitalism hating socialists. But thats the face gays have chosen to show the world.
As for the Seattle parade… Man, I wish it could be so simple as “Seattle Pride”. No, we have to have the “Seattle Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning Pride Parade March and Rally”(honestly I think I’m forgetting part of the title, it’s that bad).
And the parade is as tortuous as it sounds. There are no floats. There are no bands, no balloons, there is no fun whatsoever. Its just what you would expect from a bunch of far lefties… one political or victim group after another after another. The closest thing we have to a traditional parade entry is maybe one flatbed truck with some crepe paper streamers and a small group of senior citizen and overweight men in far too little leather and an asian marching troop that dresses up in traditional costume and does this half dance/bang their sticks on the ground marchy thing — and theyre not even a gay group! They just do our parade every year to practice for the Seafair parade.
I remember SF pride and NY and how fun they were, and I see footage of Carnival in Sydney where people actually put time and effort into it, and have a good time… I really do need to go to Sydney.
and all we’ve got are a buncha fat angry depressed unwashed lesbian librarians walking by with anti-Bush, anti-republican, anti-war, anti-america signs for what seems to be approximately 17 hours non-stop.
Needless to say, I will not be attending again this year. If I go to any pride it will be another city’s.
Comment by American Elephant — June 8, 2008 @ 4:51 am - June 8, 2008
Oh, if only our parade was named something as simple as “LA Pride!” No, we have to have the “Seattle Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning Pride Parade/Rally and March”. I kid you not. (Actually, I think I forgot a category or two.)
And our parade is as torturous as it sounds. No floats, no bands, no balloons, no fun whatsoever! Just mile after mile after never-ending mile of political and victims groups that look like a convention of depressed librarians marching past for what seems to be approximately 17 hours.
If only we had something fun like I remember in SF or NY, or the footage I’ve seen from Sydney’s Carnival!
The closest thing we have to anything even remotely fun is one small flat bed truck with a handful of obese geriatric men wearing far too little leather and flogging eachother while throwing cheap plastic beads and even cheaper condoms to the crowd to the distorted beat of house music played too loud on speakers that sound as if they are begging to be put out of their misery. Oh, and then there’s the sporadic amateur drag queen or two. The kind that utterly fails at being either campy or beautiful, but look instead like they stumbled into the parade by accident on their walk of shame from the night before. You know your drag queens are pathetic when the even the dykes in the crowd say, “what was she thinking!”
The only entry in the parade that looks like anyone put any effort into it at all is an asian marching/dance troop in traditional costume that isnt even gay! Theyre just there to practice for the Seafair torchlight parade in August.
It is an amazing feat that our parade manages to be so apathetic and dour, yet so militant and angry all at the same time. Even the dykes on bikes look pissed to be there. Our grand marshall will be Chrstine Gregoire, which I think couldnt be more appropriate.
I simply call it “Shame!”.
Comment by American Elephant — June 8, 2008 @ 8:23 am - June 8, 2008
Dan, I join in your ambivalence concerning the choice of the word “pride.” As a straight man, I have moved from ignoring the gay world to accepting our differences. This has not come about as a result of any parades or sloganeering. In fact, I would say it is quite the opposite.
I well remember the period of “outing” when the MSM would chatter about it as if it were a game in some sort of parallel universe. I was horrified that a person’s choice to live a private life would be the subject of a political movement and amplified as news.
I have had too many students talk with me about being gay, but not yet comfortable enough to be openly gay. I have been brought into the world of their conflicts. Never did I think that wearing a slogan tee shirt and marching in a parade would solve their concerns.
Gay parades still annoy me. What am I expected to do? Should I send a “So Glad You Are Gay” Hallmark card? Should I proudly introduce my gay dinner guests to the others in the party as “our gay friends”?
No matter how you slice it, “gay” boils down to sex. I am Victorian enough to think that how one deals with sexual attraction, foreplay and gratification is a private matter. Therefore, I remain largely Puritanical when issues of sex are put on parade, whether by heterosexuals or homosexuals.
Now, I readily admit that I do not understand what forces bring gay strangers together in for a public parade or a weekend at Disney World. I can understand the underlying impulses of strength in numbers, finding a date, being able to let one’s guard down, etc. But in the back of my mind, I always wonder what choice the gay person would make if he or she could have a genetic fix and become heterosexual. I also wonder what choice the liberal parent might have made if the pregnancy test revealed the “gay gene.” (Understand, I know that such a gene has not been identified, but it is clearly a subject of intense research and study.)
In the final analysis, I do not think the society as a whole or gays themselves are entirely comfortable with the differences between the two worlds. Nor do I believe that the much vaunted bi-sexual world attributed to a short period of the ancient Greeks is any panacea. Wouldn’t that mean that gays would readily accept heterosexual unions as a matter of choice?
I enjoy a social and intellectual relationship with other people. What the sex or sexual drive is does not matter to me, unless it is in overdrive.
Comment by heliotrope — June 8, 2008 @ 10:36 am - June 8, 2008
I cant’ stand Gay Pride Parades.. I dont like Parades in general.. but that one is just embarassing.
Comment by Vince P — June 8, 2008 @ 11:34 am - June 8, 2008
I think it has a place depending on the location, I mean Pride in LA probably means something different to Pride in less tolerant areas of the Deep South, Mid West, and etc. I meanI thought it was really fun to go my first time when I was like…17 or 18. Since then though, its all kinda boring and the same thing over and over again.
Cincinnati’s is this coming weekend and Columbus is at the end of the month, maybe I will go to Columbus.
I just get tired of all of these crazy fringe groups joining it like Gay Buddists and Gay Socalists…what the hell? Its a gay pride parade not a Red March.
Comment by Darkeyedresolve — June 8, 2008 @ 3:28 pm - June 8, 2008
It probably never will be. Sexual orientation, whether gay or straight, appears to come from brain and hormonal structures. They, in turn, probably result from a complex interaction of many genes with hormonal events in the womb.
Comment by ILoveCapitalism — June 8, 2008 @ 4:17 pm - June 8, 2008
I agree with #1-4. I don’t think that my sexual preference should dictate my identity. It’s just a portion of the complete picture.
That being said, I also agree with DER in that most of these GayLeftLibs are as judgmental and as bigoted as some of the extreme right-wing evangelicals out there. Plus, living in Texas as I do, I do not find the attitudes out there as being as “backwards” as DER claims they are.
Like Dan, I found more acceptance as a gay conservative man in the local GOP than I did at the local gay bar.
Regards,
Peter H.
Comment by Peter Hughes — June 8, 2008 @ 4:53 pm - June 8, 2008
And speaking of which, the conservatives at Newsbusters.org realize that there is a difference between the Gay Left and Gay Right.
Hallelujah, our existence has finally been acknowledged!
Just kidding.
Regards,
Peter H.
Comment by Peter Hughes — June 8, 2008 @ 5:23 pm - June 8, 2008
Yes, pride parades did have a whole different meaning back in the 70’s. But they’re too ingrained to be scrapped now. Besides, I love parades. I generally go to 3 of them: Portland (Maine), Boston & New York City. If you don’t like parades, then just don’t go. One’s religious beliefs are also a private matter. There are Christian gatherings galore.
Comment by Jimbo — June 8, 2008 @ 8:45 pm - June 8, 2008
Gay Pride is like Mardi Gras and Halloween. It’s an excuse to act badly in public. They’re disgusting and far removed from its original intention.
Gay Pride never was about pride, though. It was about exposing one’s self.
Comment by Blah111 — June 8, 2008 @ 11:47 pm - June 8, 2008
I show my pride by supporting organizations and politicians who support gay people. I was at LA pride today and I spoke to the Log Cabin Republicans. I was saddened as I tried to imagine why gay people would cling to the ignorant lifestyle that conservatism offers.
Republicans can no longer argue that they have better economic policy when they are dragging us into debt and recession for this lie of a war. I’d rather pay less in taxes, but if I have to pay for something, I’d rather it be for healthcare and education here in America, rather than to kill Iraqis.
They also want to police our private lives– abortion and marriage for example. So why do you support them? I really don’t understand.
therealmccain.com
Comment by Robert Oliver — June 9, 2008 @ 5:02 am - June 9, 2008
Cool! You would rather pay less in taxes. Well, you are. And McCain says he will make the tax cuts permanent. Obama is going to end the tax cuts and dump a few more taxes on top of them. Oh, don’t worry, he has promised he will try to only tax other people, not you.
We are really having a fine recession. Even MSNBC has stopped trying to sell the “on the brink of” line. Haven’t you noticed that the recession panic talk is in recession?
So, it is “this lie of a war” that really sticks in your craw. Fine, it is your call to support the war on terrorism or not. But let’s not pretend that if there were no war you would be more in tune with conservatism.
Good luck to you on government healthcare. I know you are thrilled with public education, the DMV, the IRS, social welfare, FEMA, Amtrak, Homeland Security, the Department of Energy and Congress in general. After all is said and done, it is better to have equally crappy services than to ever allow competition and the free market choice rear its ugly head.
I raise my glass to you. No more killing of Iraqis. We will pull out of Iraq post haste and divert the funds to education and healthcare. Hey, wait! Isn’t that dragging us into debt and recession for this lie of education and healthcare.? Now, my brain itches.
Comment by heliotrope — June 9, 2008 @ 9:00 am - June 9, 2008
#13 Thanks Helitrope, I needed that laugh
Comment by The Livewire — June 9, 2008 @ 11:45 am - June 9, 2008
#11 – “Gay Pride never was about pride, though. It was about exposing one’s self.”
After seeing a lot of ugly, hairy, fat old men “exposing themselves” at the last Houston Pride event, I threw up in my mouth a little and vowed never to attend it again.
Are these GLBT communities the best we can do? Talk about adverse marketing…
Regards,
Peter H.
Comment by Peter Hughes — June 9, 2008 @ 11:48 am - June 9, 2008
I’d sooner, as a Jew, march in a Christmas parade than march in any of the gay pride parades. They’re tacky. Where do you think the 700 Club sends its photographers when they need to scare their viewers?
Comment by Attmay — June 9, 2008 @ 2:46 pm - June 9, 2008
Robert Oliver, so what do you think about Nancy Pelosi’s 28,000 earmarks? A new record. Yeah, those Democrats are so fiscally responsible!
What do you think about Babs Boxer, the Democrat Congress (and John McCain BTW) supporting a Global Warming bill that even its supporters admit will cost the U.S. economy over a trillion dollars and cost 600,000 jobs a year for a negligible effect on a phenomenon people are starting to learn is a massive hoax? How about Democrats in congress blocking virtually all domestic energy production, including shale oil and clean coal, and this perpetuating our dependence on foreign sources of oil?
Now, as for abortion, Republicans oppose sticking a tube into the head of a viable human baby and sucking its brains out for the sake of convenience to the mother. Your Democrats support that. Republicans oppose taking underage girls across state lines for abortions without their parents being informed. Your Democrats support that. Republicans think if an underage girl gets knocked up as a result of statutory rape, it should be reported and the rapist prosecuted. Democrats don’t.
As for health care, why you idiot socialists think the same government that can barely handle mail delivery, turned neighborhoods into slums with public housing, spends fortunes on public education and produces the worst results in the industrialized world, and can’t even competently run the senate cafeteria is going to do a brilliant job with health care? You’re a fool. You guys panic and wet your pants because our government spies on terrorists, but you can’t wait to turn all of your personal private medical data to the government. You’re a damned fool.
As for marriage, if you are willing to trade away your economic freedom, your political freedom, and your right to make important life choices for yourself in return for a piece of paper from a government bureaucracy telling you its okay to share your life with another man… then you are a fool, plain and simple.
Comment by V the K — June 9, 2008 @ 2:50 pm - June 9, 2008
I don’t celebrate gay pride anymore (it does seem passe and just an excuse to party).. mostly I try to get out of town but I still remember my first huge pride in SF back in 1992 when I was 23 years old. My god there were sooo many of us. After growing up feeling as if I were the only gay in the village that moment alone was more cathartic than I could have imagined.
And this year I did celebrate Long Beach pride with my gay and straight friends which came right after the CA Supreme Court decision. And you know regardless of the differing opinions about the decision there seemed to be something to celebrate since stonewall.
So I celebrated by getting stoned and drunk and exposing myself.. Ha ha just kidding really. All in all it was just really a great day.
Comment by cmh — June 9, 2008 @ 3:05 pm - June 9, 2008
Robert Oliver: Please explain how the following doesn’t suggest that Democrats are deliberately starving this nation of energy.
The American energy policy:
ANWR Exploration
House Republicans:91%Supported
House Democrats: 86% Opposed
Coal-to-Liquid
House Republicans: 97% Supported
House Democrats: 78% Opposed
Oil Shale Exploration
House Republicans: 90% Supported
House Democrats: 86% Opposed
Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Exploration
House Republicans: 81% Supported
House Democrats: 83% Opposed
Refinery Increased Capacity
House Republicans: 97% Supported
House Democrats: 96% Opposed
SUMMARY
91% of House Republicans have historically voted to increase the production of American-made oil and gas.
86% of House Democrats have historically voted against increasing the production of American-made oil and gas.
Comment by Vince P — June 9, 2008 @ 3:34 pm - June 9, 2008
WOW, this is exactly what I have been thinking! I too am glad for blogs such as this, I know that there are more out there that do not choose this “face”… problem is we are too busy being “normal” to be as vocal, but it looks like that is changing (Tammy Bruce, GayPatriot, Steve Yuhas et all) and for that I am grateful.
Comment by Colocelt — June 9, 2008 @ 4:18 pm - June 9, 2008
What a day!
I was at the Parade this last Sunday and was particularly touched to see the Euphoria Face and Body Day-Spa (www.euphoriafaceandbody.com) selling lemonade at $0.25 a cup as a fundraiser to benefit the Aid for Aids Organization.
Quite a touching note to a terrific celebration!!
Sincerely,
Joe Nathan
San Diego
Comment by Joe Nathan — June 10, 2008 @ 11:17 pm - June 10, 2008
#21 – Joe, here’s a quarter. Call someone who cares.
Such blatant free adverstising here should first be cleared with either Bruce or Dan. Especially by so-called “posters” who try to tie in their products with the issue at hand.
But, since I don’t run this site, I will defer to the powers-that-be.
Regards,
Peter H.
Comment by Peter Hughes — June 11, 2008 @ 11:21 am - June 11, 2008
Wow, the only thing that is scarier than a Republican is a gay Republican. It’s a good thing that you are such a small minority. It is painfully obvious from the comments about Pride and the fact that you cling to conservatism and the Republican Party that you have some issues with being gay. I imagine that you come from a generation in which you couldn’t come out. Self hate and hiding who you are must bring some sense of comfort and nostalgia to you. I won’t try to take that away. So keep on truckin’ and lovin’ those that hate and despise you!
Comment by Robert Oliver — June 17, 2008 @ 5:10 pm - June 17, 2008
Um, Robert, all my posts are avaiable on the web. Please provide evidence for what you claim is “painfully obvious” that I have issues with being gay.
Let’s see, you claim I hate myself. How did you determine that by examining what I wrote or what you feel about Republicans?
You say I’m hiding who I am out of a sense of nostalgia, then how did you explain that my co-blogger and myself place our names on the blog and are openly gay in conservative circles?
Amazing, yet another piece of proof of the narrow-minded intolerance of anti-Republican gay activists. And to think people like Robert Oliver accuse conservatives of being intolerant hypocrites.
Kettle, we’ve found another pot. Except this kettle hasn’t seen near as much service as Robert Oliver’s pot.
Comment by GayPatriotWest — June 17, 2008 @ 5:40 pm - June 17, 2008
Robert Oliver has larger issues:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/removalofPaedophileRobertOliver/
Comment by Vince P — June 17, 2008 @ 7:49 pm - June 17, 2008
LOL – Well, there might be >1 gay Robert Oliver in the world. But yeah, this one has issues… it would be nice if he could be un-blinded from his crippling stereotypes, for 10 seconds.
Comment by ILoveCapitalism — June 18, 2008 @ 12:24 am - June 18, 2008
[...] me of a comment recently caught in our spam filter and subsequently approved. Reader Robert Oliver wrote: Wow, the only thing that is scarier than a Republican is a gay Republican. It’s a good thing [...]
Pingback by GayPatriot » More Narrow-minded Prejudiced against Gay Republicans — June 19, 2008 @ 8:10 pm - June 19, 2008
OMG it’s just a parade! I can’t believe people get so bent out of shape over its existance. There are lots of parades that are just as outrageous than most Pride parades (e.g. Mardi Gras, Seattle’s Fremont Solstice Parade).
I will agree that Gay Pride Parades do have a leftist political agenda, but that’s reflective of the majority of the gay community also. But overlooking that for now, the parade IS actually quite fun and empowering. I’ve ridden my scooter in the parade for the past 4 years and it’s quite simply a blast to participate in it and be cheered on by 400,000 onlookers.
Scan for pictures of this year’s Seattle parade and tell me that people aren’t having fun. And what’s wrong with having fun?!?!
Comment by Durwood — June 30, 2008 @ 9:00 pm - June 30, 2008