Gay pride parades are wrong

[Niels Niels]

I am a 16 year old gay male, and I think gay parades are wrong.

Not for all the normal reasons, "I dont need to see half naked men on my street" and stuff like that.

But because I don't think this is a good way for us gays to show how normal and homosexuality is, this is only further steriotyping us. You don't see a black pride parade where they eat fried chicken and watermelon? No.

My story:

When I was 11, I realized I had never had a feeling for any girl, I had nothing to do with them, even though they were all over me. I litterly, not once in my life, have found any girl or woman attractive. I was very confused, I believed in god, but I knew I had never chosen to be gay, I played soccer and football, paintball, later on boxing and kick boxing, my father was always there for me, I was always told to do everything on my own, I was raised in a very "heterosexual" way. After hating myself and getting out of my depression Irealizedd it was not my choice, I knew there were a few more mistakes and selfcontradictingg statements in the Bible, so I accepted myself.
As you can see, I had some hardships with being gay, like a depression that lasted for a number of years. One of the reasons I didn't want to be gay was because I liked my hetertosexual image, I didn't want to be assossiated with the gay community, which made it even harder.

Why do we have to break away from normal life, why can't we become a part of it like the rest of the human rights movements?

 

So what it comes down it is, gay pride parades are a bad way to show people how normal gays are.

[Robin]

Have you ever been to a gay pride parade? Sure, you will see the men in the rainbow thongs, but you will also see the gay dads and lesbian mommies holding their kids' hands and waving as they walk by. The parades get a worse rep than what they actually are. *shrug*

[Sean Cannon]

Although I am not gay I support my gay friends and their rights and I agree with you 100%. Honestly I think things would be much better without them. They don't offend me nor am I really put off by them but it annoys me that they are, in a way, slandering the image of the gay community. There are ways to express yourself no matter who you are , shock-and-awe isn't up there in my books.

[Lauren Clark]

I can see where you're coming from. I personally disagree with the type of publicity that gay pride parades get, which always focuses on the most vibrant/outrageous members of the crowd. However, I think the parades themselves have a very large number of gay people who aren't as stereotypical.
It also seems to me that there is a reason for some of the outrageous costuming that certain people don at pride parades-- they are challenging the way people feel about the things that they think are supposedly "unnatural". They're trying to make people uncomfortable so that they can push the boundaries of acceptance. You're right: the negative consequence of this is a flamboyant stereotype that is associated to all members of the community. But I sort of feel that, after accepting the differences of gay people, society will be able to also embrace the sameness.

In general, I'm a supporter of pride parades. I feel that homosexuality is still at a point where people need to band together and fight to be accepted-- just as black people once had to fight and introduce then-radical ideals in order to gain the rights they deserved.

Gahh, sorry. I know this is super wordy. I just wanted to give you my two cents, I guess. Two very large cents.

[Sean Cannon]

First off, never apologize for stating your opinion no matter how long it takes.
Second of all I agree with everything up your comments relating gay rights to black oppression. I know where you're coming from I just don't think it's a very good analogy. Modern day gays have a metric ton more rights than black people ever did till the civil rights movement. The comparison just seems to cheapen all of that. Gay people can walk the streets and no one will judge them by looking at them, unless of course you dress in the unlikely outfit of rainbow shorts and a Mardi Gras mask even then they could just think you're a weirdo. I know you meant no offense but it's something I've heard before and disagree with.

[Lauren Clark]

Oh! Well, in this case I feel I must apologize, because I agree-- it's quite far from being a perfect analogy. Nothing is truly comparable to the huge impact the civil rights movement made. It was crucial to recognizing all human beings as equal, whereas I find the gay rights movement to be more related to acceptance of personal differences. Both are important battles to be fought, of course, but the former is rooted in so much oppression and pain. Thanks for pointing that out.

In my defense, I had decided to bring up the comparison because the person who started the thread had made a comparison to having a theoretical "stereotypical black culture" pride parade. But eh. Excuses.

[Olivia]

I'm not gay, but I don't find anything wrong with it, and I agree with you.

[sugartits]

I'm not gay myself, but I've been to the pride parade once or twice (I live in Vancouver) and I've always thought there must be a lot of gay people who really don't like them. Like you said, seeing a bunch of guys dancing around in spandex thongs, feather boas, etc. only reinforces the most stereotypical views of the flamboyant, over-the-top, sex-crazed gay person that you'd think the gay community would want to discourage.

I mean, I can see how the gay people who are like that (and I've seen plenty of gay people who completely fit the stereotypes -- no offense, they're awesome) would enjoy the kind of proud, freeing atmosphere where they can express themselves in public and be encouraged by hundreds/thousands of people up there with them. I'm sure that would be an awesome thing for them. But for other gay people it would probably just reinforce the image/reputation they're not wanting for themselves.

[Tova C.E]

According to me, there is no good way to show people how "normal gays" are. All people are different. They have their life, personality, opinions and feelings. Obviously, there are gay people who like partying in half nude in colourful and glittering clothes, as well as their are gay people who absolutely don't. If there weren't, the pride parade wouldn't be what it is. I don't really understand why so many people have a problem with that. Just because both you and the people in the pride parade happen to be gay, that doesn't mean people will assume you're like "them" (Let's pretend they're a big, homogeneous - Oh, pun! - group). And so what if they do? Is it really that important to you to be seen as normal?
I couldn't care less myself. As long as people don't think I'm a gun loving racist who enjoys yelling "faggot!" to strangers in my spare time, people can believe pretty much what they want about me. (And from my experience with normalcy, being "normal" isn't very desirable.)

[Übereil]

"As long as people don't think I'm a gun loving racist who enjoys yelling "faggot!" to strangers in my spare time, people can believe pretty much what they want about me."

Why do you care about if pepole think that of you, but not anything else?

[Tova C.E]

Ok, there are a couple of things - and those were some exapmples - I wouldn't want people to think about me.

[Richard Edawar Brown 2]

... I don't think Gay Pride Parades are bad. You have to put things in perspective my friend. The ones who make it look bad are those that don't take the day to celebrate it properly and make themselves appear drunk and sloppy and all that bad stuff. I think it's good that we have a day to say, please stop the hate in this world towards gay people. It's true that there is no parade day for black people, but we do celebrate Memorial Day, that is for soldiers of the civil war who fought against slavery ;)

St Patricks Day for the Irish, Cinco De Mayo (which by the way is highly not understood by most celebrators) for the Mexican, Chinese New Year... Why not have a day to celebrate Gay Pride?

I understand how you feel, believe me I do, I met and made a lot of gay friends. But believe me, Pride Parade can do more good than bad. It's in our hands to make it so.

[Rachel Jones]

I just wanted to point out that even though there aren't parades where straight people go around doing crazy things like at gay pride parades, there is bay to breakers and all those other really strange events where people run marathons naked or something like that. Not that it changes anything. It's just something to think about.