| Have Pride, or else?! |
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| Thursday, 18 May 2006 | ||||
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This year EuroPride comes to London, already infamous for putting on a good weekend of entertainment club nights and processions all with the view to encourage acceptance and demonstrate gay men and women’s pride. However, there is something potentially grotesque about the extremes of gay pride events, something perhaps too proud? Acceptance is of course paramount and should always be the ambition of the gay community. However, gay pride events have a tendency to become impassioned by angry members of the gay community who use the rainbow flag as a weapon. EuroPride involves a diverse range of events over a hot June weekend and tries to offer all sections of the gay community an opportunity to get involved. From the more political march to the street carnival and an evening of Cabaret and specialist club nights, the event organisers have clearly tried to offer as much as possible. This is definitely commendable and provides the chance to be as involved or uninvolved as you like. Whereas we should of course be glad that such events gain the endorsement of the Mayor of London and funding from large corporate sponsors, do today’s gay youth feel inclined to stand up and be counted? The danger perhaps comes from those who use the Pride event as an opportunity to simply drink excessive amounts, take drugs and over indulge generally. Does this then give the wrong impression of what it is to be gay and proud? As a gay youth it is so important that you have a sense of pride and above all respect for yourself. Hopefully this extends to feeling part of a community. Being gay is definitely a wonderful thing and growing into one’s sexuality although potentially a struggle can be so exciting. This means that gay youths will certainly show an interest in gay pride so that they too can feel part of a community.
Gay Pride should resemble a positive attitude towards sexuality; it should enable younger gay men and women to feel accepted and normal in society. Therefore Gay Pride events should always try to focus upon wider integration into society. The rainbow flag should not be used as an aggressive symbol but one that exposes diversity in the gay community, it should be used to symbolise a pride in oneself not solely for being gay, but for being comfortable with everything you can be. Gay Pride events follow a similar pattern across the globe, with most major cities offering gay men and women a platform to demonstrate their views on their sexuality and express their desires for being accepted into society. However, these events also provide corporate sponsors the opportunity to cash in on the power of the pink pound. By endorsing these events, larger corporations are seen to be “gay friendly” and therefore hope to encourage gay men and women to spend their pink pounds in their stores, or on their cars. Those in the entertainment industry also are quick to perform at the larger of these events as it is realised that gay men and women can dramatically increase record sales, however these same artistes are also quite happy to add lyrics to homophobic attitudes and then sell these to their straight audience and not recognise their hypocrisy. With all of the complexities of being a gay youth there should never be the pressure from the gay community itself to conform or show your pride in a particular way. In fact at the time of coming to terms with your sexuality one of the last things that you are feeling is usually pride. However, as you develop emotionally and begin to enjoy being Gay, a certain pride often develops; it is this that should be held onto. However, remember there is no need to aggress those who may have opposing views to ours; the Trojans weren’t beaten in one day. Persistence is needed, but prejudices are hard to change and only with the powers of peaceful persuasion can we hope to achieve healthy integration into wider society. By all means stand up and be counted, have Pride, but always stay true to yourself and don’t feel that to be accepted you must take your rainbow flag and attack those who disagree with you. Only registered users can write comments.  Add as favourites (22) |  Quote this article on your site
05-11-2007 06:45 Hey, if you want to parade down the street topless and waving pink flags, that's your thing. But honestly, I think it just reinforces people's stereotypes, and it's certainly not helping anyone...  Pride parades are OK, but I just wish they weren't so over the top. Registered 23-05-2007 18:58 I think your web-site is awesome you guys should keep up the good work gay pride all the way... (ya luyblyu tebya) aka i love you ...dont ask its russian anyway love you lots and keep up the good work Guest 12-11-2006 20:27 i im proud of being a lesbian, and i wouldnt want to try to conform to be viewed as straight. I already get assumed as straight and i hate it, so going to pride is a way of expressing, "hey, wake up.. im not straight". its nice, cause at pride, noone assumes im straight, they assume im a lesbain and i love it. Also, people keep saying how going to pride seperates us even more from heterosexuals..and thats a bad thing? Heterosexuals already have so many privledges, they dont need to have pride parades because they can be proud everyday. they dont get asked" why didnt you tell us you were straight" by their friends or family, they dont have to fear being shunned by their family for being an out heterosexual. They can hold their partners hand and kiss in public without fear of people being upset or disgust. as soon as we go out in public with our partners we seperate ourselves from the heterosexuals, like it or not. I get looks when im out with my girlfriend if we're affectionate, and im sure a heterosexual couple can walk through a trainstation without some loser teens shouting out "look, heterosexuals!", unlike me and my girlfriend. Through pride parades we're sending a message that theres a lot of gay people, and we're not going to hide. we're not going away, so you better get used to it and start being more accepting. Guest 19-08-2006 06:20 YES and No I think showing your sexuality to the world is a good and bad idea. Yes you shouldnt have to hide who you are and how God made you, but you shouldnt shove it in someones face to where they dispise everyone who is like you. Gay Pride week is fun yes, but you dont see straight people having a giant parade. We shouldn have to prove ourselves to people just so they will like us. Guest 08-08-2006 13:06 Pride? I don't see why being gay is something to be proud of. Don't get me wrong; I don't mean I'm ashamed (not at all), but it seems to me that there's no reason to be proud or ashamed of it. It's just what you are - that's why there's no "straight pride". I don't think pride or shame are applicable, just like I wouldn't be proud or ashamed about eating a sandwich. The very idea! There are good arguments for parades, but I question the name "pride". Guest 06-08-2006 04:05 hiya im nathaniel lol hiya wow gay..being gay is kl to su mand not to others there ive shortend all of ur points of views Guest 28-06-2006 20:59 london here i come the parades are an excellent idea and it gives us a chance to show our selves stand up and be counted as it were woo hoooo go gays Guest 26-06-2006 18:54 bollix i went to pride for the first time this year i live in dublin ireland, it was crap nothing but the usual drag queens and fairies marching up and down screaming look at us wer gay everything was pink and the muscic was diabolical as usual it was so stereotypical no wonder people think gays are nothing but dresses clubbing and bullshit Guest 26-06-2006 17:19 its cool wat could be betta then celebrating hu we are, im actually hapy being open. to think bout it. its a great way 2 meet otha gay people. I WILL HAVE PRIDE 4 THE GAY PEOPLE!!   Guest 22-06-2006 16:33 Pride I went to my first Pride in August Last year here in Brighton, and what a day it was. I've only learned recently why Gay Pride happens. It's definately a good thing and it's fabulous. Guest 19-06-2006 16:35 Wake up kids! Um, excuse me guys and gals..are some of you perhaps homophobic straight people trapped in the bodies of self consious gay people?..cause thats exactly how some of you sound? I am proud, I do love partying with my freinds and I do want to shove it in the faces of all the self-rightous prats who hate us..We dont need any other excuse. Who says you have to do rainbow and pink streamers? I dont care what you wear (especially if it actually is rainbow and pink streamers). there's enough spite out their with out us starting on our selves. Guest 18-06-2006 11:27 Wake up kids! i agree that it reinforced negative steriotypes (dykes on bikes, ect.) it seems to be that all it serves is the intrests of the religious right. they can look at gay pride parades and say we are all into bondage and promiscuity. i dont really see what it would possibley serve anymore. maybe 20 years ago but.. that being said, it is alot of fun to go too. Guest 18-06-2006 05:39 PLEZ Um...from Gay ppl...i would think we would get good feed backs on this forum..well..wat is wrong wit some of you!!!!!..some say it makes us foolish or if str8 ppl dont have parade why should we have one..look, the parade dont seperate us nor makes us foolish, we have the parade to celebrate who we are and just having fun. So what if str8 ppl dont have a parade..they could but they dont. If you guys feel so bad about the parade...DONT GO. Many ppl have parades such as Puerto Ricans, West Indes, and so much more!! Are they acting foolish or being seperated from society? NO THEY'RE NOT. We dont need a parade to tell us our pride..but its just a day to have fun and live life in this hatred world! Guest 12-06-2006 23:30 E Pluribus Unum "E Pluribus Unum" Is a Latin root word for (in English) "Out of Many, one." We are gay and les! So what? We don't do anything to hurt or do anything to destroy society! We are society! We are the ones who spice up society! We should all be created equal! The people in the White House or wherever just don't know how it is to be a homosexual. We have dreams just like any other heterosexual person! We want to get married and grow old with our mate! We shouldn't have people trying to create laws banning us from getting married, or donating blood, or whatever! The government shouldn't ban us from society! I am out and I'm proud! I didn't care what anyone thought of me neither! But everyone's okay with my sexuality! And I just think its wrong for people to try to do things to break our spirits! So keep your heads up and fight non-violently 'till the end. I believe (Just like Martin Luther King did with the civil rights movement) that EVERYONE will be treated equal...if we do the non-violent acts and everything. *~Quincy~* Guest 12-06-2006 19:56 11-06-2006 12:30 They make it worse I think that gay pride events just make our stereotype seem real with all the ridiculous colours and clothing. We shouldn't have them it makes people believe that we all want to wear tight and bright clothes but cant because society hates us, it makes them think that if we give equal rights to gays and treat them the as equals with no discrimination they will do this everyday. i ask you how the hell are these things going to help us be regarded as a norm in society. I for one do not want to wave a rainbow flag around i think it shames us. btw i think AnthonyR said it pretty well. Guest 09-06-2006 17:57 They make it worse Why do we have show we are proud of being gay? It just segregates us even more as a minority. We are no less or more human than anyone else. I like what AnthonyR had to say. Guest 08-06-2006 22:09 personally i dont know about the majority of people who visit pride, ive been to three myself, i always come away with almost an "anti climatic" experience, as in i come away thinking how bad it was, or how outcasted i felt. yeh its probably one of the only places where i can hold my boyfriends hand, but at the same time, we are kind of a bitchy race lol, and i actually felt more concious about my appearence, my hair, what i was wearing etc. i dont know its probably just me. Guest 06-06-2006 04:46 personally Honestly when I first started hearing about pride parades I started I thought the idea was pretty dumb. To some extent I still think that now. It does really separate the gay community from everyone else. It's as if the parade is to say that we want to be separat, that we don't want to be treated normally. If anything, it should include all sexualities. That would be a true parade of acceptance and equality. "Pride" shouldn't be just be the gay community, it should eb the Stragiht community, for if we want to be accepted and treated as "normal," we must give out treatment regaurdless of their views. "Pride" really should just be about pride in who you are, without the implied "gay" in front of it. It should just be "Self-Pride" not "gay pride" Sure they may be fun and all, but what's the point if you're going to get the overly politically active, the ones there just for an excuse to take countless drugs, and the ones that are there to just set themselves apart. If you're there to just stand up and just declare you have your self-pride, than go ahead and have your parade, make a little noise, but encourage others to join, gay, straight or w/e. -Michael Guest 05-06-2006 15:06 05-06-2006 07:01 Its not a must who wouldent want to? Pride Festivals are so much fun its not that we have to but that its just were gay so we like to party and what better party than to celebrate who we are!!!!  Guest 31-05-2006 10:01 Awesome I love the idea. I'm going to the Pride Parade down here in Calgary, AB on June 11th and I can't wait! Guest 25-05-2006 09:41 It's important While it is not necessary to parade down the straight to prove your worth as a human being, gay pride does present an important opportunity to feel proud of your sexuality, feel a part of a community, and promote diversity, acceptance, and visibility. The LGBT community has been silenced for so long it is very important that we do step forward to let our voices be heard. If we live in silence, then we are facilitating our oppression and letting heterosexism be the norm, and reinforcing straight privilege. There are no straight parades because heterosexuality is the default sexuality and most people take its ubiquitousness for granted. Guest 25-05-2006 02:57 Why? Why should we be treated any different? Doesn't the Plege of Algence say "FOR LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL"? We're the same as any of the 'straight' people. And I'm sorry to have to say it but no one's really 'straight', it's just a matter of accepting what and who ever human really is: HUMAN. Haveing a 'gay parade' is just a way that we're telling them that we want there attention, when most of us just want to live in peace. Look at my life: the only people in my family who exept me are my parents (and truth be told the wanted a gay child) and my sisters. I hang out with people who like me for who I am and what I act like not because of my sexuality. My oppinion is that if we need a parade to show that we have pride in ourselves and others like us then we're not really into what we say we want- equality. (Of cource I'm probly going to get draged to one this year anyway.) Guest 24-05-2006 22:48 Why? Yeh, a person can be gay, but that's not[I]all[/I] they are, just a part of them. Some people just take it as an excuse to party. Theres pride and then there's vulgarity. Guest 24-05-2006 01:19 i love em ;) i love the festivals etc... im going to the one in manchester with a big pride flag and multicoloured clothes!!! Guest 22-05-2006 16:18 i love em ;) It's all down to the fun. And these parades in my experience, are undeniably great fun. Guest 21-05-2006 21:20 Hi Heyy, I do not think that we have to parade to prove our pride, but it shows that we are not embarrassed to show who we are and what we believe in, I am going to a parade in Manchester in August. I think these uber-pride people are just organising these events to make themselves look good and not to show their pride. Jak -x- Guest 21-05-2006 18:13 i agree there is no parades fo rbeing straght so there is no need for us to have them. these kind of parades are what keeps us from being a normal part of society! Guest 20-05-2006 15:36 19-05-2006 18:15 Its FABULOUS i love the gay pride festivals im goin to the one im Birmingham then a couple of days later to the London one its all about havin fun xxx Guest 19-05-2006 04:36 Its FABULOUS I think we should be able to do parades just like any straight person can protest. But we shouldnt make ourselves look like foolish people while showing our pride. We should be able to send a clear message that we are proud to be whatever sexuality we are. ^^ Guest 19-05-2006 00:40 18-05-2006 20:29 Its Stupid I think its a load of rubbish, parading down the street and everyone gawping at gay people like a fun freak show, why is there any need for it, it kinds of seperates gay people from normal society when it just isnt like that anymore like ' gay ' people are the feaks and proud of who we are, whats the point, being gay is just a sexuality it doesnt change the entire you. No, its rubbish and I think they should stop them doing them. You never hear of a ' straight ' parade so whats the difference its just modern society and all parades shouldnt be about one side of the story sort thingy.  Guest 18-05-2006 18:16 Its Stupid I guarantee most of those idiot uber-pride people have no idea where the pink triangle or rainbow flag comes from. Neuter heterophobes! =P Guest Powered by AkoComment Tweaked Special Edition v.1.4.6 |
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| Last Updated ( Sunday, 21 June 2009 ) | ||||
Yes it’s that time of year again; the sun is shining and everybody is outside enjoying themselves. It is almost officially summer and with the summer comes the many Gay Pride events and marches the world over. From London and Manchester and New York to Sydney Gay men and women take to the streets to wave that rainbow flag and stand up to be counted. However, how representative of the whole gay community are those who join in at these events? Are we as gay youth interested in what Gay Pride has to say? Ultimately, do we need to dance and sing in the streets to prove our worth; prove our pride?
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