To hell with Pride Month

I can't get worked up about. I've never been to a Pride march in my life and I agree some corporations do it solely to virtue signal, but I don't really have an issue with it either.

There is still a lot of homophobia about, so I don't buy that Pride is outdated.

I definitely agree the corporations have now completely lost their perspective. It's all so over the top.

I meant to add that I laughed at Spike criticising others for intolerance.

Look at Brendan O'Neill, for example. I've linked one of his many anti same sex marriage Spiked articles below. Silly cunt.

[quote]Pride metastasised in the early 2010s

Pride is a cancer. Got it. Glad we have people like OP to post these things on a gay board.

I had no idea Spiked was a problematic publication in the broad sense. I did think the observations about corporate overload and the evolution of the flag were interesting. Personally, I quite like Pride and think it is important, whether you participate or not. I've never heard of Spiked and failed to Google it. Sorry.

Spiked is a wrongthink publication, R5/OP. Even if you agree with what is written there, you are not allowed to admit it or you will lose your Good Gay card.

It's not homophobic to oppose gay marriage. If those of who criticised from a left-wing, feminist viewpoint it at the time had been allowed to speak we may not be where we are today.

No one is allowed to speak from their own mind, R7. It is only acceptable to repeat platitudes.

The Gay Pride Parade in NYC in the 1980's was a pretty amazing things and totally exhilarating.

Spiked was founded by ex-members of the one time Revolutionary Communist Party (seriously) who used to flog the magazine Living Marxism to students.

Brendan O'Neill is one of the most odious, contrary cunts to ever walk the Earth and is a total waste of oxygen. 'Lady' (Jesus H Christ on a pogo stick) Claire Fox was one of their leaders, she was pro-IRA and all other sorts of radical left stuff. Now she sits in the House Of Lords, rewarded by the turd that won't flush away Boris Johnson for her pro-Brexit stance.

Spiked are just rent-a-quote gobshites - by being 'contrarian' all they bang on about are the things they are against. They never ever present a positive alternative. They still stuck in the UK student politics of the 1980s and 1990s, the slime from which they all emerged.

O'Neill published a stupid think-piece (sic) on Spiked about how Trump's 2020 election triumph (sic) showed conclusively that populism was alive and well and the free thinkers and libertarians shall inherit the Earth yadda yadda. Then Biden actually won. Whoops! That vanished rather quickly.

And I speak from personal experience - these people ran the student union at my higher education establishment in 1990-1993.

It still means something. A good focus is corporate pride washing

I like that the country focuses on gays, at least this once during the year.

It's telling that there isn't a single day focused on women.

Just gays? Only gays have pride? Do lesbians not participate?

Yay, another cunting Brit bleating about American cultural rubbish.

This from an asshole who writes Dr. Who.

“There are special-edition Pride products from mouthwash to cat treats. Vapid statements of solidarity are dropped on Twitter by establishment institutions from the police to, hilariously, the national football team – which, lest we forget, is perfectly happy to be decamping in a few months to take the knee in a country where homosexuality is illegal and to play in stadiums built by slaves who died on the job.”

OP, I get ya and feel ya. Corporate America has figured out how to merchandise and turn a buck off of the genuine sentiments that Pride month represents. Another example is Walmart offering “Juneteenth” flavored ice cream (sheesh!). In America, everything is driven by money. See the examples of Pride mouthwash and cat treats. As usual, it is easier for corporations to ask for forgiveness ex post facto vs being thoughtful and sincere beforehand.

Sounds like my kind of publication, r10! Do they need a new US columnist?

R7 I think it's homophobic to oppose gay marriage, because it's denying something to gay people that straight people have had since the year dot.

I'm 100% fine with anyone saying they oppose it, by the way. Everyone should be free to express their opinion. Just as I'm free to say I think it's a homophobic standpoint.

For what it's worth, I have no interest in getting married myself, but there's clearly a demand for same sex marriage and I'm not going to stand in anyone's way if they choose it for themselves.

I preferred when June was Pride Month only in the sense that most towns picked a weekend in June for a Pride weekend. Now, it lasts all month and is being echoed by all sorts of corporations. Too much.

[quote] It's not homophobic to oppose gay marriage. If those of who criticised from a left-wing, feminist viewpoint it at the time had been allowed to speak we may not be where we are today.

Of course it is. They are opposing it SOLELY because it involves gays. It's also about equality. If you are against equality of gays, you are homophobic. Just like opposing Civil Rights Act was racist.

OP sounds like a blast at parties.

Marriage is just a tax dodge.

News for ya... Lesbians are gay.

I agree with every word, OP.

Are lesbians gay? Then why not just GBTQ?

The smells of sour grapes and division are more exhausting and unbearable.

This is so anti-gay to bash pride. Don’t fall for the stupid right wing traps. It’s pride or crying out loud. Go enjoy it and stop with the 24/7 culture war. You people need to grow up.

[quote] It's not homophobic to oppose gay marriage.

Yes, it is. You personally don't have to get married, but you should appreciate that fellow Gays have the option to do it if they want to. Same goes for serving in the military or adopting a child.

Liberals tend to appreciate others and fight for their rights just as much as for their own rights.

Conservatives? "I've got mine, FUCK THE REST!".

For me, Pride has always been about celebrating diversity and appreciating the fact that homosexuality comes in all kinds of shapes and sizes.

To not want to be married is a valid personal choice.

To oppose the right of gay people to marry is anti-gay.

But not fat shapes and sizes, R28. Eeeeeeeew.

The article is a bit mean-spirited, but there’s one statment that very much reflects my state of mind: “I wasn’t, and am still not, remotely proud, or indeed ashamed, of my sexual orientation. I consider it utterly unremarkable, and ideally, I’d like everybody else to feel that way too.”

The major difference between conservatives and liberals is that liberals fight for the rights of people they disagree with.

It's part of an evolution. It's fine. We have to let go of old things and adapt to new ways of thinking and being.

I was born in 1978. I grew up gay in Virginia during the AIDS epidemic, and I was battered and berated from middle school through high school graduation because of my sexuality.

I graduated in 1996. Almost immediately, the culture shifted (among young people) and almost everyone was more or less accepting of gay people. People wanted to be my friend just because I was gay and that was cool and edgy to them. (I've never been cool or edgy as a person!)

My first Capital Pride (D.C.) felt like a bold public outing to me, even though the event felt kind of rinky-dinky. Only a few floats and an interesting festival advertising Queer as Folk and the gay yellow pages, etc. It was fine. It did make me feel more comfortable being myself.

The PRESENCE of Pride events, that they were happening, was important to my comfort level. But the actual events were not relatable to me at all. The floats featured gogo boys writhing and butch lesbians standing there looking tough to advertise gay bars and drag queens standing there and waving to advertise gay bars, blasting "I Will Survive," "It's Raining Men" and Indigo Girls songs.

I didn't mind any of it, per se, but none of it really meshes with my identity. I'm a bookish person and a creative person. I like writing and painting and plants and so on. When I think of identity as being gay, which I do, I never picture a rock-hard stripper in a sequined G-string.

So I didn't go back to Pride for a long time, until I had friends visiting who insisted on going. I was surprised how many families were there with young kids, both straight parents and gay parents. And I wasn't surprised (and was kind of turned off) by how many corporations and politicians were in the parade pandering and getting applause. It made me feel a little gross. Still lots of strippers and drag queens, but now also lots of transgender people. Still not my scene, but still comforting in a way to know that these events happen publicly and there are no protests or violent outbursts, etc. That's comforting.

Cont.

I love the rainbow flag--the original one. I just think it's pretty. It's an elegant design for something so candy colored. I don't like any of the new ones because 1) the color combinations are off putting aesthetically and 2) even the one that only adds pink and pale blue...those are already covered by the spectrum. The whole point of the rainbow flag is that it covers *every color in the spectrum* so adding colors is gratuitous. So I'm a fan of the original flag and not the new ones both for design and philosophically. And I see the original one and rainbow ribbons draped all over storefronts, and I see the new variations here and there. They haven't totally replaced the nicer-looking original rainbow.

I *did* notice many years ago that the rainbow flag was being displaced by the HRC logo. I like the HRC logo design a lot--the blue and yellow combo works as well on a logo as on a tropical reef fish, and the equal sign, like the rainbow, says all it needs to say without additional commentary. BUT it is a private brand, and it really bothered me that it was taking the place of the non-branded rainbow flag. But that seems to have reversed itself.

I wrote for The Advocate and for HuffPost Gay Voices (which became Queer Voices) for years, and after a while I realized that I was doing it to feel like I am part of a gay community, and I will never be an organic part of a gay community. There are lots of gay people of all kinds, and there's a very narrow band of what's accepted to be a representative member of the gay community. It was really hard for me to come to terms with this. I don't fit in with it. I am in D.C. I don't go to Vida, the gay gym. I don't dedicate myself to working out and preening. Alcohol is far from the center of my world, and happy hours and brunches just are not appealing to me for the most part. Most gay guys I've met in D.C. are entirely status oriented--they catalog people they know or meet according to 1) looks (how attractive your face is and how hard your body is); 2) who you work for; 3) how much you make; 4) what your professional level/title is, and they judge one another *very* harshly OR they practically worship one another according to those measures. I find every part of it alienating, not only because I don't fit the mold, but because I have *no interest* in fitting into that mold.

But for a long time I thought I wanted to fit that mold. I'm sure it's because I was such an outcast because of my sexuality when I was young that it seemed like I had to be part of a tribe of similar people who have the same sexuality. As it turns out, no. I'm just an outlier. I'm not angry about it anymore, although I do feel kind of sad about how standardized and superficial gay men (at least the community in my area) are *because* I know there are probably a lot of good and interesting people who hide their most interesting qualities for the sake of checking off the standards.

So anyway, I wouldn't say to hell with Pride month. It still gives me comfort that it can happen without incident, and I think making it so mainstream is the hallmark of acceptance and phasing out hatred toward this particular group.

But I do say *meh* to Pride month because I've never fit in with most gay men, and I don't feel particularly "proud" to be gay. It's a part of who I am, and it's fine. I don't need to show it off just like I don't need to show off my nipples at every opportunity because I think it's requisite of a gay man to do so.

DL skews older, conservative, rural and closeted. You need to remember that when you read these response and look at the poll. DL is by no means an accurate sampling of gay people.

I am proud of my sexual orientation because I'm not ashamed of it. There's nothing shameful about being gay and there's no reason to treat it like a secret that needs to remain hidden. It's something I needed to grow in order to accept, and I'm proud of that growth, and the integrity I possessed to stay strong in times of adversity or loneliness.

What I'm most proud of is being out in a world that is hostile. Being visibly and proudly gay, and a role model to younger gay people who haven't found the space or ability to come out yet.

The first Pride was a riot against cops and police brutality.

[quote]The article is a bit mean-spirited, but there’s one statment that very much reflects my state of mind: “I wasn’t, and am still not, remotely proud, or indeed ashamed, of my sexual orientation. I consider it utterly unremarkable, and ideally, I’d like everybody else to feel that way too.”

In an ideal world, nobody would make a big deal about sexual identity in the first place. However, in the real world, conservatives make sexual identity a big deal and people have to respond to that conservative push against them. We can't afford the "luxury" to consider ourselves "unremarkable", because that's an early stage of self-hate and depression. A state of mind the conservatives would prefer for us.

If we lived in a world where homophobia didn't exist, Pride would die out, because sexuality would just be seen the same as whether someone is left or right handed.

The fact it exists (and that people complain about it existing) shows it's needed in some form or another.

Gays who whine about it are usually fortunate enough to be accepted by close friends and family and live in the west. So because their life is fine, everyone else's must be, too.

The article is whiny and there's nothing new there. EVERYTING is over the top and awful. This guy is a tool.

I'd say a good 40% of the storefronts, including both gay bars and straight bars, in my area have Pride flags hanging from them. At a glance, it's impossible to even tell nowadays what is a gay bar and what is a straight bar. I see that as a good thing from the vantage point that there's no reason to segregate. And gay bars are primarily pick-up joints, and of course mobile apps are more convenient, discreet and less awkward for that than sidling up to someone at a bar is and figuring out what they want.

Incredible how right-wing Datalounge has become. I wonder if this is where you would all be if you didn't have to care about which leagues trans athletes get to compete in?

Liberals: In order to feel good about myself, I help and support others.

Conservatives: In order to feel good about myself, I have to make someone else feel small and shitty.

R42 True, sadly.

Also true, not entirely but in great part:

Gay Men: All I want is to be loved and accepted and embraced by straight people. I don't want to be embraced, touched, spoken to or known of by inferior-looking gay men!

Can we put a poop emoji on the next Pride flag, to support and bring acceptance & awareness to Scat Queens? No scat-shaming!!!!

r43, I agree. A lot of people (gay or straight) are stuck in that trap that they have to get approval from their peers and authority figures (starting with their parents) no matter how (even if that means pretending to be someone you are not).

That is why some gays make such a big deal about "chosen family" where they seek a support system rather than a group of demanding peers who make them jump through hoops in order to be accepted.

I honestly think it's funny that we're in this phase of people coming up with every possible most-nuanced definition of their interests they can come up with and demanding that they be included into an all-inclusive logo. It's a crazy, crazy thing.

"This rainbow represents inclusion of all and exclusion of none because the rainbow contains all possible colors."

"That rainbow is racist because it doesn't include brown skin."

"Rainbows don't have skin. There's no Caucasian skin tone in the spectrum, either. The idea is that it's all inclusive of every possible col—"

"Black and brown or it's RACIST."

"Oh. Um. OK, we will include black and brown."

"Pink and blue or it's transphobic."

"It already includes blue."

"Pink and LIGHT BLUE or it's TRANSPHOBIC."

"But...but, now it represents specific subgroups, and so it's starting to exclude other gr—"

"YOU ARE TRANSPHOBIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ALERT THE NEW YORK TIMES! ALERT THE GUARDIAN!!!"

"OK OK OK PINK AND BLUE, PINK AND BLUE AND BROWN AND BLACK!!!"

"WHERE IS THE ARROW?"

"The arrow?"

"WHERE IS THE ARROW??? IT MUST HAVE AN ARROW!!!!"

"What arrow? Arrow for what? Pointing to what?"

"YOU WANT TO OBLITERATE MY FUTURE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"OK HERE'S YOUR FUCKING ARROW! WHAT ELSE?! POOP EMOJI! HERE'S YOUR POOP EMOJI!!! WHAT ELSE, GUYS? WHAT DO YOU WANT? HOW BOUT SOME SEROQUEL PILLS? HOW ABOUT BLACK MOLD? HUH? WANT SOME BLACK MOLD? HERE IT IS. WAIT, HERE'S SOME BROWN AND PEACH AND YELLOW MOLD BEFORE YOU START SCREAMING. RAINBOW MOLD. LET ME OPEN A VEIN AND JUST DIE ON THE FLAG. HAPPY? I'M GETTING LIGHT HEADED. GUYS, DOES THIS MA—"

"YOU DIED HATEFULLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

R46 I want black truffles, a wrench and a cabbage patch doll on the flag

R47 Design it yourself. I sacrificed my life to progress and was called a bigot for my efforts!

R42, I think it is sad that anything positive has to be rooted in something negative. But even if that is the case. I will take any support to ensure that our future generations are able to love, prosper and live without fear.

When it was still called Gay Pride, the parade was fun and kind of edgy, and marching in it was an act of glittery defiance of sorts. The VERY early Christopher Street versions in the '70s involved actual courage to attend (yes, before even *my*elder time). Everything evolves (or devolves) over time, and I appreciate that it's no longer an act of possible career/life-sabotaging to march in a Pride parade, but I have absolutely no interest in it anymore, the way I don't have any interest in the St Patrick's Day or Thanksgiving parade. The pendulum has swung so far to the other side that it's become dully inane -- a circus-y showcase for any "nonbinary" attention-seeker who wants the (perceived) glam of being a member of the counterculture. But I guess that's.... progress? Anything that keeps me away from a parade is fine with me.

I am not participating in Pride marches anymore. It was courageous in the 80s, great fun in the late 90s, then came the corporate shit, and now its all fragmented politicized crap.

Gays have nothing to do with Pride anymore. This year they put up all trannys and one single dyke as their gatekeepers.

As I said above, I don't participate in it anymore because I just don't feel like a part of the community. But I see rainbows everywhere and I find it heartening. Online—social media and gay "chat" apps—it looks like every gay man in the city who actively celebrates Pride is an Instaho/exhibitionist type who rarely wears any clothes. There's just no appeal there for me to go watch horny gym addicts show off and gawk at one another.

It's funny to me that transgender and other people sometimes say they feel marginalized by these sorts of events because I am a gay man and I always feel marginalized by gay events lol

I don't count anymore, given my age... and I never felt close to it because of the horny gym addicts... but I did love the mass of community and the spirit of the thing just because of the mass of people. I never minded the corporate stuff. It showed we were becoming respectable and given we live individually the rest of the year very much in their world, respectability and acceptance were useful tools. So I don't mind it and hope it continues but every year it becomes less about gay people and more diffused and now with corporate pride running the whole month... it just feels watered down. Still, the outside world doesn't make that distinction so it's more good than harm.

I feel totally alienated from Pride. Straight people are the ones who are into it.

R7 There were a lot of people who were ostracized and silenced over gay marriage.

R56 I bet you don't decry racists being ostracized, so why decry homophobes being ostracized?

r52 r53 r55 r56

R57 I meant gay people.

I’ve been posting very sexual replies to various corporate virtue signaling LinkedIn posts. After all, if they support our pride in living our truth, they should get to soak in it. One ex colleague replied that I was filthy. I just clicked on “celebrates this”.

Make Pride Filthy Again

OP, that's one fucked up, christo-fascist website you linked. These are the people that want us eradicated. Nice of you to shill for them.

Will Ben and Jerry's please bring back Schweddy Balls for Pride month? Thank you. And Fuck the Fraus who got this canceled.

Pride has evolved into a fun, colorful weekend for all, straights and gays. And of course the straight male cross dressers who have demanded that no gay drag be a part of it. Just face the facts: the straight male cross dressers have usurped Pride and that is that.

R63 Yeah, the ambiance is an interesting mashup of holiday parade, gay circuit party, Brazilian carnival and child's birthday party.

This is fine

I’m gay .. a lesbian but generally I call myself gay. I like pride month overall. I think it does more good than bad. If nothing else, it helps me feel like the vast majority of people are supportive.

Right, put the blame on Corporate America™ for Pride being corrupt at its own core, for having lost everything in trying to be a something for everyone LGBTQQIP2SAA (yes, that's a real acronym, as fucked up as you would expect.) It's lost to the Trans and non-binary and the grotesques who refuse labels and the trust fund woman in your office who married a military officer and bought a huge house but feels that Queer best expresses her identity, even though she's never so much as kissed another woman. When this lot are through with their identity musings and with playing dress up, they'll shed the LGBTQQIP2SAA moniker and leave it by the roadside, a spent condom with no ejaculate, just lube and assjuice left behind, the downward trajectory of Pride™ complete.

Yes, because all we have is exclusivity.

I'd suggest the acronym be changed for good to A-Z1-3.14 but the all-inclusive approach didn't work for the rainbow, so it won't work for letters and numbers, either.

It's a really interesting development to me that NO ONE wants all people to be acknowledged and respected, and everyone wants to feel not like an equal among peers but special within a special group.

The rainbow flag was meant to say "everyone is welcome and everyone is special," and over time, people have become like little kindergarteners and they see the rainbow symbol not as a symbol of universal togetherness but as equivalent to a gold star that the teacher puts on favorite children, and all they want is to be one of the special favorites, not the same as everyone else.

It goes to show that no one wants true equality and everyone ultimately wants special privileges. It's the Privilege Flag now, quite the postmodern icon of irony.

This ^

Is dafyddish a real word?

R12 But it doesn't. It focuses on hypocrisy and profit.

What a bunch of cranky old piss pots on this thread.

It's Pride, go have fun, be kind, don't hurt yourself, try and lift someone else up while you are at it.

Lift someone else up? I don't want to touch most of the Pride people. Not the public sex people anyway.

Contrasted with all the other colors, the brown and black stripes look like skid marks.

Doesn’t feel “mine” anymore. It feels like some ethereal outside thing, which is weird being - you know - GAY.

Husband and I hung a rainbow flag in our window (the REAL one) which seems more of a protest than all of this TQ caterwauling with their ugly fucking flags taking everything over.

We’ll see how I feel after the parade this year. But “Pride Month” generally just makes my eyes roll now.

r74 r75 r76

R76 that’s the price of going mainstream. We’re like a cool Indy band that got popular now.

Pride is very bourgeois.

It was meanless to the rich who never suffered any restrictions or paid heed to them, while the working class had too much other shit to worry about, and never had time for laws anyway, given the whole system is against them.

It's mainly middle class thing that's become increasingly crass and naff.

I wonder what all these critics are going to do regarding Pride being too commercial? Will they organize a nice new, exclusive, subversive, parade free of sponsors and endorsements? Or will they just shit all over the place like demented scat queens? Way to lead by example.

r78 r79

I agree, it's become way overly commercialized, codified, appropriated by people and corporations who don't even care in the first place. Plus, it can be political, scolding, shallow.

BUT - i guess I just see it like commercialized Christmas. Individuals or groups can make it more about actual pride if they wish. And isn't there usually at least some substantive programing among all the partying and debauchery? So, there's a core (if a small core) that I think is valuable.

Though, in the larger context, it really has become like St. Patrick's Day, Cinco De Mayo, Mardi Gras - a drinking and partying holiday. And it's a whole month. Though a location's individual pride celebrations are usually only over one weekend

It's all about those "non binaries" and annoying drag queens these days.

A couple questions:

1. When do Pride celebrations start to gain traction - you see more and more individual cities have Pride events?

2. Whenever that was (1970s, 1980s?), what were the pride events like, what did they entail?

3. How long did that continue? (e.g., through the 1990s). What was the progression of things that happened to make Pride bigger and more corporate?

4. When did Pride Month first appear?

[quote] It's all about those "non binaries" and annoying drag queens these days.

According to Datalounge, that's because "the Gays" dumped it for being too annoying, too embarrassing, and so outdated. Check threads about Pride from previous years and, for decades, all you get are post after post after post how Gays despise Pride.

Now that others have taken over, it's like "Wait what? Pride is OUR thing! No fair!".

[quote] I am not participating in Pride marches anymore. It was courageous in the 80s, great fun in the late 90s, then came the corporate shit, and now its all fragmented politicized crap.

I guess. Seems like it could still be a good day if you have a couple of friends ready to enjoy themselves.

[quote] I wonder what all these critics are going to do regarding Pride being too commercial? Will they organize a nice new, exclusive, subversive, parade free of sponsors and endorsements?

Spending money is how American people express they value something. We're a superficial national tribe. Money is the national value. Our money says "in God we trust," with the "trust" being a pun on financial investment. Into God, we pour money. It's the prosperity gospel value: money is the anchor of all values.

So here's how your proposed idea would go, guaranteed:

Backlash against corporate Pride would result in the creation of a new incorprated nonprofit organization to restore Pride to its activist mission. They would host events. They would need money to operate—no one works for free!—and would solicit donations. As they got more and more donations and grew, they'd get greater visibility. As they grew an audience, corporate entities would offer them sponsorship money in exchange for logo placement and speaking opportunities. No one turns down money!

This is how everything works in capitalism.

I work for nonprofits and I have heard countless mission-based nonprofit leaders say "Our mission is to put ourselves out to business. Once we've helped to solve the problem, there'll be no need for us!" Bullshit. And they know it. The business part of all nonprofits is a con. All but the smallest of them are run by greedy people who profit as much as they can and who get off on (and get awards for!) "giving of themselves" by traveling around and talking hot air about their cause, and then being given honorary degrees and awards, told by everyone they are amazing, self-sacrificing altruists, and making a hell of a lot of money.

LA Pride 2022 will be brought to you by TikTok

I should also mention they are breaking it up this year. Because they decided after the BLM marches that it was too white and privileged to always have it in West Hollywood where the average 2 bedroom house is 2 million dollars.

LA Pride is moving from West Hollywood to a park near down town LA where it was originally their first ever event. The parade is moving to Hollywood Blvd. just past the Chinese theater. WeHo queens having their panties in a wad about this are having a unaffiliated street fair in the usual place with all the bars. That one is now called WeHo Pride.

I have/had no problem with the commercialization of Gay Pride. Fuck yeah Bud Light, let's party while we push for marriage equality.

The whiners wanting racial justice did their own shit. I remember they used to have DYKE MARCH here in Chicago, and I'd joke with my parents and other straights how no one wanted to go to DYKE MARCH because they're boring, soul-sucking schoolmarms, having nothing to do but bitch, bitch, bitch.

Now those types have infested "Pride" and we have to have very serious conversations about letting gay Jews be great ("AHHHH PALESTINE!!!!!") or gay police ("AAAAAH LAVONTRIUS JACKSON WAS SHOT!!!") being involved whatsoever, or who gets to march first because trans women of color are best and blah blah blah.

So I know some people thought it was eye-rolly to have Big Insurance, Inc's float for equality or whatever, but at least it was rooted in fun and not this "The First Pride was a RIOT!!!!" revisionist shitbrew. No one liked DYKE MARCH and less people will like the exclusive, preachy, shitty "Pride."

Please, it's 10 percent preachy bitches and 90 percent people getting drunk/high and trying to fuck. Woke era Pride doesn't change what most people are doing there.

IMHO it is something for the young, a liberation period. I went through it and moved on.

I want to add the importance of being proud of who you are. Being gay is a huge part of our existence, otherwise you wouldn't be on Datalounge reading this right now. Neither you nor I have nothing to be ashamed of.

*anything

[quote]Being gay is a huge part of our existence

Yes, it is. I am gay. Or G. And if I were a woman, I would be lesbian. Or L.

Gay men and women. G&L. The rest of it is no part of my existence. Wish they wouldn't strive so hard to make it so.

[quote] The rest of it is no part of my existence.

How very conservative, "I've got mine, FUCK THE REST!".

[quote] Being gay is a huge part of our existence, otherwise you wouldn't be on Datalounge reading this right now.

Da! Da! You go Babushka ... uh, girl!

R13 / R14 LA has a specific lesbian day, dyke day it’s called. Really good fun. And lesbians partake in general pride too. What’s the prob?

R90 = Ok Boomer

No, r96. It is not "conservative." BTQ are simply not part of my "rest." "Rest" implies you're part of something larger, something of which I am not a part. BTQ is not part of GL. We are separate entities. Or we would be if you would stop the parasiting. Go be your own damned selves. Have your own programs, parades, etc.

Lesbians in Long Beach have their own Woman Only Friday march on Gay Pride Weekend. Then Woman only (unofficial) on Saturday at the pride festival. Then Dykes on Bikes at the very front of the parade on Sunday. And finally 8 out of 10 of the pride planning comity drawing a salary from all the donations are old cranky lesbians.

Oh but they are so under represented. - As my eyes roll back into my head.

^^ Women Only

[quote] No, [R96]. It is not "conservative."

It absolutely is.

It's like saying black people are not my people, so fuck them. Any normal person would say that's bigotry. But you saying " BTQ is not part of GL" is ok, because reasons. It's conservative bigotry you're practicing.

[quote] BTQ is not part of GL. We are separate entities. Or we would be if you would stop the parasiting.

Wow. Just. Wow.

Myopic take. We all make decisions on the relevancy of something in our lives. I do not care about fetuses, so I am not anti-abortion. Pro-life persons could say that take makes me pro-murder and it's my moral duty to be against murder.

Nah.

I don't HAVE to champion everyone's cause. Nor will I.

It used to be called "Gay Pride" (which includes both gay men and women), and the "Gay Pride Parade" and "Gay Pride Festival". It was a chance to get together and celebrate being around other like-minded people who spent much of their lives being oppressed by the mainstream. It was a chance to feel free to be oneself for a few days, surrounded by community.

In more recent years, it has become more of an event where anyone who wants to do something "different" than mainstream America made it all about them. So the population of this new definition of Pride looks more like a bunch of teenagers wearing costumes, coloring their hair strange colors, and running around screeching. It bears little resemblance to what it was 15 years ago. It almost seems to have nothing much to do with actually being gay anymore. It has been appropriated by the mainstream as a general carnival.

[quote] I don't HAVE to champion everyone's cause. Nor will I.

But you also HAVE to accept that others call you a bigot.

I still see plenty of actual gays and lesbians at pride, even if among the "carnival."

As usual, Pride threads become "get off my lawn, you queers!" circle jerks for grumpy trolls and haters.

Happy Pride!

As usual, if you have a different opinion on ANY topic, you are labeled a "troll" and "hater" by posters like R109, who have little understanding of what those words actually mean.

[quote] As usual, if you have a different opinion on ANY topic, you are labeled a "troll" and "hater" by posters like [R109], who have little understanding of what those words actually mean.

Oh, rrrrrrreally?

What would you call someone who calls BTQ parasites? r100

[quote] BTQ is not part of GL. We are separate entities. Or we would be if you would stop the parasiting.

[quote]What would you call someone who calls BTQ parasites?

Perceptive of what has actually happened.

[quote] What would you call someone who calls BTQ parasites?

[quote] Perceptive of what has actually happened.

Sure, Jan. You are not a troll and hater at all. /s

Oooooh! Somebody found an entire online magazine dedicated to anti-trans lunacy! (with a healthy dose of Tory worship on the side).

Hard fucking pass.

The fact that the NYC (not gay) Pride parade has NO GAY MEN as marshalls, just trannies and a dyke, speaks VOLUMES.

R89 the average price of a home in Los Angeles is over a million dollars. Would you rather the parade take place in Glendale or Pacoima?

R114, yeah, it's second piece of right-wing bullshit jthey've posted from that fascist rag.

Pride was incredibly important when I was younger. At my first one in the early 1990s it was amazing to see all those people together and it was more political, living under the awful Tories and section 28, the shadow of HIV etc. But the pre-corporate ones in London ones always lost money. There would be volunteers collecting money in buckets and if I remember rightly it averaged out that each attendee paid less than a pound. It has always been the case that the majority are not that community minded and just want to have fun.

As someone mentioned upthread, it used to be Gay Pride, then Lesbian & Gay Pride...then the lesbian & gay bit was quietly dropped and, at least in London, it tried to rebrand itself as Mardi Gras for a while. A bit hypocritical when your event is meant to be about not having shame about your sexuality, but removing the actual sexuality from the name of the event.

Anyway, the corporates have spoilt it as well. No corporation gives a shit about gay people - they just want our custom and money. How much do any of them they donate to gay charities?

R118 Mardi Gras is a Catholic feast day wtf 😂 not surprised that didn't pan out.

Well, the corporates didn't spoil it. The organizers who decide who does what spoiled it. And for that matter, the alternative is the activists and misfits who want nothing but a big political bitchfest. So what do you want? Sponsored by Starbucks or a parade of gays for goats?

[QUOTE]So what do you want? Sponsored by Starbucks or a parade of gays for goats

Are they really the only two options?

I hadn't been to a pride parade since "Born This Way" was a hit, but what killed it dead for me was the group that decided that Jewish lesbians couldn't march/drive/have a float as Jewish lesbians. Because of Palestine or some such bullshit. Long may such cunts bathe in a grease fire.

I just never felt like I would be the type to fit in at a pride event.

There are noticeably fewer pride flags around this year because because we are getting tired of the ugliness of the "progress" flags.

Etsy banned the new new Pride flag store, the ultra-inclusive flag, already. They're worse than Twitter with this shit.

[quote]the average price of a home in Los Angeles is over a million dollars. Would you rather the parade take place in Glendale or Pacoima?

No it's not. It's about 800,000. In WeHo it starts at 2 million.

What's your point? I am just the messenger, I am not arguing for pride to be moved. The producers of the event made that decision. Which I think is stupid because it robs the hand full of local gay business of the most successful day of the year for them.

Screw this BS shitting all over the rainbow flag. It's ugly now. It used to represent all people now everyone needs to shit on it be highlighted as special above all others. I am going with the new gay male flag from now on.

The original Rainbow Flag is all inclusive because you can synthesize every color from the colors of the rainbow. White, which arises from all colors together, isn't there, nor is black or brown, which you can reach by adjusting the light intensity. The original flag was meant to mean "the whole spectrum".

I LOVE IT, r127. My favorite colors are green and blue together. Whoever designed it could not have picked a better set of colors for this gay man.

I really like the blues and greens too. The have one for lesbians which is pinks and orange, I think.