blackrave said:
Says the person who totally missed the point of the post...
No. I get the point of the post. You expressed it here..
blackrave said:
Those prides are stereotypical and insulting to everyone
..it's just wrong.
The pride movement spans the entire world. Each event is organized by a small non-profit organization, and these organizations usually have no contact with one another. In some areas and countries, particularly those which are quite hostile, a pride parade can consist of a small protest. In larger cities in more open areas, pride parades can be enormous street parties based around a huge formal parade which might represent organizations like the police, the armed forces, the teaching professions, trade unions and political parties. It is not a members-only event. Anyone can attend, they can wear and do whatever they want (within the laws of the country they are in).
Contrary to what many straight people seem to think, pride is not intended to showcase gay people. While in some areas it has a stronger protest element than others, and some people would like to see the protest element played up, pride is not generally meant to be a protest (except of course in countries where it actually needs to be). It's a day of escapist fun where some of the normal social rules are a little more relaxed. Some people, like leathermen or drag kings/queens, dress up on pride to show that they are part of that subculture. Others dress up on pride because it gives the event more of a carnival atmosphere or because it's fun. I had a friend in Tokyo pride this year, and one guy there dressed up as a samurai complete with replica arquebus. Stereotypical?
To claim that the way gay people dress in pride is stereotypical is like me saying that the way straight people dress and act in Mardi Gras is stereotypical. It's not, it's not remotely indicative of who people are or how they normally behave. People dress and behave like that because it's fun, maybe there's a tiny trace of being subversive about it, but I think only academics think too deeply about that at the time. Pride is generally no different from any other celebration where people dress up, and just like most of those events the vast majority of people there will generally not look or behave anything like the people who tend to get photographed.
When I was at London Pride a couple of years back, you know what got the biggest reaction where I was standing?
1) The delegations from the armed forces and the other uniform services (they always get a big response).
2) Two guys marching in normal clothes with their toddler sitting on one of their shoulders.
For many of us young people in the crowd, those were the first gay parents we had ever seen. A lesbian friend of mine actually had tears in her eyes, because after years of unconsciously assuming that her life was set to follow a particular pattern laid down by the fact that she was gay she literally saw the possibility of having children open up to her. That was powerful, it was a better protest than a thousand megaphones and placards.
You should go to a pride parade sometime. It's not what you think, and the bits which are what you think don't have any obligation to apologize to you anyway.