I am not opposed to these parades in principle, but I have to
admit that I’m just not that into them. I
do think it is important for LGBT individuals to stand up for themselves, but I
am not so sure that the parades, as they are, have been the best way of doing
this.
Shock value certainly does have a means of opening up people’s
eyes and making them more familiar and accepting to things. I suppose this, in part, is why in any
footage of gay pride parades I’ve ever seen, there have been a whole lot of
glittered, costumed, and/or near naked men dancing about showing off their
stuff. The more people see things like
that, in theory, the more accepting they are of it and the things less explicit
than that.
Now, I like seeing a naked man just as much as the next gay guy,
but something about what I see in the parades usually just completely turns me
off. Ten very well built, tanned, almost
naked, twenty something year olds dancing about on a float? Yeah, in theory, I would think that would be
a turn on. But I never feel that way
when I see these parades. I feel shock
(perhaps also mixed with a little bit of disappointment). When I feel that way, being gay, I certainly
understand why so many straight people are turned off as well. Sexuality, whether in regards to homosexual
or heterosexual relations, is something that I think the majority of people
still traditionally feel should be kept in the bedroom, and not on the
streets. I feel that way. If a
straight parade were held in town, with floats carrying a bunch of near naked
men and women grinding up on each other holding up signs with babies on them, I’d
feel just as uncomfortable with that, and so would most straight people.
I understand why pride parades are held. Believe me, I do. And I think they should continue. But I wish some of the more sexually explicit
content of the parades would be left out.
I honestly think acceptance would be offered much more readily if
instead of heterosexuals seeing a bunch of homosexuals carrying on explicitly
in the street, they could see homosexuals acting a bit more… well, for the lack
of a better word, normal.
As a gay man, I don’t think I look any different than most
straight men. Most LGBT people I’ve
known don’t look any different than straight men or women, and a lot of us don’t
act that much different either. But the
parades give off an impression that we do.
I’m not saying there aren’t differences between heterosexuals and
homosexuals, but just that they aren’t as obvious most of the time as what is
presented in the parades. And so, when I
see the parades, I see something that doesn’t come across entirely as
truth. I see an exaggeration to prove a
point. And whereas I’m sure that point
has been proven to some large degree, the exaggeration does just go to
reinforce so many people’s ideas that we are different; more than we (at least
the overwhelming majority) actually are.
I’d like to see a parade with no bare skin. Let gay couples walk hand in hand. Let their families walk with them. Let there be a showing of support, pride,
acceptance, and love from groups and organizations and the like, but do it
without presenting an image that just goes to reinforce those negative
stereotypes that keep us in the LGBT community from truly achieving the lasting
sort of acceptance and tolerance we seek.
The best argument LGBT individuals have been able to make in
their fight for acceptance has been to prove that we are not that
different. So, why would we make such a
grandiose statement suggesting otherwise?
Maybe I just don’t get it.
There again, maybe it does just all come back to the shock value. After all, if people are used to seeing the
sort of “shocking” things that go on in the parades, the less shocked they
might become to seeing things like two men holding hands, or two women giving
each other a kiss. I suppose if the
parades (as they have been) can achieve this, then there is some good in them
being that way.
Maybe I just wish there was another way.
