Tracy has some fine thoughts on Gay Pride events, and both the benefits and drawbacks to them.
Here’s the thing though…the argument is that Pride is a time when we can educate the public, be visible among the masses and march down the street declaring our pride and freedom with dignity and respect. Unfortunately, it doesn’t really work, not when you’ve got a float decorated with multi-colored condoms toting around men dressed like Cher, Barbra, Tina Turner and Liza…and especially not when those are the only images that any TV crew ever cares to film. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with Drag Queens–they’ve got great style and apply make-up better than I ever could. I’m saying that when that is all that makes it to the public eye, the gay community is doing itself more harm than good.
Good stuff.
Thank you, kind sir.
High praise, indeed.
Oh, la. It was an insightful post. Heck, the same could be said for marginal groups that I belong to, such as comic book fans or gamers — the camera-worthy behavior of the fringe (“Hi, I made this authentic Klingon battle armor out of styrofoam and macaroni that I stole from my mom’s pantry, which was easy, because I still live at home, down in the basement”) (or this particular shot) tends to be what is covered. That’s both an indictment of the media and of the folks that behave that way (as well as those who don’t provide a reasonable alternative for the media to cover).
Of course, there aren’t many comics/gaming fans that get beaten to death, nor do many of them get kicked out of jobs or housing. The stakes for the gay community are significantly higher.
The problem, I suspect (if I can pontificate a moment), is that people tend to go overboard. Living in the closet is (I would presume) a caving in to societal expectations. So there will be some who, in coming out, decide that they can (or must) throw out all societal expectations — get in folks faces, flout all the rules, be as big a social pain in the ass as possible. It’s not enough, in that mindset, to be gay: one has to be a leather freak simulating fellatio on a drag queen on a float going down Main Street, or be bragging about having a different partner every night, or stand in solidarity with NAMBLA. It’s in-your-face-and-fuck-you social reform.
And, ultimately, it’s self-defeating, because while I suspect that the vast majority of straights are more than willing to accept gays being out, the above shenanigans are such a turn-off, aesthetically and/or civilly and/or morally, that a backlash develops. And that’s the scary part.
As Mrs. Campbell said, “My dear, I don’t care what they do, so long as they don’t do it in the street and scare the horses.” That’s not telling people to go back into the closet. It’s telling people to be polite.
“Freaking the straights” may provoke giggles, but it it can provoke a lot more than that — and, I suspect, that sort of adolescent behavior is no more representative of the majority of the gay community than beating gays to death is representative of the straights. We’re people, first and foremost.