[KeepingItReal]

Originally Posted by ilovetv

This is a thoughtful, coherent essay that pertains to the videos above:

Proud of who I am, not of Gay Pride
What place do Gay Pride parades have in a post-DOMA world?

By Brandon Ambrosino
1:46 p.m. EDT, June 27, 2013

I'm gay. Unapologetically, unashamedly, praying-for-a-husbandly gay.

But I've never marched in a Pride parade.

When I tell this to my gay friends, they get confused and sometimes even angry.

"But you're gay," they remind me. "Why wouldn't you march?" It's a no-brainer to them. I should march because my community is marching.

Let me say outright that I believe there are many good reasons to participate in public demonstrations against inequality and injustice. In the wake of the Stonewall Riots of June 1969, the gay community was absolutely justified....

...But surely there are other reasons to march. What about dignity? Maybe I should have marched in Pride to show that I have dignity as a gay man. But if that's the reason to march, then some of the goings-on of the parade confuse me.

It would be hard for me to convince my parents that I take pride in myself were I to march down their block in butt-less chaps and high-heels. I mean, in the proper contexts, sure, those things can be great, campy fun, and I understand the value of celebrating the queerness of queer. But I don't know that those things are really helping me make the case to my parents that gay people, too, have traditional family values.

Whether or not these marches are actually typified by hypersexual antics, the point remains that those on the outside looking in sometimes see it that way. We can't just say, "So what? Who cares what your parents think about Pride?" because isn't that missing the point?......

Read more:
Gay Pride in a post-DOMA world - baltimoresun.com

And now we have division even within the LGBT community, some wanting to distance themselves from gay pride, that sure didn't take very long?

Could anyone explain this statement from the article? "and I understand the value of celebrating the queerness of queer"

These kinds of in your face displays incite anger and cause the supposed hatred so many want to blame on religion.

From the article:

And honestly, if my drag queen friend with the less-than-modest chaps asked to march with him to show that I love him, I would do that, too.
It would be hard for me to convince my parents that I take pride in myself were I to march down their block in butt-less chaps and high-heels. I mean, in the proper contexts, sure, those things can be great, campy fun, and I understand the value of celebrating the queerness of queer. But I don't know that those things are really helping me make the case to my parents that gay people, too, have traditional family values.