Can Someone Explain Gay Pride To Me?

[SanFranciscan]

I go to the Gay Pride Parade during years that I am not scheduled to work that day because it is usually very entertaining. However, I really don't get the concept of gay pride. To me the concept is about as alien as obligatory gay shame. To say that a homosexual person is gay is like saying that a person with red hair is a redhead. It is just a statement of fact. Does anyone here understand what I am saying?

 

[rosiep]

I think what your saying is..you haven't chosen to be gay..it's innate, and so having pride in something that you had no control over seems silly? Is that it? The idea that you would celebrate something that's just natural?
I get your point...but Pride is celebrated because the sad truth is, that as God given as being Gay is..it's still looked down upon and not to long ago our celebrations would have been had to been done in private. It's a chance for people to see their not alone and that who they are is nothing to apologize or be ashamed for....
Society never makes a redhead feel bad ......

 

[Kaler131]

Society never makes a redhead feel bad ......

But, society sometimes makes blondes feel bad (with all of the blonde jokes)...LOL!

 

[Mackey Mouse]

"Society never makes a redhead feel bad."

I am thinking I wish my daughter would post here her experiences of being tortured for being a redhead.....things like.. Hey Red... or the old tried and true, I'd rather be dead than red in the head.. and trust me there are more hurtful, mean things that people say to anyone who is just a little different, in her case having red hair...

Personally, I think red hair is beautiful, blondes are smart people, and my gay friends are the best..

 

[rosiep]

I was using "redheads" as an example because the OP did..but I know you understand my point....

I dye my hair red so I must love it....but children can be cruel and I can relate to being picked on for being "different". It doesn't matter why...children sense your insecurities and hone in on them.
Mackey Mouse..please give your daughter a hug for me.

 

[wallyb]

I dye my hair red so I must love it

You do! Wow, I was tatally bamboozled

 

[wallyb]

...blondes are smart people...

Ye s we is off ten smat peepole 2!

 

[Mackey Mouse]

Oh Rosie, I knew what you meant.....no worries..

I love red hair.. did you know that as redheads get older, their red hair turns blonde... oh goody..

Also, that redheads are a thing of the past, whatever genetically produced redheads. http://www.mychagrin.net/public/Lists/HSNewspaper/DispForm.aspx?ID=17

I have 3 daughters, one redhead...genetically I was surprised when she was born. You never know, all had the same father, two brunettes, one redhead..

No milkman, mailman jokes please.

 

[wallyb]

No milkman, mailman jokes please.

YOU'RE NOT MY MOMMY...

YOU CAN'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!

 

[chip007]

As a lesbian redhead, I have a lot to say on this topic.

First, I think the comparison to redheads is a good one. Redheads come in all shapes, sizes and backgrounds but we share something in common that makes us unique -- not better or worse -- just different.

I remember one day about 12 years ago getting on a subway car that was moderately full and for some reason about 80% of the people on the car had red hair. We all just looked around and smiled. No one said anything but we all knew it was unusual for us to be the majority for that brief moment. The comparison is pretty clear.

If you're not comfortable with that comparison, think of Gay Pride as the gay St. Patrick's Day where everyone gets to celebrate gay and lesbian history and culture and everyone is at least a little gay that day.

Finally, if you're still not comfortable, remember that the Gay Pride celebrations are really political marches to commemorate the Stonewall Riots and the start of the modern gay movement. Even if you don't think of being gay as something to be "proud" of, you can still be proud of the men and women who fought to get us to this point.

 

[SanFranciscan]

Gay Pride is St. Patrick's for gays?! That is amusing. I had a co-worker who was proud to be Irish Catholic. As a matter of fact, she had red hair too. I don't think my comparison would have worked on her though.

She once told me on lunch break that she had told both her son and daughter that they could do anything else, including be a criminal, but that they had better not be gay. I do think that the co-worker who set her off did cross the line talking about his sex life when nobody cared, but she reacted so strongly that I tried to make a joke about it and said that if not for gays we wouldn't have a decent boutique in this city. She was not amused.

I do think that redheads and blondes take their lumps as people have mentioned here. I remember a newspaper article from last year about how disappointed British parents were if their child was born a "ginger" and how redheads had faced discrimination since Shakespearean times. Of course people who consider themselves much to progressive to ridicule kinky hair or slanted eyes have no problem with it being forever open season on a blue-eyed blonde, as if that weren't racist, because anybody called anti-racist or anti-Nazi just automatically becomes a very moral person. I know someone who seriously damaged her scalp dyeing her hair to "look smarter" without what I had considered lovely yellow hair. On that note the points made by some here are taken.

I go to Gay Pride when I can because it is THE event in this city.

 

[Disney_Villain]

However, I really don't get the concept of gay pride. To say that a homosexual person is gay is like saying that a person with red hair is a redhead. It is just a statement of fact. Does anyone here understand what I am saying?

Oh, yes. DH and I are "out" at work and in every circle we are involved with. We know that we've done more to influence people's opinions of gays by being "out" this way (and by openly talking about our legal marriage, when the topic comes up) than by marching in a Pride parade. By being who we are and not hiding it, we do affect opinions of those around us with no direct effort on our part.

 

[kingLouiethe1]

I think the answer to all of this is to have Rosie organize a redhead pride parade where redheads can feel free to be themselves, even the poseur redheads.

 

[SFBayDon]

First it is a great celebration. Although we live in the south bay we get a hotel room with friends from out of the area and enjoy the weekend. I was luckily enough to be born and raised within 20 miles of SF so my version of gay pride is a little skewed. For me coming out and being gay so close to SF was not a big deal. Learning from others outside of a metropolitan city like SF their experiences are very very different.

Second, as mentioned earlier in this thread this was more of a protest (show of visibility) in the very beginning for people to stand up and be counted. Here we are thirty some years later and again we need to stand up and be counted as the marriage amendment is on the ballet in California for November. If you look at most of the parades and events in SF these are all people celebrating an attribute of who they are. From the Chinese New Year parade, St Patrick’s Day parade, etc.

For me it is just part of who I am. I listen to podcasts about Disney, Oprah, gay couples, travel, and NPR. These are all parts of who I am. For me gay pride is a way to see friends, observe the community at the fair and also just be out with people who share a common part of my life. Just like the people on these boards share the Disney part of my life. As for the red head comments my partner is one of the most beautiful read head (red goatee) men alive and I am so thankful for his red hair, blue eyes, and gay jeans……he he

I hope I do not sound too preachy, if I am then I apologize in advance. We are so fortunate that at this point in our life we can be gay, out, and have rights without the challenges the generations of gay people before I had to endure.
Don

 

[rosiep]

I think the answer to all of this is to have Rosie organize a redhead pride parade where redheads can feel free to be themselves, even the poseur redheads.

Everyday is a parade for me....just ask my family...always dancing to the music in my head...

 

[chip007]

I think the answer to all of this is to have Rosie organize a redhead pride parade where redheads can feel free to be themselves, even the poseur redheads.

It's been done. I don't know whether they still do it, but back in the day (feeling my age) every year at the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival they used to hold a redheads parade.