MY FIRST PRIDE
So Pride was interesting. For years, I have been foiled by events ranging from rain to capitalists to opportunistic xenophobes - and it's finally my time to shine. So why was it so underwhelming?
On the one hand I can totally see the point and it's a really really good and positive thing, on the other hand, apart from sleeping with members of the same sex, I just plain didn't have that much in common with most of the people there - it was a bit like marching with all the other tall guys in town, or all the people who have brown hair.
Of course, no-one ever got persecuted or murdered on account of hair colour, but I did feel like a bit of an exhibitionist at times. I had this very bad home made cardboard sign that said "BI PRIDE" and I thought "What am I, bragging?" On reflection though, I suppose Pride is about being out of the closet, and I was there for all the people who are in the closet right now. And that's a good and worthwhile thing to do.
I got stuck behind the militant activist bloc as well which really irritated me, as all I wanted to do was have a laugh and hang out and maybe meet men, and all they wanted to do was rant and rave about Russia and unfair immigration laws and stuff. Which is totally what it's all about of course - they just seemed like people who could never, ever relax and taste the ice cream, enjoy the fact that we were mainstream now and have won the argument. I suppose that's a good thing, eternal vigilance being the price of freedom and all that - but I don't see anyone being upset about how massively commercialized the whole thing has become -to the point where one year, they actually charged admission!
There's also this really annoying assumption in the gay culture that you have to look and behave in a certain camp way, which I personally find really offensive and annoying.
You might not know this, but to be gay, it isn't enough to be sexually attracted to members of the same gender. You also have to have an outgoing personality, have to be sexually aggressive (T-shirt of the day: "Some men have cunts. Get over it!"), you have to be either very effeminate or very masculine, and you absolutely must cling to poor taste in clothes and music. And that person just isn't me, that is a completely fake demographic dreamed up by homophobes and ad-men, and it irritates me to see people play up to that stereotype. And of course, if you don't behave like this, you are a Bad Gay, as that is called being Straight Acting and it is BAD. Not that the above stereotypical laffs ever put anybody off coming out or anything. Oh no.
FFS, it doesn't even work as a way of recognizing other gay people; for a while now it's been trendy for a lot of straights to act gay (for some reason), which makes things quite awkward if you don't really get on with the gay scene as my gaydar is now irretrievably busted forever. Which is why I've started going to events like PRIDE. I just never felt the need when the gay scene wasn't so crappy - in the 90s and noughties, every weekend was Pride as far as I was concerned.
Highlight of the day: Popped in to the marquee tent to visit a straight friend who was doing the Green Party stall (the Bi Visibles didn't have a stall - just not quite visible enough, I guess) and noticed a Liberal Democrat sign placed just below eye level. Ah, I thought, the Shame parade, for people who are ashamed of their political orientation. It looked abandoned apart from one lone, very sad looking Liberal Democrat staffing the stall, which was politely, yet utterly snubbed by everyone present. People just walked right past it. Warmed the cockles of my heart, that did.
On the one hand I can totally see the point and it's a really really good and positive thing, on the other hand, apart from sleeping with members of the same sex, I just plain didn't have that much in common with most of the people there - it was a bit like marching with all the other tall guys in town, or all the people who have brown hair.
Of course, no-one ever got persecuted or murdered on account of hair colour, but I did feel like a bit of an exhibitionist at times. I had this very bad home made cardboard sign that said "BI PRIDE" and I thought "What am I, bragging?" On reflection though, I suppose Pride is about being out of the closet, and I was there for all the people who are in the closet right now. And that's a good and worthwhile thing to do.
I got stuck behind the militant activist bloc as well which really irritated me, as all I wanted to do was have a laugh and hang out and maybe meet men, and all they wanted to do was rant and rave about Russia and unfair immigration laws and stuff. Which is totally what it's all about of course - they just seemed like people who could never, ever relax and taste the ice cream, enjoy the fact that we were mainstream now and have won the argument. I suppose that's a good thing, eternal vigilance being the price of freedom and all that - but I don't see anyone being upset about how massively commercialized the whole thing has become -to the point where one year, they actually charged admission!
There's also this really annoying assumption in the gay culture that you have to look and behave in a certain camp way, which I personally find really offensive and annoying.
You might not know this, but to be gay, it isn't enough to be sexually attracted to members of the same gender. You also have to have an outgoing personality, have to be sexually aggressive (T-shirt of the day: "Some men have cunts. Get over it!"), you have to be either very effeminate or very masculine, and you absolutely must cling to poor taste in clothes and music. And that person just isn't me, that is a completely fake demographic dreamed up by homophobes and ad-men, and it irritates me to see people play up to that stereotype. And of course, if you don't behave like this, you are a Bad Gay, as that is called being Straight Acting and it is BAD. Not that the above stereotypical laffs ever put anybody off coming out or anything. Oh no.
FFS, it doesn't even work as a way of recognizing other gay people; for a while now it's been trendy for a lot of straights to act gay (for some reason), which makes things quite awkward if you don't really get on with the gay scene as my gaydar is now irretrievably busted forever. Which is why I've started going to events like PRIDE. I just never felt the need when the gay scene wasn't so crappy - in the 90s and noughties, every weekend was Pride as far as I was concerned.
Highlight of the day: Popped in to the marquee tent to visit a straight friend who was doing the Green Party stall (the Bi Visibles didn't have a stall - just not quite visible enough, I guess) and noticed a Liberal Democrat sign placed just below eye level. Ah, I thought, the Shame parade, for people who are ashamed of their political orientation. It looked abandoned apart from one lone, very sad looking Liberal Democrat staffing the stall, which was politely, yet utterly snubbed by everyone present. People just walked right past it. Warmed the cockles of my heart, that did.