Where do I go to be gay?

[profundis]

So, I didn't go to Pride this year.  I told other people about it and encouraged some to go, and even thought about it a couple times, but ultimately decided to be there in spirit instead.  I still gayed it up some this weekend - went for a group bear haircut at Crazy Dave's, looked at books with hawt menz in them at the bookstore and shot 10 dozen

Comments

[barankhy]

As for the pride stuff, I like to see it the way Dan Savage put it - that it was once used as an antidote against society's stigma of shame, similarily to the women's rights movement's "Equality now!" and the Civil Rights movement's "Black Power", only that the "You're gay - BE PROUD!" is rather overdone these days.

And it gets way too much into some people's heads, like evidenced here.

[profundis]

Well what can you say, some people are just crazy fuckers. There's a big difference between living consciously and without shame versus being a hubris-ridden butthole. :)

[barankhy]

What have the assholes done to you to compare them so badly?

Please, think of the assholes. They think of you, licking them.

[profundis]

[profundis]

I see you shiver, with antici...

[joshjeffcoat]

oh that's just wrong

[profundis]

...pation!

[bookbear]

I can remember when I would have been petrified to read magazines like Out or Advocate or A Bear's Life in the store for fear someone would know I was a homo!

I was never afraid to read those. Hell, I still remember when I got caught by the convenient store clerk when I was, like 11 or 12 looking at the Playgirl.

But I'd be afraid of being caught reading them now. But that's just cuz they (mostly, but not always, but mostly) are an embarrassing pile of literary suckage.

You said this better than I could have. I was gonna have my "anti-pride parade how boring it all is but sometimes it's okay cuz I forget that for some people it's still new so keep it going I guess *le sigh*" post. And now I don't have to.

Well, maybe I still will.

[profundis]

Hmm. Well good for you that you were so precocious, but that certainly doesn't apply to all the lil newly minted 'mos. They have the rest of their lives to develop their standards and decide what pop culture things to snub and which to embrace...as long as they get out of their parents' house/ Hickville alive.

[bookbear]

Well, yeah, exactly, which is why I did just post something about it, and hopefully left it with the idea that while I may not get a huge amount out of it, it's still important because each year, it's someone's first Pride, and therefore fresh, exciting, and relevant.

[profundis]

If you want to see it all fresh and new, go with some newbies and watch their faces.

[reslbear]

isn't just being gay enough?

I skipped it this year also. It just wasn't in me.

[profundis]

In light of the Aaron Hall killing I'm not so sure. Not being gay, but being visibly gay seems to be helping increase the percentage of people who approve of/ don't disapprove of homosexuality, at least according to Dan Savage. Pride may seem tired and commercial now, but visibility and networking still serve their purpose.

You're allowed to skip a parade, festival or run now and then and still keep your gay card. Its in the bi-laws. ;)

[reslbear]

how would my being visible help that? I mean I could beat the fuck out of them but problly not save a life.

I'm just a big old "mo

[profundis]

It is easy for people to demonize what doesn't have a familiar face. By being "out" your friends family neighbors and coworkers all have to reconcile their relationship with you against "the gays" that they hear about on TV, etc. I know things are better now than 20 years ago, but there are still plenty of places where the "threat of the gay agenda" holds sway and it's tougher to fear/hate/oppress people for something like their sexual orientation when you realize your own loved one IS one. ;)

[darkmirth]

hear hear!
Its rational well reasoned posts like that that make my adoration for you swell ever so much. :)

[profundis]

I hope the swelling never goes down!

Wait, um, that sounded odd...

[darkmirth]

Hrm. Not really. My swelling for you shall never go down. Unless I have recently gone down on your swelling...
Hrm I am being vulgar now.
I apologize.