Christian Group Shows Up To Chicago Gay Pride Holding Apologetic Signs - Page 2

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 6/17/12 at 8:57pm

Honestly, it was on RuPaul's Drag Race this season that the connection of drag queens in Pride celebrations was brought to my attention.

And if one more drag queen tells me that I have to respect them because it was drag queens who started the fight, Im going to punch them. I have ONE friend who does drag who was in the Stonewall Inn that night. She is the ONLY one I respect. I hate it when a mess in a dress uses Stonewall as an excuse of why they should be respected.

Today though, and again, this is from a straight perspective, so if I am off base, I apologize in advance, being gay is defined by many more options for support and avenues to meet other gay men and women than when I grew up.

Yes, you are 100% correct. Back when I turned 18, the clubs were the ONLY place you could go and meet someone, and even then, you were taking your life in your hands. There were always stories of people getting jumped in the parking lots or on their way home.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 6/17/12 at 9:15pm

You know, for years there were plenty of assimilationists who argued that even having a Pride Day at all was "bad for gay people." So, really, you can't win. The event is both a political statement and a celebration. You can get a group of normal looking boring people marching down the street and it may look like 90% of the people in the community, but what that is not is a parade or a celebration.

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 6/18/12 at 4:47am

And if one more drag queen tells me that I have to respect them because ?it was drag queens who started the fight?, I?m going to punch them.

I don't know any drag queens personally anymore, I just meant their general participation in the parade and events. I never got the "why" before that. The show was interesting because the younger queens on the show had no idea about the significance. Some didn't even know a thing about Stonewall. They got a lesson from the older gals.

I have a special place in my heart for drag queens because that was the draw for me to gay bars when I was in my early 20s. I was fat and awkward and didn't know how to talk to people and rather obsessed with my church. I didn't know exactly what was going on with my sexuality. I did, however, love theatre and performance and there was one club, 45 minutes away, with a great cast of performers. I would go with a few friends and sit and watch the show. I got to know a couple of the performers and made some friends at the club. It helped me through some weird crap. For me, a young, bi-whatever kid from a small town, drag queens gave me something I can't even define.

The glitter boys just gave me ecstasy.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 6/18/12 at 7:51am

Chicago Gay Pride is NEXT weekend, so this story must be at least a year old. Still, it is sweet.

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 6/18/12 at 8:27am

I have seen the pic circulating for at least a year. Maybe two.

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 6/18/12 at 10:01am

Somewhere in the comments I read it was from 2010 (I think).

[Jilani]

Posted: 6/18/12 at 10:09am

This discussion reminded me of a classic Onion article:

http://www.theonion.com/articles/gaypride-parade-sets-mainstream-acceptance-of-gays,351/

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 6/18/12 at 2:37pm

I have seen the pic circulating for at least a year. Maybe two.

Ah, I hadn't checked the date or anything, but I thought I'd remembered something like this before. It's even LESS heartening to know it's the same story as before and not someone else.

And while apologizing to gay people is great, it seems like the very least someone could do if they feel their religion is unfairly marginalizing a group of people. Hopefully they're returning to the church to make changes there, where they'd actually matter.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 6/18/12 at 2:52pm

"The show was interesting because the younger queens on the show had no idea about the significance. Some didn't even know a thing about Stonewall. They got a lesson from the older gals."

I'm constantly amazed at how little gay history gays actually know. I remember being very excited because Morris Knight came to see my show and I overheard younger kids complaining, Who brought their grandpa?


If it wasnt for people like him, West Hollywood wouldnt be what it is today. These people put their life on the line to make gay rights happen for us, and younger people dont seem to care. As long as they can get another drink at the bar

[singtopher]

Posted: 6/23/12 at 12:32pm

Im interested to hear thoughts on this video that's been circulating around Facebook. Harvey makes very valid arguments.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_OQeA3GiRw&feature=player_embedded

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 6/23/12 at 1:01pm

"You wanna be represented? Then represent!"

I think what he says is pretty perfect.

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 6/23/12 at 4:09pm

Well, while I do get what he's saying, I think the point is more about percentages. If I show up and just walk with my wife, we are going to be bested, 100 to 1 at the least, by Dykes on Bikes, leather folks and boys in their underwear. Even if we managed to get the numbers to a 50/50 split, it would be nowhere near a representation of how I see gay people as a group.

I don't think someone who doesn't attend or participate in Pride activities is a leech. I don't think a woman walking topless in a parade is doing any work for me while my "lazy butt" sits at home. It's not fair to assume that someone who doesn't like Pride parades isn't protesting, sending donations and fighting the good fight.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 6/23/12 at 5:17pm

And I spent YEARS fighting, and marching and making calls and doing everything Harvey talks about.

So, I can sit here and feel just fine about myself.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 6/23/12 at 5:24pm

He probably didn't mean either of you.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/23/12 at 5:37pm

I have always enjoyed seeing the Dykes on Bikes, the Leather Queens, the Boys in Underwear and the Drag Queens. They're no odder than the people in any other parade. I've always felt their existence encourages ME to be exactly who I am.

In the old days, I used to like to see the Stonewall Veterans--and Rollarena! And I would cry at the moment of silence because I could remember standing there in silence with friends who died the next year or the year after.

I like to see the Gay Bankers and the Gay Lawyers and the Gay Doctors and the Gay Nurses and the Gay Teachers and the Gays in Advertising and the Gays in Publishing and the Gays in whichever corporations decided to allow/sponsor/encourage a gay marching contingent.

And I like seeing the Gay Catholics and the Gay Episcopalians and the Gay Lutherans and the Gay Jews and the Gay Muslims and the Gay Mormons and the Gay Wiccans and the Gays from Latin America and and the Gays from Asia and the Gays from the Pacific Islands and the Gays from places where it's hard to be gay or illegal to be gay.

Then I like to see the gays from this college and that college and the Gays who play sports and the Gays who march with floats from bars and floats from websites. And if they take their shirts off, I just hope they're wearing sunblock.

I like to see the politicians who march with us, some phony, some genuine. It really was a thrill to see Hillary Clinton when she was our senator. It was. It just was. No, I mean it WAS.

And the political floats: In the old days, when we were fighting for our lives, the Act-Up float was always powerful. And I remember Mark Fotopolous, the gorgeous dancer from Cats and West Side Story and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, who used to carry a sign saying "LIVING WITH AIDS 5 YEARS--NO HELP FROM YOU PRESIDENT REAGAN." And the next year, he would cross out the number 5 and write in the number 6, and so on and so on, until one year he wasn't there and he was never there again.

And I love to see the Gays in recovery. I really love to see the Gays in recovery. And the parents of gays. And the grandparents. And now the Gay Parents. And gay grandparents.

Some people say the parades have gotten too wild and too sexual. But there were always people saying that, weren't there? Others say the parades have gotten too tame and too corporate. I guess there were always people saying that too.

Me? I don't care. I'm just glad it happens--with all its excesses.

I mean, consider the alternative.

Updated On: 6/24/12 at 05:37 PM

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 6/23/12 at 5:45pm

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/23/12 at 5:46pm

And here, to make those who are uncomfortable with the excesses even MORE uncomfortable, video of today's annual pre-pride Drag March.

As those old queens used to say, this should really make you clutch those pearls, Mary.
JoeMyGod: At NYC's Drag March

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 6/23/12 at 6:41pm

And I like the gay Mormons...

Because I'll join ANY group that calls themselves MORE MEN!


Thank you!

[Roscoe]

Posted: 6/24/12 at 10:52am

The original story about the Christian Group apologizing is a few years old, and can't really be taken at face value. See below---
Marin Foundation Isn't As Nice As They Pretend To Be

[Scripps2]

Posted: 6/26/12 at 1:43pm

C'mon Roscoe, be reasonable: give those straight alpha-male pastors time to catch up.

I mean, it's only 400 years since they were lopping each others heads and limbs off over that catholic v. protestant issue.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 6/26/12 at 5:26pm

Well yeah, asking people to love one another when they still can't quite grasp the concept of the earth going around the sun is a bit much...