Has Gay Pride Jumped the Shark?- Page 7

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/24/07 at 12:53pm

Off to be a Sugar-Plum Fairy. See ya there, Liverpud!

[broadwaytourist]

Posted: 6/24/07 at 1:17pm

I'm not a gay man, nor do I live in a city with a gay pride parade to speak of though I live in a city of 750,000. I think that fact in itself speaks to the need of continuing pride events. Anyway - I've read this board with some interest because I've heard these arguments for years, and they really don't seem to change much. Why is that I wonder? Could it be that the folks who take issue with the Pride Parade fail to do anything about their criticisms? Or are they content to criticize from the side line without putting themselves out there? My question is why don't you attempt to create a pride event that does reflect your interests, your life, or your political values? How could you be the MLK for your community or your generation without just requesting someone else step up? We all, straight or gay or bi or tranny, need heroes, and there can never be too many. It's all about courage, and your ability to portray it. For some, it may be a public display of the sexuality they've always been taught to conceal. For others it may be coming out at work and fighting the homophobic jokes or comments that litter our lives. So, I say that the parade may not be your perferred event, but you could create one that reflects your personality and goals. The closet is the enemy, not your brothers and sisters.

[DG]

Posted: 6/24/07 at 1:18pm

We have yet ANOTHER gorgeous day here in San Francisco - the weather fairies have been working overtime! And that means that LOTS of the boys will have their shirts off, causing the rest of us to think of NOTHING but SEX, SEX, SEX.

HooRAY!

Have a great and prideful day, everyone - even if you don't get rimmed on the street.

[Evan Almighty]

Posted: 6/24/07 at 1:31pm

My boyfriend at the time and I got our pics taken by Gay.com.

Sadly, that was the highlight of our relationship.

[sondheimboy2]

Posted: 6/24/07 at 2:24pm

After reading seven pages of this stuff, all I have to say is that you should all come see the Pittsburgh PrideFest Parade.

Then you will either want to run back home and kiss the next Speedo clad twink you see in your hometown's parade, or think, in a Linus Van Pelt kind of way, that you have found the most sincere Pumpkin Patch...I mean, Pride Parade...in the world.

Our parade route is barely two miles long. We have no twinks in Speedos on flatbed trucks. We barely have any floats and what ones we have are more about themes. Pride, Unity, etc.

We do have drag queens. Many groups have contests to find a "Miss" for their group or store. They usually ride in the back of a convertable the way that homecoming queens do.

Most of the other vehicles are trucks with the staff from the various gay bars in the city who will toss out beads or candy to what crowds there are. The rest of the parade are groups marching. I march with the city's gay and lesbian choir.

We walk down Fifth Avenue, cross one of the bridges and end up in a park area between the football and the baseball stadiums. There is a stage for various performances (with a truly crappy sound system) and many booths lining the area. Most are for groups that had already marched in the choir. There are a few merchants there selling various "Pride" paraphenalia. Last Saturday, I got a t-shirt, flyers from every group, and, at the booth from the County Health Department, I got an AIDS and a syphilus test and all the pens and other freebies that I could stuff in my pockets. (After a good PrideFest, you don't have to buy a pen for months.)

The "official" PrideFest festivities are usually over by about five o'clock.

And, actually, it's only been the past few years that we have been marching downtown. At my first parade, about seven years ago, the parade route was through a suburban, mostly Jewish neighborhood. Then for a few years, we would march in the closest thing that Pittsburgh has to a "Gay" neighborhood.

It's a rather lame "Pride Parade", I know. But, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else on that day.

Pittsburgh has a rather Closeted mentality and we have to be out there to let everyone else know that we are there.

When I saw the title of this tread, I was going to reply that in Pittsburgh it isn't so much a case of "jumping the Shark" so much as it is "stepping over the Guppy," but, I'm not feeling that way about it anymore.

[harris007]

Posted: 6/25/07 at 9:58am

woo

[Kringas]

Posted: 6/25/07 at 10:18am

Indeed.

[harris007]

Posted: 6/25/07 at 10:20am

it wasnt a good woo

[Kringas]

Posted: 6/25/07 at 10:21am

You're disappointed there was no public rimming?

[harris007]

Posted: 6/25/07 at 10:25am

ugh helll no


im still very ticked, y'all jumpped all over that one guy cus he did'nt wanna be flag waver etc etc

[Unknown User]

Posted: 6/25/07 at 10:25am

Kringas I didn't go but saw the TV coverage-- what a diverse crowd! I even saw some Republicans there-- and in chicago that is a rare sight indeed!

I'm glad you had fun- I always had a blast at the parade. No shark jumping at all.

[Kringas]

Posted: 6/25/07 at 10:32am

Was it that he wouldn't be a flag waver, harris, or that he was rendering a judgement on something had never attended?

At any rate, JoeKev, it was a total blast. Too many damn people on Halsted, so we moved over to Broadway where there was some breathing room. Next year I've got to remember to bring some sort of bag with me, as I was unprepared for all the schwag I got from the paraders.

[harris007]

Posted: 6/25/07 at 10:35am

that he would'nt


and y'all were like well your self loathing.

it's not for everyone, i wont do it, and yes i've been to disney gay days once, NEVER again

[Kringas]

Posted: 6/25/07 at 10:55am

And yet you keep posting.

[RobbO]

Posted: 6/25/07 at 10:57am

harris, people were not outraged at the poster regarding attending the event, it was about the person's mentality regarding gay pride just being about public sex and making a spectacle of oneself.

i didn't attend pride but i know the event (and the mentality about why we have it and why it is important) should continue if for no other reason than to give people a chance to feel a sense of belonging and normalcy - whether normal is wearing a tee-shirt and shorts or a tiara and ball gown.

Updated On: 6/25/07 at 10:57 AM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/25/07 at 11:01am

Or shorts but no t-shirt.

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 6/25/07 at 11:04am

Yeah Harris...I don't think anyone was mad that he didn't go. I can understand why some people wouldn't want to go. I know big crowds get to me sometimes and I often have to remove myself to a street that's a little less crowded so I can catch my breath.

One of my favorite parts of Pride every year is riding the PATH train home to Jersey City late at night. I love being in a car with the kids from Jersey City/Newark who are being out and proud and as loud as they want to be. Doing runway down the train isle, vouging etc. Just having a good time. It's also amusing to watch the faces of some of the unsuspecting straight folks who happen to be on the train too.

[harris007]

Posted: 6/25/07 at 11:13am

kringas

i'm posting to get a dialogue going with out name calling , or label slapping.

[Kringas]

Posted: 6/25/07 at 11:33am

who are being out and proud and as loud as they want to be. Doing runway down the train isle, vouging etc.

Oooh, that's the kind of stuff the detractors hate!

[harris007]

Posted: 6/25/07 at 11:53am

sigh

[Kringas]

Posted: 6/25/07 at 11:55am

Indeed.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 6/25/07 at 11:56am

"i'm posting to get a dialogue going with out name calling , or label slapping. "

Fag

[harris007]

Posted: 6/25/07 at 11:58am

dont know why i bother

[SonofMammaMiaSam]

Posted: 6/25/07 at 11:59am

We finally agree on something.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 6/25/07 at 12:00pm

Oh, come here and let me give you and your cow a hug!