Hi to everybody...before I begin this post, it's not an invitation for gay bashing. I want to know, along with other people, why gay men and women find it necessary to dress up in bizarre outfits and parade themselves in public? I don't understand why they should wish to do this, because I'm not wholly sure that it is doing them any favours amongst the heterosexual population who have fully accepted that they are part and parcel of our world now and perfectly entitled to live the way they wish...
Does anybody else feel this way or can explain to me why they feel the necessity to do this? It could be classified as fun, but I'm not sure it's having that effect on many people, and could be undoing many of the advances they have made in being accepted as having a life style of their choice.
I'm aware this post could open a can of worms, but I have stressed at the start of this post, it's not an invite to bash gays...it's a legitimate question as far as I am concerned and I hope to get some thoughtful responses.
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SeasideMan
Pro - 2009-07-08 @ 13:33:50
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jenray
Pro - http://www.jenniferhunter.co.uk
- 2009-07-08 @ 14:36:52
Okay, I can accept that, but women didn't go out and celebrate their right to vote and to stop being repressed in this manner so why do gay people feel that they have to do this? And fair enough, it is a good excuse for a party, but focusing on only one element of our society does cause some people to feel rather overwhelmed by such a blatant display...
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SeasideMan
Pro
- 2009-07-08 @ 14:43:54
I don't know why women didn't do that - maybe they should have done - but blacks did: Black Pride marches are very common as are all sorts of other events to make politically black people less sidelined.
Regarding "focusing on only one element of our society", would you like to see the Paralympics disbanded?-
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jenray
Pro
- http://www.jenniferhunter.co.uk
- 2009-07-08 @ 15:01:53
Paralympics aren't displays of one's chosen life style, but disabled sportsmen and women who have overcome often huge handicaps to excel at their chosen field of excellence...there's no comparison, Tom...one display is pure entertainment while the other is based on a huge amount of hard work and talent...And women were wise enough to realize you don't rub your success into the faces of the men who finally gave them freedom to be themselves...LOL...Sorry, I didn't realize we had Black Pride marches here...they get very little publicity...the Notting Hill Carnival is also very different a celebration...not so exclusive I would have thought as the gay pride celebrations...I don't know of many other exclusive celebrations that take place in the UK regularly every year...which ones are you referring to? And when was the last Black Pride march here in the UK?
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SeasideMan
Pro
- 2009-07-08 @ 15:19:13
This is the UK Black Pride organization:
http://www.ukblackpride.org.uk/
I think you're missing the point somewhat by calling pride marches "pure entertainment". There is still a great deal of anti-gay prejudice that needs highlighting.
And perhaps if more women had been more active then progress towards equality might have have been more rapid.-
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jenray
Pro
- http://www.jenniferhunter.co.uk
- 2009-07-08 @ 15:38:05
Oh, that's interesting...it's only been around for four years...no wonder I missed it...
This is a new phenomena...sorry, Tom, but I think this is jumping on the band wagon...if the gays can do it, so can we...let's all celebrate our differences??? What's to celebrate there? I would much rather celebrate our common humanity and how bloody brilliant it is that we're all one big family...now that's worth celebrating...our sexual preferences or the colour of our skin or our sex for that matter is relatively unimportant when it comes to considering who we really are and what we belong to...but maybe that's just me being short sighted...and women gained their freedom by the willingness of others to die for them and to be tortured for them, modern women often forget that but even those who do remember still find no real necessity to go out onto the streets to dress up and parade themselves publicly...seems it's not in our nature to do that...the danger of exclusive large displays is that they celebrate otherness and I don't think that's healthy for our society...-
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SeasideMan
Pro
- 2009-07-08 @ 15:45:05
But clearly we are not all one big family and all the racism, sexism and homophobia in the world proves that. It's better to air all these issues in public than try to sweep them under the carpet and pretend they don't exist.
It's all very well for you to say that sexual preference isn't important, but you aren't one of the people being homophobically abused on a daily basis.
And you can generalise about women if you like, but there are lots of women who do go out on the streets and parade - the gay pride marches are full of women, lesbians and straight women who support the cause and those who merely want a good time in an inclusive and friendly environment.
Maybe you should go join in with one of the Pride events and you'd see that it isn't about Otherness, it's about the right to be an individual, to be yourself freely and without censure or criticism.
Tom.-
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jenray
Pro
- http://www.jenniferhunter.co.uk
- 2009-07-08 @ 16:25:32
Surely we should be aiming for that? Why do you think that by not holding these parades, all the issues will be swept under the carpet? It really doesn't follow that this will happen...and interesting point about the participants in the gay pride marches...I know many people join in them to add their support to the cause and to have a good time in an inclusive and friendly environment as you put it...but 'support the cause' implies that the celebration is of otherness and the right to be so...trying not to be nit picking here, but just because we haven't achieved one big family yet doesn't mean to say that we should encourage exclusive displays...I'm sure you see Pride events as an expression of the right to be an individual, to be yourself freely and without censure or criticism, but we have made considerable advances over the last few decades to achieve a cosmopolitan society and one where gay people can live openly and without repression of their civil rights - admittedly some way to go in both situations - unfortunately, not everybody can accept either of those two aspects of our society and it is very hard indeed to change some people's minds that both are fair and just...all the people who participate in these celebrations are already accepting of both a cosmopolitan society and the rights of individuals to be themselves...the people who resist change are not going to be persuaded that both are good if they are presented with such an overwhelming display of confident power, which is basically what such displays are...I'm well aware that I'm fighting a losing battle here, Tom, as whatever I say isn't going to change anyone's mind, but I am trying very hard to see the good in such parades, and so far I'm not convinced....
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SeasideMan
Pro
- 2009-07-08 @ 17:30:23
Indeed, aiming for a future free of prejudice is a very good thing, but there is a long way to go yet. Fighting that prejudice can take many forms and one of those forms is to show a lot of people having fun in public without trouble. But I think these parades achieve more than that, they also give a chance for those who live repressed lives perhaps because of family or peer resistance to, for once, let their hair down and be themselves.
I'm sure you're aware of the Bournemouth Gay Pride march this weekend:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/dorset/8140608.stm
"Organisers said that the event was held to celebrate the community after a far right organisation said it was planning to visit Bournemouth to preach against homosexuality"
Responding to such criticisms with a parade seems entirely reasonable to me.
Tom.-
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jenray
Pro
- http://www.jenniferhunter.co.uk
- 2009-07-08 @ 19:10:59
Yes, I'm aware of it, which is why I asked the question...LOL...I think you should read Lander's response...it's very interesting...the Moral Maze is on this subject tonight...as I said to Lynda, I've just prefigured it...LOL...I guess my reaction to such criticism would be to react with dignity...I find it difficult to see much dignity in a Gay Pride Parade, but I am probably far too uptight in that respect, but from experience of rejection, Tom, throughout my life...
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SeasideMan
Pro
- 2009-07-08 @ 19:29:02
Yup, I saw his response and his is just one person's view. As I responded there, you could do with getting a view from a gay supporter too.
Dignity is a state of mind and it's perfectly possible to be dignified while naked, or even when wearing a leopardskin thong. You might not see dignity, but perhaps it is there anyway. But even if it isn't, I still applaud the individuality and sense of fun.
I come from a different angle to you here though, I think. I've been going to hippy festivals for over 25 years and seeing people of all ages and sexualities in outrageous outfits is commonplace for me. When I see a Pride Parade, I just see normal people dressed in a variety of ways having fun - nothing more.
Tom.-
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jenray
Pro
- http://www.jenniferhunter.co.uk
- 2009-07-08 @ 19:50:49
We went to a quite a few in our time...
And we were hippies for most of our lives together and wore different clothes from straights but we were wearing them all the time not just for show at a particular time...but they stopped being hippy festivals in the end and just became festivals for those who had enough money to go to them...now straights and maybe a few old hippies go to them but the ethos behind them has gone completely...and the music too...bread heads week end fling with mud and drugs and hopefully some sex thrown in with the music...
I can see you bristling with indignation...HLOL...we're older than you so remember the very first ones over here, and they were very different from what you have now... -
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SeasideMan
Pro
- 2009-07-08 @ 20:09:53
You're assuming a few inaccurate things there, but I'll say no more...
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lyndlj
- 2009-07-08 @ 15:46:00
Black pride parades are not a new phenomina, they have been around since the sixties and seventies, long before the gay rights ones
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jenray
Pro
- http://www.jenniferhunter.co.uk
- 2009-07-08 @ 16:28:12
I'll take your word for it...Tom's site said it was their fourth year of Black Pride marches in the UK so I believed it...
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lyndlj
- 2009-07-08 @ 16:34:28
Lol, thank you Jen, I have it in one of my text books somewhere will see if I can find it
Black pride wasn't recognised for a long time, it was apparently called something else but cannot remember the name, there were quite a few marches in Scotland I do believe, but not 100% sure when that was. It is all in my text book though so will look it out -
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freeasthewind
- 2009-07-08 @ 13:55:55
I think Tom has it. I use to wondder that too. But I think Tom has it too. Hugs
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jenray
Pro
- http://www.jenniferhunter.co.uk
- 2009-07-08 @ 14:40:03
I don't think it's a sufficient answer to my concerns that they not furthering their cause...full acceptance doesn't come from bombarding the non gays with displays like we witness in gay pride celebrations...if anything, it can raise hackles or outright hostility, which is a great shame...
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lyndlj
- 2009-07-08 @ 14:07:18
Well to be honest, the Hetrosexual population have not fully accepted who and what they gay population are, if they had the laws that are now in place would be scrapped and new laws would be brought in that fully comprehend the rights of the gays to have the same rights as Hetrosexuals.
Having said that there are some that dress flambouyantly but then there are hetrosexuals who do too only they dont have gay slogans printed on their clothes
I guess when Gays were first allowed their 'freedom' from repression it was done as an expression of this, I suppose there are those that wish to keep on expressing it.-
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jenray
Pro
- http://www.jenniferhunter.co.uk
- 2009-07-08 @ 14:48:29
I can fully understand such displays when gay people first acquired acceptance and wanted to celebrate it, but now that a great deal of progress has been made, though obviously not enough in many gay people's views, surely it's a good thing to ease off on these gay pride marches and displays...I don't know...it's why I wanted to find out what other people here thought...and I don't think the heterosexual population who are hesitating at accepting gay people are going to change their minds when they see these displays, if anything, they're going to retreat even further into their bigotry and hostility towards them...Also, I don't think there are that many heterosexuals who dress that flamboyantly...LOL...have gay slogans on t.shirts to broadcast life style preferences if that's what a gay man or woman wants to do but why continue with the displays every year?
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lyndlj
- 2009-07-08 @ 15:13:31
But could the same not be said about the Notting Hill carnival and many other herterosexual parades? what is the need for it every year?
The fact is that Gay people had to fight and still have to fight for recognition to be able to be who they are, why should they then slink quietly into a corner so that people can forget about them and hope they have gone away?
Prejudice will always be there, without people to stand up and say I am who I am and what I am those prejudices cannot be fought.
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jenray
Pro
- http://www.jenniferhunter.co.uk
- 2009-07-08 @ 15:27:48
I think I have answered this question to Tom already so won't repeat myself again...
I don't think they have to slink away into a corner, Lynda...LOL...they'll never do that...and you don't have to be so upfront in the hope of reminding people you're still here and still fighting for your rights...as I said to Tom, women don't do that...and we're still fighting for some of our rights to be upheld...we were just as repressed for centuries as the gays, and considered property for many centuries but never felt the necessity to hold Women's Pride marches or flamboyant celebrations...And I'm still trying to find out what other exclusive parades take place every year that both you and Tom have mentioned...LOL...-
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lyndlj
- 2009-07-08 @ 15:40:56
The Notting hill carnival is widely publicised each year, we in our town and in many other towns have Gala processions, every year, Tom has already mentioned the Black rights parades and I am sure if I googled I could find many more.
If I remember rightly did not women chain themselves to the railings outside the houses of parliment?
You also have to remember that society itself has changed from the times that you are quoting, it was actually illegal to hold marches or even meetings by women for womens rights, so they were breaking the law and had to be more careful, it no longer is,women are no longer repressed in the same way, and can express themselves in higher places,repression now comes from the exact same old fashioned prejudices that gays face.
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jenray
Pro
- http://www.jenniferhunter.co.uk
- 2009-07-08 @ 16:02:58
The Notting Hill carnival is not exclusive...it embraces everybody in that area and so do Gala processions, and Black Pride has only been doing it for four years...I'm not anti carnivals or parades at all, I'm just concerned about exclusive ones that appear to celebrate otherness...seems to me to be self defeating in the end...integration is what is sought so by stressing otherness so deliberately seems to be contrary to their desires to be fully accepted...And yes, I do know that when the suffragettes were trying to achieve women's rights marches and meetings were banned or broken up, but even now that they aren't holding celebrations, women do not have exclusive parades...gay women might, but women in general do not seem to do this...
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lyndlj
- 2009-07-08 @ 16:18:39
Black pride has been around longer than four years, I had to do a thesis on it for one of my courses in psychology, they have been around since the sixties though the seventies were one of the focal points for both black pride and gay rights.
And women did do the public flamboyance, there was the burning of the bra demonstrations led by Germain Greer and other memebrs of the womens lib organisation, with huge bonfires being lit in the middle of the streets. These were exclusive parades and meetings, so yes women do and have done it.
You say that the other things mentioned are not exclusive, well neither are the gay rights marches, I know quite a few hetrosexuals that go on the marches with their gay friends, nothing is exclusive if you want to join in.
Integration is not what they are seeking, acceptance of what and who they are is what they are seeking, and why should otherness not be celebrated? We pride ourselves on being a modern, forward thinking society yet stick to the same old principles of frowning on difference to the point of prejudice.-
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jenray
Pro
- http://www.jenniferhunter.co.uk
- 2009-07-08 @ 16:50:31
Damn, I'd forgotten all about the burning of our bras with Germaine Greer...never had a bra to burn so missed out on that...LOL...thanks for reminding me and about Black Pride marches...the answers here are overlapping somewhat with Tom's as both of you are making very similar points in your responses...you say they're not seeking integration...that's interesting...so exactly what are they seeking?...acceptance implies integration...you're not suggesting they want to remain apart are you, because then I really do think the displays are not good...you believe we are a modern, forward thinking society...I think we're a very long way off that yet...the strongest voices get the results they desire in the end, and there is a very powerful gay lobby determined to get their full rights accorded to them and rightly so...I've no problem with that whatsoever, but simply because a part of our society achieves acceptance under the law doesn't mean that society in general embraces them with open arms yet...it takes time for generations who have lived with gay people in particular more or less invisible to die out and a new generation to just accept them as part and parcel of everyday life...in that respect, it's relatively early days for our society to become a fully integrated society for race, colour, creeds or sexual preferences...I suppose I'm prejudiced against the celebration of 'otherness' because I fall into that category with my physical deformity being so obvious...only somebody who has no defining 'otherness' would advocate celebrating it, because, believe me, it is excruciatingly painful to be held apart because of your otherness...it is for this reason that I find celebrations of otherness a mystery to me...
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lyndlj
- 2009-07-08 @ 17:28:26
Ahh, now I see why you need the answers.
Thats a whole different set of prejudices, we are talking here about peoples reluctance to accept that which is looked upon as a chosen way of life, not that which chooses you. People have a reluctance to look upon that which they cannot explain, it isnt that many years ago that disabilities and deformities were looked upon as the work of the devil.
One of my oldest friends has a son that is deformed and chronically disabled, he cannot speak properly or walk properly, me I love him to bits, I have minded him since he was born on and off. I have taken him into town and had people cross the road so they dont have to pass him, sad isn't it, that our otherness cannot be looked upon as just being part of us and who we are.-
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jenray
Pro
- http://www.jenniferhunter.co.uk
- 2009-07-08 @ 18:59:50
I was thinking of the effect upon people if disabled people decided to have a Disabled Pride parade dressed up in bizarre and flamboyant outfits...I fear many would look upon it as a freak show...I cannot rid myself of the feeling when I look at the Gay Pride marches that I'm viewing a similar thing...how many people secretly regard the participants as freaks showing off and challenging people to reject them at their cost...you're right, it isn't many years ago that people regarded disabilities and deformities as the work of the devil, and still today, in certain parts of the Christian world, we are seen as punishments from God...the strange thing is...I've posted this question today, and tonight on the Moral Maze, they're asking the same question about Gay Pride...I've just prefigured it...again...have a habit of doing that...LOL...I think the Bishop, who has declared it a sin, is going to be interviewed or is on the programme...wonder what will come up in it...
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lyndlj
- 2009-07-08 @ 19:13:03
Well, once again showing off my learning talents, the disabled did just that, it wasn't called Disabled pride it was about Disabled rights though.
The right to be able to live the same kind of life as able bodied people, and they got many things done, but it took many lobbies and lots of hard work to get as far as they have.
And yes people do regard them as freaks, both the disabled and the gay and anyone who is slightly different to what people class as ordinary,but, how many people do not know someone that is gay? Probably a lot more by the way than those that know someone who is disbled. And how many of those gay people are actually as flambouyant as those ones?
So you see in a way they are doing a service, because they are showing that not all gay people are over the top and mincing queens (down paddy) that they are just like you and me. Even hetrosexuals have people that are mincing queens and over the top, yet they are never singled out, strange isn't it?-
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jenray
Pro
- http://www.jenniferhunter.co.uk
- 2009-07-08 @ 19:23:05
No, I know all about the Disabled Rights movement...I was quite active in one of the International Year of the Disabled movements where I used to live...I must admit, we didn't get that much in return for all our efforts, but there have been improvements over the years, though not nearly enough...it's not so much the improvements or rights, but acceptance by the able bodied that needs a vast improvement...I didn't intend to move onto the disabled issue here...the point I was making really did concern Gay Pride marches, but, perhaps, my quandary was based on my own experiences of rejection and repression, which others here just don't have...
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lyndlj
- 2009-07-08 @ 19:28:27
I have to admit I am in total agreement with you on this one, the disabled rights have done a lot, but there is so much more that could be done for them. And yes acceptance that just because you are disabled does not mean you need looking after or are stupid, thats a big one that annoys the hell out of me!
The Gay pride marches will continue, some will laugh at them, some will join them, some will ignore them, some will use them as an excuse to create trouble, but they will continue because they can,unless they are banned, which wont happen.-
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jenray
Pro
- http://www.jenniferhunter.co.uk
- 2009-07-08 @ 19:41:23
Oh, I wouldn't dream of banning any marches or parades even if I vehemently disagree with the marcher's aims...and you're right...these displays will continue until boredom sets in and then something else will replace them...
The freedom to express yourself in whatever way you wish has to remain inviolable in a free country... -
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I shall be following this with great interest...
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avenscent
- 2009-07-08 @ 15:30:48
I cant say ive noticed that much, both gays and hetresexuels dress in a bazzar way, some do anyway, who cares, people dress how they choose.
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jenray
Pro
- http://www.jenniferhunter.co.uk
- 2009-07-08 @ 15:55:46
Well, not normally...it's only on their gay parades that they dress up in all sorts of gear...LOL...
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avenscent
- 2009-07-09 @ 18:12:15
Cant say i have ever seen a gay parade jen so dont know.
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semafu
- 2009-07-08 @ 16:22:18
bunch of attention whores.
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jenray
Pro
- http://www.jenniferhunter.co.uk
- 2009-07-08 @ 16:51:33
Very good, Semafu...a great contribution to the discussion...
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LandersUK
Pro - http://www.iamlanders.com
- 2009-07-08 @ 17:10:10
As a card carrying queer I hate Pride festivals.
Lets have a march to tell people we're gay because that will make us more equal than straight people as they don't have a march!
I've joined in Pride marches when it's being part of a group such as an aids charity but I've never carried a banner and wouldn't want to.
Yes, lets celebrate we're gay but lets call it a celebration of life instead and rather than making it about being gay lets make it about being alive and having some form of freedom. Lets make it about being equal. Yes, lets make it about being different but lets celebrate EVERYONE'S differences rather than just mine!
Pride marches don't bring gay issues to peoples attention, they just allow a group of fags to parade on TV in "outrageous" (oh my we're so zany!) clothing and talk bollocks about hair unfair it is that there are no gays only bingo halls!
I don't need a banner to tell people who I am.-
This is well said Landers. My oldest son is gay but I don't think of him as gay I think of him as my son and his many qualities. There is so much more to a person than whether they are gay or straight.
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jenray
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- http://www.jenniferhunter.co.uk
- 2009-07-08 @ 19:15:53
And that's the essence of it, Janeagain...there is indeed so much more to a person whether they're gay or straight...and I'm so glad you and your son are close...but I'm sure a lot of gay people still have problems with their families accepting them for who they are...I think Gay Pride Marches would frighten them even more hence my concern...
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jenray
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- http://www.jenniferhunter.co.uk
- 2009-07-08 @ 18:50:06
Thanks, Landers...I needed to hear from a gay person what they felt about these parades...I was beginning to feel that my concerns were unfounded but you've summed them up for me very well...A celebration of life and equality is fine and good, a celebration of our humanity with all its difference making up the human family is positive...what happens on pride marches seem to run contrary to that and that is what was troubling me...thank you for your input here...
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SeasideMan
Pro
- 2009-07-08 @ 19:10:39
For balance, you now could do with a view from someone gay who does like the parades...
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jenray
Pro
- http://www.jenniferhunter.co.uk
- 2009-07-08 @ 19:16:43
Well, that's up to anybody here to respond who's gay and goes to them...LOL...
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I've read all these comments with a great deal of interest. Maybe they 're just having fun. Most people in parades wear strange costumes, Queen of the May, jazz bands,cowboys, beauty contestants.
I am shocked by the outfits of some model girls and young women, they seem to be wearing almost nothing. Do men parade about in similar stages of undress ?
English reserve has a lot to answer for !-
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jenray
Pro
- http://www.jenniferhunter.co.uk
- 2009-07-08 @ 19:04:00
They certainly do in Gay Pride parades...LOL...And yes, British reserve may well have something to do with it...And dressing up for fun is fine and good...dressing up to make a blatant point that you're gay, I find disconcerting...
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AmethystLady
Pro - 2009-07-08 @ 17:48:29
I guess the only comment I have to make is........each and everyone to their own. If they are happy having marches, then it's down to them, they are expressing who they are. We all express ourselves to the outside world in one way or another, whether we know we are doing it or not. They choose to do it openly and publicly and flambouyantly, good luck to them xxxxx
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I_Am_Xenon
Pro - 2009-07-09 @ 00:30:21
Every year there is a local festival held by the city's Caribbean community, which includes a parade. Local residents who trace their ancestry to one of the Caribbean islands will dress up in brightly coloured costumes, and play Caribbean music while parading down Jasper Avenue. It's a fun event, very high-spirited and joyous.
I don't see a difference between that and a gay pride parade. Just a different segment of the population.
(The local German community, which is where my own ancestry is derived, doesn't do a parade... but they do put up big beer tents and invite everyone else to join them for beer and oompah-band music.)-
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jenray
Pro
- http://www.jenniferhunter.co.uk
- 2009-07-09 @ 11:37:33
I know, I_Am_Xenon...I expect a lot of people can't see my concern but the backlash is coming sadly...and from the religious far right...see my post today...this has been triggered off by the ordination of women and the acceptance of homosexuality by the Anglican Church here...there are a lot of people who couldn't give a damn about the former but will support them vigorously on the latter inside and outside of the Church...nobody is going to condemn the Caribbean community for celebrating their ancestry, but they're not going to accept homosexuals flaunting their life style without challenging it vociferously...things could get very ugly if this movements gains power...Opus Dei has taken over the Catholic Church and that is as far right wing as you can get without falling into hell itself...the FOCA's, as I will call them if stupid enough to name themselves with those initials, are just a reflection of this organization in the Anglican Church...
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I_Am_Xenon
Pro
- 2009-07-09 @ 13:49:33
Maybe it's different here in Canada than in the UK. Here in Canada, the religious far right generally gets laughed at by the rest of the population. We passed gay marriage into law a few years ago, and it's now a non-issue. The religious right here tried a backlash. It fizzled because everyone else ignored them.
Mind you, Canada has no state Church, and so religion has little effect on politics here.
"Opus Dei"? They worship a penguin???
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I_Am_Xenon
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- 2009-07-09 @ 13:57:34
PS: Re-reading your response, it almost seems as if your objection is because the Church doesn't like it. If anything, that's a good reason to keep doing it.
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jenray
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- http://www.jenniferhunter.co.uk
- 2009-07-09 @ 14:40:33
No, I didn't mean that...I mean that it could provide ammunition to those who oppose any rights for homosexuals by pointing to such displays as a danger to the moral good of our society...you could say that's a good reason to keep doing it, but I'm doubtful it would have the desired effect...don't forget that advances in human rights move like a pendulum according to what civil society will tolerate and we still have a great deal of intolerance within our societies either open or concealed...I'm afraid the pendulum is beginning to swing back the other way again as the voices of objection become more raucous and vociferous...regardless of what the law says, if sufficient numbers within a society start to become nervous about the numbers of gay people and their influence on it, there will be a backlash...it's like the problem of immigrants within our society...those who oppose them make it sound as if we're inundated with them, when, in reality, it's only a small percentage of the population...the same applies to gay people...it could appear they are multiplying greatly, but they're not...it's a fallacy propagated by those anti them...unfortunately, there are a lot of people who believe the lies...I hope I'm wrong but the signs are there and get ignored at a high cost...
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jenray
Pro
- http://www.jenniferhunter.co.uk
- 2009-07-09 @ 14:27:23
We do have a state religion and that's the problem...the challenge coming from the hard liners is aimed at ousting the current Archbishop and replacing him with one of their own...We should have disestablished the C of E decades ago but we haven't and there could be a great deal of trouble ahead if the Anglican church splits...the churchmen and women in the House of Lords do impact on decisions made there and, in my view, shouldn't be there nor hereditary peers...there are many things here that need changing but change happens at a snail's pace here...not least, we need to get rid of the perishing monarchy...out of touch, out of date, and anachronistic...but I daresay that will also take a long time to get rid of...
GBHs...XXX -
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technomist
- 2009-07-09 @ 22:59:06
Its a parade. People always dress up in costumes for parades. Just look at the Trooping of the Colour, The Lord Mayor's Parade or the opening of the Olympics.
The English, by the way, have never in my lifetime been as reserved as people who like stereotypes claim they are. -
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jenray
Pro
- http://www.jenniferhunter.co.uk
- 2009-07-09 @ 23:16:42
They aren't when they go abroad but they're pretty reserved here really...well a lot are...can't speak for some of the young today who drink and lose all reserve...
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I think it's a celebration of the freedom from repression and secrecy that used to be required (and still sometimes is) for being gay. No longer is being gay something that has to be done in private and never spoken about, it can be free and in the streets just like for the straights.
And of course it's a good excuse for a party!
Tom.