3point14
Pi
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I think that very much depends where you are and who you're with. That which would pass without comment in, say, Brighton might cause comment in other parts of the country.
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There Will be Blood: Boston's Straight Pride Parade.
- Thread starter halleyscomet
- Start date
I think that very much depends where you are and who you're with. That which would pass without comment in, say, Brighton might cause comment in other parts of the country.
halleyscomet
Penultimate Amazing
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Many of the points you've raised were ones I've heard from gay friends. Pride parades are a contentions issue even withing various LGBTQ+ communities.
Pride parades are a complex issue. They have a historical context of acting as a defiant act of normalization. They can provide a safe space for public gathering, something that is still illegal in many parts of the world. For many of the friends I've talked to it's more about being in a safe community gathering than anything else. I've even heard it compared to things like Sci-Fi conventions for the social function.
I think a lot of the conflicting opinions about Pride and its value boil down to people having differing opinions about what it SHOULD mean and what it SHOULD achieve. Does a Pride parade in 2019 Boston have the same social significance as the 1970 NYC Pride March? No. Should Pride Parades come to an end because it won't? That's part of the debate.
halleyscomet
Penultimate Amazing
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I think that's their plan. They WANT to start a riot. That's why they're having it on a day when thousands of college students are moving into their dorms.
Even though I do thoroughly hate parades, this is true. The gay pride parade in San Francisco, is pretty much pointless, in Boston, not so much, in Alabama, definitely not.
Also, one more for, this is largely a publicity stunt in which the "organizers" really hope there is some violence that they can claim was started by protestors. They are trolls IRL.
Organizers in scare quotes on account of their apparent lack of organizing ability.
TragicMonkey
Poisoned Waffles
One problem I have with modern pride parades is that they present a false impression of triumph. We're here, we're queer, we can appear in public in short shorts sponsored by Coca Cola therefore equality is achieved! Except most of us can still be fired from our jobs for being gay. There are serious real-life inequalities still in force but they aren't as visible as dudes with great abs twerking on a dildo float so which makes the news?
That's why I said outside the ghettos, let's face it Brighton is a ghetto....
kookbreaker
Evil Fokker
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According to several reports, they don’t actually have the parade permits, the organizing Neo Nazi is just bragging that he will have one because the city has to give him one. Which they don’t, and they certainly don’t have to give him one on move-in day.
3point14
Pi
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I didn't think Ghettos were supposed to be cripplingly expensive.
It's a very bijou ghetto.
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halleyscomet
Penultimate Amazing
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It's a bit of a conundrum. Is he just being inept at planning, or is he hoping to get a bunch of people there to riot and then tell his supporters that the permit was yanked at the last second?
How important is a permit if your real intention is to get skinheads to gather to beat up college students?
Butter!
Rough Around the Edges
Pgh Pride is this weekend. What's the feeling on straight people hanging out in the parade zone? I found a rainbow flag (clean) lying outside my place on the ground. I thought I might pop down to the parade route and wave it as they pass. I love waving flags!
Is this a good idea or a bad idea?
I don't want to misrepresent myself.
I've been downtown during Pride festival before, but I don't know the flag policy.
Is this a good idea or a bad idea?
I don't want to misrepresent myself.
I've been downtown during Pride festival before, but I don't know the flag policy.
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halleyscomet
Penultimate Amazing
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The organizers behind Boston’s Straight Pride Parade should concern you
Some of the organizers are close to neo-Nazis and other white supremacists.
Some of the organizers are close to neo-Nazis and other white supremacists.
pgwenthold
Penultimate Amazing
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I saw something in Twitter the other day of advice for straight people attending pride parades, but didn't look at it so can't help. But there are suggestions in this regard
Please feel free to make that incredibly stupid mistake if you (or the people doing the "handling" you speak of) wish to.
Don't be deterred by the fact that Massachusetts was the first U.S. state to allow gay marriages, without weaselly half measures like "civil unions." That efforts to reverse that step (which was originally a state supreme court action) were opposed by a strong and vocal majority of the population. That the most recent polls on record indicate 75% to 80% support for gay marriage. (Not including the significant percentage of "no opinion" which is support by default, because tolerance doesn't have to mean active approval, just unwillingness to actively oppose.) That a recent statewide ballot initiative to roll back recently established trans rights was rejected by huge margins of the voting public. And that those statewide figures underestimate the level of support for LGBQ+ rights in Boston, which like most large urban centers is considerably more progressive than the state overall.
If you wanted to send the message that these protestors are Nazis and do not enjoy popular support in Boston, then you'd do nothing and let their action, if it happens at all, be pathetically minor and mocked by the Boston general public that happens to be around.
But if you want to send the message that straight people have no right to pride or identity, and that tolerance for different views only flows one way, by all means, "handle" it as you will. Everyone loves a good riot.
applecorped
Banned
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pride parades goeth before the fall
It's warmer then
It's warmer then
Foolmewunz
Grammar Resistance Leader, TLA Dictator
The rainbow was never meant to be Hester's A. It's not solely an identifier of gay individuals, but an indication that the person or establishment is a LGBTQ friendly. For businesses, "a safe space". For individuals, "an ally". There are a whole lot of straight people marching in GP parades. Unless you're planning to do the dirty in the middle of Liberty Ave., how does one tell a gay person from a straight person in 2019 (or any other year)?
Pittsburgh Pride has a history of embracing outsiders, I believe. (I managed an office out in Coraopolis and one of my staff was involved in some of the organizing in the early years.)
Butter!
Rough Around the Edges
I don't know why, but it trips me out to think of YOU in Coraopolis, because I've always thought of you as a guy in Thailand. The world is small sometimes (accounting for time, of course).
I suppose I was mostly concerned about offending any acquaintances of mine. I can't go anywhere in Pittsburgh without running into 2-3 people I know, and an event like Pride is guaranteed to be crawling with people I've partied with, lol.
wareyin
Penultimate Amazing
Atlanta (which for some reason has their Pride festival/parade in October) usually has lots of people who aren't gay themselves waving flags. It's a show of support, not trying to co-opt an identity, I think.
Dancing David
Penultimate Amazing
the counter protests signing show tunes and looking fabulous
Butter!
Rough Around the Edges
Well then, I'll be there waving my flag!