Gay Pride Parades

[GaryK]

This thread sort of ties in with the, Coming out as bisexual, thread that's provoked some truly insightful discussion.

 

In that thread there's been some discussion about the benefits vs. risks of coming out en masse. That got me to thinking about the effect gay pride parades could have on straight observers.

 

The parades I've been to have left me feeling very embarrassed for our cause. Why? Because far too many of the people who participate seem to go out of their way to dress purely for shock value. Men wearing bikinis, really bad cross-dressers who should make any transgendered person angry as heck, obscenely small bathing suits like Speedos that have no place away from the pool or ocean, the list goes on and on.

 

If I were someone observing a parade like that I'd probably think all GLBT people were deviants who had no place in society. Even as a gay man I tend to feel that way.

 

Do these freak shows pride parades help or hinder our cause? I think they hinder it which is why I voted yes.

 

How about you?

[Drewbie]

I have to say im spilt on it, Yea some of it, I think is for shock value.

 

However I hear from others and have see that do not dress shocking, and even in the regular parades, some are just for younger and have nothing of the tigh or small clothing. (more for teens and early 20's to express without being shocking)

 

however I do not feel those who decide to dress like it, do deserve still to be in public.

 

 

But when straights do these events that can just be as bad.

Edited May 20, 2008 by Drewbie

[Benji]

I have to say im spilt on it, Yea some of it, I think is for shock value.

 

However I hear from others and have see that do not dress shocking, and even in the regular parades, some are just for younger and have nothing of the tigh or small clothing. (more for teens and early 20's to express without being shocking)

 

however I do not feel those who decide to dress like it, do deserve still to be in public.

 

 

But when straights do these events that can just be as bad.

 

 

............Humm!, I would have thought the "shock dressing" would wear off by now, I didn't go to this years so I can't comment on the attire. It seems that these parades wind up with a Mardi-grais type of hype. As usual there will always be one in the crowd to "bare all" or close to it as possible.

[old bob]

I voted no.

I never participated myself, but my younger son (gay, 40 years old) did several times, with his ordinary clothes and with his partner and friends when he was younger (less than 30 !)

I have nothing against it. It's really here in Switzerland like a "Mardi Gras" parade, with a lot of fun and applauses from the people along the streets. We have here in Zurich and Geneva "straight" street parades, in spring or summer, with more or less clothed participants and Gay pride parades are just ones of them. Mostly, homophobes dont stay along the streets, they just send articles and reader's letters in the papers against the Gay Pride, often followed by other reader's letters pro in the next paper .

BTW, straight or gay, it's fun to look at nice guys and gals .

Old Bob

[GaryK]

BTW, straight or gay, it's fun to look at nice guys and gals .

Old Bob

I quite agree. I've got as much appreciation for a nice looking and appropriately dressed gal and I do for a guy. It's just with the guys there's also often some sexual feelings as

 

I guess the whole issue with me is I was raised to dress appropriately for the occasion. By my standards it's just not right to appear in public dressed the way some of these people in the pride parades dress. I figure if it offends me it's got to offend others who were raised with the same set of social standards as I was.

[AFriendlyFace]

If I were someone observing a parade like that I'd probably think all GLBT people were deviants who had no place in society. Even as a gay man I tend to feel that way.

It seems that these parades wind up with a Mardi-grais type of hype. As usual there will always be one in the crowd to "bare all" or close to it as possible.

I think Benji's mention of Mardi Gras is particularly appropriate in this instance. There's a quote I've always liked:

 

"Judging gay people based on a pride parade is like judging straight people based on Mardi Gras"

 

Regardless of what you think of these events in general I think it's important to realize that, while culture and history etc. play a part, much of the point is decadence, and 'inappropriate' behaviour (which begs the question, 'in this context is it inappropriate?'). You get tons of nudity, promiscuity, drinking, scantily clad people, and generally 'debauched' behaviour in both events.

 

Of course it's also worth pointing out that those are the people who take the events to the extreme, another chunk get 'wilder' but not to the same extent, and you can scale it all the way down to very 'respectable' people behaving very normally. You can go to these events without doing anything you wouldn't normally do, but you can't go expecting that no one else will.

 

LOL, I say this as someone who has celebrated both events

 

 

 

In that thread there's been some discussion about the benefits vs. risks of coming out en masse. That got me to thinking about the effect gay pride parades could have on straight observers.

 

Do these freak shows pride parades help or hinder our cause? I think they hinder it which is why I voted yes.

I think it's interesting that you qualified the question to refer only to our 'cause' with regards to straight observers. There is also extensive debate about whether or not these events are harmful or helpful for gay participants and observers.

 

In either case however, my vote remains the same:

 

"Other"

 

I picked this option because of the choices it best reflects what I think about this question, which is: BOTH

In many ways it's very good for straight people to see these events. In other ways it does our cause a lot of harm.

 

In many ways it's good for closeted, or freshly out gay people to see these events. In other ways it does them a lot of harm.

 

In many ways it's good for your 'typical' gay person to see and participate in these events. In other ways it's bad for them.

 

I don't think there's any one answer here, and I'd hate to 'decide' whether the events should be occurring or not.

 

I think the absolute most essential thing for all people of all orientations is that they recognize that this event doesn't reflect the daily lives and activities of the majority of gay people. This is a big party not a peek into people's average, every day lives. At a party I might get drunk and dance on a table, but I'm not going to do that at work, nor am I even going to do it during the average weekend.

 

 

Because far too many of the people who participate seem to go out of their way to dress purely for shock value. Men wearing bikinis, really bad cross-dressers who should make any transgendered person angry as heck, obscenely small bathing suits like Speedos that have no place away from the pool or ocean, the list goes on and on.

Apart from the section bolded I'll simply say that those other things are merely apart of the event, a part of the irony, 'show', and extreme behaviour which as I said is for better or worse also a part of this event. Most of the people who do these things do themselves not take it seriously. It is a big joke and in most cases they're the first to recognize and admit that.

 

Now regarding the:

 

really bad cross-dressers who should make any transgendered person angry as heck

 

I think you're blending two very different things that shouldn't be blended. Traditional (I use the word lightly) drag has absolutely nothing to do with gender issues. Most drag shows are a big tongue-in-cheek joke, the drag performers want to look 'glamourous' and 'beautiful', but first and foremost they want to entertain. The 'really bad' aspect of it, the extreme make up, ridiculous hair, and dresses that no real woman would wear all play into this. On the one hand they bump up the 'glamourous' level a bit, but they also purposely tip the hand that it's a joke. These men may be gay, they're definitely divas, and very often they're on the 'femme' side of the spectrum (but NOT always), but they don't actually want to be girls, and they're not doing it for sexual/sexuality/gender reasons.

 

"Cross-dressing" and transvestitism as they're usually understood and defined ARE done for more sexual reasons, and that wearer does get a sexual 'charge' out of it. However, it's the very 'taboo', 'kinky' aspect of it which does this. It's not an attempt to make the man feel natural. It's very very different from your typical 'drag' and drag performers.

 

Both of the above are completely different from trans issues. Someone who is transgendered IS NOT dressing up to entertain and perform, nor are they doing it because they find it exciting and erotic. They're doing it because it feels appropriate and it's a way for them to express how they really view and feel about themselves. A transgendered person may have trouble 'passing' if biologically they look very much like a member of the 'wrong' gender, in that way you may be able to pick them out. But they do not want to be picked out (unlike the average drag queen), they very much want to pass. They're unlikely to take their style of dress, hair, and make up to the extreme because again they want to look like a typical woman (or man). They may indeed march as a group in the pride parade, but they'd really be doing it out of pride and they'd all be attempting to very much look like the gender they identified with.

 

Drag queens want and expect to picked out a mile away. They want to be MORE 'fabulous' than the average woman. A MTF transgendered person just wants to be an average woman. The two groups are unlikely to be marching together.

 

You are right that in many cases transgendered people are annoyed by drag queens, but there are other issues at play there, and in my experience the younger generation of both has more patience and understanding for each other.

 

I guess the whole issue with me is I was raised to dress appropriately for the occasion. By my standards it's just not right to appear in public dressed the way some of these people in the pride parades dress. I figure if it offends me it's got to offend others who were raised with the same set of social standards as I was.

That certainly makes sense and I'm sure ALOT of other people (gay and straight) feel exactly the same way. A pride parade certainly isn't for everyone. As I said, I think it's most important to recognize that this isn't about daily life, but is instead a big, usually 'out of control' party.

 

As I said, in many ways it's good overall and in many ways it's bad, but in all ways it shouldn't be viewed as 'par for the course'.

 

 

Just my thoughts on this,

Kevin

Edited May 20, 2008 by AFriendlyFace

[Daisy]

I haven't given an answer yet, I need to think about it some more. But in my studies I recently read about the new york 'st pats for all' parade, which was started because the 'official' St. Patrick's Day parade organisers said they didn't want gay people who were publicly affliated with organisations like LGBT to take part openly. From what I've read that seems like a very good parade and very nice idea. Its spread and alot more organisations and social groups take part, ones that were also excluded from the offical parade, and extends way into the community with people digging out very old or distant irish connections. but its brought people together.

 

Otherwise I've never seen a pride parade, although I've heard of them in the uk, in manchester or brighton for example. If my friends decide they want to take part I may do one-day, but at the moment they haven't got the interest.

 

Celia

[Bandage]

I've voted for Yes, they harm our cause.

 

This because that, while you and I know it's a party, the ordinary straight guy/girl doesn't know it. They don't know any GLBT people, so they don't know how we deal with everyday life. And the only image they get from us is that party...

That while in Mardi Gras, they know other (stable) straight couples, and they know it's just a party...

 

Never been to a parade myself either, Celia. I think there is one in Brussels, but not that sure Don't think I'mma go to one either, because it's not really the style of my friends...

 

I in fact like to see Drag Queens They're just funny And as Kevin said, it's just for the show, so relax, and enjoy the show! Of course, some people are bothered with it. But they can stick it where the sun doesn't shine

Question though; Aren't they bothered with it because of some doubts about their own sexuality? I used to scare away, or pull a face at them, because I didn't want to be seen as friendly with them, so as my friends would get doubts... Geez, the life of a closet gay is full of lurking dangers

[Daisy]

Never been to a parade myself either, Celia. I think there is one in Brussels, but not that sure Don't think I'mma go to one either, because it's not really the style of my friends...

 

I in fact like to see Drag Queens They're just funny And as Kevin said, it's just for the show, so relax, and enjoy the show! Of course, some people are bothered with it. But they can stick it where the sun doesn't shine

Question though; Aren't they bothered with it because of some doubts about their own sexuality? I used to scare away, or pull a face at them, because I didn't want to be seen as friendly with them, so as my friends would get doubts... Geez, the life of a closet gay is full of lurking dangers

 

Who do you mean by they?

 

My lesbian schoolfriend used to be slightly openly homophobic in some of her comments and such, everyone in my friend group used to feel uncomfortable whenever she said that sort of stuff, turns out she was thinking she had to protect her image - all the while that friend group consisted of an out bisexual girl and bisexaul guy. so yeah, the lurking dangers are complex!

 

From what I can tell though, the UK pride marches don't get that much national attention. I don't think it harms people's perceptions that badly overall. people are inquisitive about stuff. in brighton and manchester the 'gay villages' often have alot of straight people visiting them as well, which to some extent annoys the 'locals'. I don't think its wrong for people to have a celebration of themselves, time to 'let their hair down', I think thats how its generally percieved. (or I could be completely off-base--they are one subject i haven't really debated with people).

 

Celia

[FrenchCanadian]

For this one I'm really decided, I have never and I will never, ever, ever, participate nor assist to a gay pride parade. I think it's totally stupid and is hurting the gays. why? Cause we need to show the public, we need to get the support of the straights and all to have the gay cause advance. The way I see it, it's not by showing gay people dressing in really obscene stuff that can help making 'us' accepted by the population.

 

We need to show them that we're just like any other people, and that by such we deserve the same and equal rights. Doing parades the way they are now show even more that we're different, it marginalize the gays.

 

The only way I can think it can help us, is that it shows those teens (and not so teens) that are questioning about themselves that they are not alone. But then again, many things, other than parades, can achieve the same thing.

[Tiger]

I happen to think that they are freak shows. You get a bunch of the worst types. Southern Decadence, for example, features orgies in the streets. This shows the bad side of the gay community. On the other hand, there is a need to exhibit pride, so it's really difficult to say one way or the other. We do need some who are out and proud. Thus I am going with other, because it can both hurt and help our cause.

[NaperVic]

I voted no and I thought Kevin did a fabulous job articulating a lot of good points.

 

I don't think that anyone should care so much about what some uninformed person who judges or conclude that all GLBT folks are as what they see at Pride parade.

 

To be honest, if a Gay Pride parade accurately reflected the makeup of the GLBT community, the straights should be really scared because they'd see that we were as diverse (and plain) as they are. There'd be boring middle age guys wearing tan dockers and light blue polo shirts and pocket protectors.

 

As a side, one thing that friends and I have noticed about Gay Pride parades in the big cities with large gay populations... They've become extremely corporate with lots of large companies trying to market to gays to get all that gay money. Some have even said they're getting down right boring :wacko: .

[Bandage]

Who do you mean by they?

 

I mean the ordinary "straight" guy/girl, that they feel uncomfortable about their own sexuality...

 

My lesbian schoolfriend used to be slightly openly homophobic in some of her comments and such, everyone in my friend group used to feel uncomfortable whenever she said that sort of stuff, turns out she was thinking she had to protect her image - all the while that friend group consisted of an out bisexual girl and bisexaul guy. so yeah, the lurking dangers are complex!

Well, if there were already out bi people in your friends group it sounds rather like she didn't really notice that you guys were ok with it... But didn't you get suspicious when she kept that homophobic talk up? I think I would lol.

 

From what I can tell though, the UK pride marches don't get that much national attention. I don't think it harms people's perceptions that badly overall. people are inquisitive about stuff. in brighton and manchester the 'gay villages' often have alot of straight people visiting them as well, which to some extent annoys the 'locals'. I don't think its wrong for people to have a celebration of themselves, time to 'let their hair down', I think thats how its generally percieved. (or I could be completely off-base--they are one subject i haven't really debated with people).

 

Celia

Same here in Belgium about those pride parades... I don't even know if we have gay villages in Belgium!

And why would it annoy the locals that straight people visit those villages? Because they see unreacheable meat or what?

 

Well, I don't think it's wrong to have our own celebration, but the abundance can be overwhelming sometimes for your ordinary straight people...

 

 

 

I don't think that anyone should care so much about what some uninformed person who judges or conclude that all GLBT folks are as what they see at Pride parade.

Why not? It's just that ignorance that will harm our cause! Ok, it only lasts until they really meet a GLBT, and they see nothing's wrong with us, but that can take a while because they will behave rather angry towards GLBTs...

 

To be honest, if a Gay Pride parade accurately reflected the makeup of the GLBT community, the straights should be really scared because they'd see that we were as diverse (and plain) as they are. There'd be boring middle age guys wearing tan dockers and light blue polo shirts and pocket protectors.

That's funny though

 

As a side, one thing that friends and I have noticed about Gay Pride parades in the big cities with large gay populations... They've become extremely corporate with lots of large companies trying to market to gays to get all that gay money. Some have even said they're getting down right boring :wacko: .

Well, where there's money... *Sigh*

[Procyon]

In that thread there's been some discussion about the benefits vs. risks of coming out en masse. That got me to thinking about the effect gay pride parades could have on straight observers.

 

The parades I've been to have left me feeling very embarrassed for our cause. Why? Because far too many of the people who participate seem to go out of their way to dress purely for shock value. Men wearing bikinis, really bad cross-dressers who should make any transgendered person angry as heck, obscenely small bathing suits like Speedos that have no place away from the pool or ocean, the list goes on and on.

 

If I were someone observing a parade like that I'd probably think all GLBT people were deviants who had no place in society. Even as a gay man I tend to feel that way.

 

Do these freak shows pride parades help or hinder our cause? I think they hinder it which is why I voted yes.

 

Great topic! I voted 'other' for a number of reasons which I'll get to in a sec. Firstly, though, I'll say that I like the idea of gay pride parades and I think it's good that they're happening, and in spite of everything, I think they've helped the 'cause' more than they've hindered it.

 

 

............Humm!, I would have thought the "shock dressing" would wear off by now, I didn't go to this years so I can't comment on the attire. It seems that these parades wind up with a Mardi-grais type of hype. As usual there will always be one in the crowd to "bare all" or close to it as possible.

 

I haven't been to a Mardi Gras parade but if they have about the same level of sexual content as Pride parades, there is still one problem -- Mardi Gras parades don't define straight people to, say, gays, or to anyone, while Gay Pride parades are the only thing some people see of the gay community. And thus people who don't know any gays may (will?) get a skewed picture of them -- and that applies to both straight and some closeted gay people.

 

 

 

Of course it's also worth pointing out that those are the people who take the events to the extreme, another chunk get 'wilder' but not to the same extent, and you can scale it all the way down to very 'respectable' people behaving very normally. You can go to these events without doing anything you wouldn't normally do, but you can't go expecting that no one else will.

 

I think it'd be great with some other gay public events too, where you *could* take your kids and be sure that there'd be no loose breasts and dildos waved in front of their faces. I don't mind naked people, but those two, to me, are just a bit too much for a family event, and I think it'd be nice with something that could be a family event -- I know some pride parades are already much more like that, especially the smaller ones. But now that it's getting more common with gay parents/gay families, I think it's important to have events that show that side of the gay community, and where gay parents can take their kids to have a good time with other gay families.

 

(I have to add here that my experience of gay pride parades is limited to what I've seen on TV, but every time I've seen something about them on TV, there have been dildos and breasts dangling in front of the camera. That might have had more to do with the (straight?) people who cover the event, of course, but I do get the impression that it's a common occurrence.)

[GaryK]

Of course it's also worth pointing out that those are the people who take the events to the extreme, another chunk get 'wilder' but not to the same extent, and you can scale it all the way down to very 'respectable' people behaving very normally. You can go to these events without doing anything you wouldn't normally do, but you can't go expecting that no one else will.

Why not, Kev?

 

Would it be unreasonable to set some standards for participation in the parade itself?

 

Let's take GA as an example. There are a set of standards we have to abide by in order for the site to remain respectable. Mostly it's the no porn rule. But also the fact that certain words get replaced by asterisks, people have to be nice to each other and other things.

 

All of that is part of why I feel comfortable referring my straight friends here to read some of the better stories; mostly the sci-fi/fantasy stories. I know they're not going to come away from here thinking the place is some kind of freak show.

 

Many of those friends wind up reading some of the forums and get further proof that we discuss the same issues everyone is discussing. We've currently got active threads about the 2nd Amendment to the US Constitution, the upcoming presidential election, a possible war with Iran, famine fears for Ethiopian children, the US budget deficit, and lots more.

 

I'm sure we all know for the most part we're no different than the rest of society in terms of how we dress, our morals, ethics and so on. The only significant difference is whom we choose to love.

 

So why not set some standards for these parades so that straight people see an accurate representation of what we're like?

 

Surely it would help straights to see we're nothing to be afraid of. Right?

 

~gary.

[Tiger]

I'm sure we all know for the most part we're no different than the rest of society in terms of how we dress, our morals, ethics and so on. The only significant difference is whom we choose to love.

I do not think it is a choice, Gary. I could try to act straight if I wanted. I don't really know how the gay men who are married can stand it. I would be extremely unhappy. It took me a while to figure that out though. Anyway, gay pride parades are a doubled-edged sword. All communities have their freaks. We are certainly not an exception. I, for one, could never participate in street orgies in The Big Easy (well more like Big Sleazy in that case). I agree with Prycron about the fact that it needs to be family friendly. Otherwise, it's just a freak show. There is a difference between pride and acting like a bunch of animals. I tend to keep my animalistic side in the bedroom just as everyone else should.

[GaryK]

I do not think it is a choice, Gary. I could try to act straight if I wanted. I don't really know how the gay men who are married can stand it. I would be extremely unhappy. It took me a while to figure that out though. Anyway, gay pride parades are a doubled-edged sword. All communities have their freaks. We are certainly not an exception. I, for one, could never participate in street orgies in The Big Easy (well more like Big Sleazy in that case). I agree with Prycron about the fact that it needs to be family friendly. Otherwise, it's just a freak show. There is a difference between pride and acting like a bunch of animals. I tend to keep my animalistic side in the bedroom just as everyone else should.

I probably didn't word that as well as I should have, Tim. All I wanted to convey is that the main thing which separates us from straights is the fact we are attracted to, and hopefully love, members of the same sex.

[Demetz]

First let me touch on what "pride" means for our community. Within the gay community, pride is not about being better than people outside our group as you might see with white pride or black pride.... rather, pride for the gay community is more about showing we are not filled with its opposite, the shame we are typically made to feel for our attractions. Displaying that lack of shame, our capacity to feel pride in who we are as individuals regardless of our attractions by holding hands in public and refusing to pretend we don't exist is one thing... a pride parade which consisted more like a convention for all the local gays to go and hang out - that would be positive.

 

A "pride" parade in which we parade about all the things which our critics find least pallatable, many of which are legitimate concerns, does vastly more damage to our "cause" of being treated as equal human beings who aren't wild deviants. Put several thousand guys in extremely revealing clothing all but ****ing eachother as they walk stroll through town, throw in leather straps, a few slings, and a few angry transvestites for good measure and you have only confirmed everything they fear/believe about us.

 

That might be just fine if your identity is the leather wearing, whip wielding, spiked-collared, promiscuous guy and you want to be accepted as that....... but while there are people in the gay community who do go into such fetishes, gay people are about more than that and are damaged as a community when its wildest aspects are literally paraded about, because the human element is lost.

[Drewbie]

Yes obviously there should be no sex in parades. Mentioned before there are ones made for younger population that has no sex or to revealing clothing. Someone mentioned a convention, or what should be done, to make the straights love us then?

Edited May 21, 2008 by Drewbie

[Demetz]

Love would be nice but I'd settle for a gruding respect for our being humans instead of animals. You know how many times I endured my muslim former friends decrying me for acting like an animal simply because I'm attracted to the same sex? I have to be feeling very masochistic before I'll even consider discussing homosexuality with them anymore. Their conceptions of homosexuality are so horribly skewed and literally parading about the most unsavory elements of our community does not help. These are people who once considered me a friend but who now see me as nothing more than an animal - one to be slaughtered in the name of Allah the "Beneficent and Merciful" for that matter for how sinful our community is. After all, from their point of view, allowing homosexuals to be free to be homosexual brings about precisely the kind of decadence that gets shown off in the parades and it is that kind of decadence which from their point of view brings about the downfall of society. While I have my doubts about Allah swooping down to handle things personally, they do have a point - if the decadence shown off in gay "pride" parades is what homosexuals have to offer society then perhaps society is better off without us.

 

What we need to do then is prove that we arent that amalgamation of senseless lust and moral decay in order to justify not being oppressed. The parades have an effect that is the opposite of that.

[Ieshwar]

This kind of falls at the right moment. Mauritius has a \"Gay March\" at the end of May.

 

I dnt really agree with these Gay Prides. We are a point in Mauritius, where many don\'t know who are gays. Too many misconceptions. And I believe that if we represent \"homosexuality\" throught that march, they will never see the joke you are saying but will take it for truth. They will think gays are perverts who like to cross-dress and lusting after every person. Which is obviously wrong.

 

I would like to have something like Silence Day or the Lighting Candles, like we did for AIDS. I prefer Silence Day to Gay Pride. It better conveys the pain of discrimination to the society. I so wish we had it here.

 

Nice thread!

 

Take care,

Ieshwar

[scoopny]

The truth of the matter is, the St. Patrick's Day parade doesn't do much to improve the reputation of the Irish as anything but drunks (and heck they even ban gay Irish groups from marching in that parade, how's that for tolerance!), sexual harassment is fairly rampant at the Puerto Rican and West Indian day parades (which doesn't help the reputation of either group).

 

I've marched in the New York City pride parade (and I wore perfectly reasonable clothes, t-shirt and shorts). There's not much like having one million people cheering you as you march and having every important politician in New York a couple of hundred of feet in front of you (including Hillary). While there are some outlandish parts of the parade with dancing boys and Dykes on Bikes, most of it was pretty boring, like politicians, activists and social groups (like the gay rugby team). I really think the parades do show the breadth and depth of the gay community in New York City (from the crazy to the staid) and in other cities and it's an excuse to sit out in the sun and just have fun. I'll likely be marching again this year, handing out pamphlets to everyone I see trying to remind them of all the important work still to be done. If it weren't for the nerdy boys and girls who started the first gay rights groups in the 50s and the outrageous drag queens and flamboyant boys who taunted and jeered the cops at the Stonewall Inn in 1969, we might not even have progressed as far as we have today. I think we need them both. The flaymboyant boys get people's attention, the nerdy ones are willing to do the grunt work to achieve equality.

Edited May 21, 2008 by scoopny

[Graeme]

I voted no, based on the Australian and New Zealand versions, which may not be equivalents to the USA version.

 

The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras is the biggest, and is a major tourism event. It is watched by many, many straight people. It used to be telecast on TV, too, to widen the available audience. It tends to have a political commentary component to it, beside the traditional Dykes on Bikes and the Marching Boys (in skimpy clothing). The political commentary is not always about GLBT issues, either -- I remember one year where it was about certain racist comments by an Australian politiican.

 

Many years ago I was working in Auckland, New Zealand, at the time of their Hero Pride March. The person I was working with took me to see it as something interesting to see.

 

Melbourne's march is lower key, and aimed more as family entertainment, rather than raunchy displays.

 

In all cases, they are there to help show straight people that the GLBT community covers a wide gamut of people. Besides the outlandish, there are also just normal people marching. Melbourne's march had representative from high schools, as well as serving police. PFLAG always has people marching.

 

Focusing on the more extreme displays is normal for those who want to point to something to hold up as 'wrong', but there are too many people attending these things for those items to be the only ones that define what is going on.

[NickolasJames8]

I think that the usefulness of pride parades depend on how the even is covered by the media. At least when it comes to sending a message to the heteros that live around us. Obviously, CNN, NBC, CBS and ABC are going to show pride parades in a negative light. They focus on what they consider to be outlandish, and their reporting carries an tone of disapproval that speaks to the homophobes that want to find a way to demonize us.

Networks like Bravo, Discovery, TLC and PBS tend to focus on the more positive aspects of gay pride parades, and gay culture in general.

[Tiger]

Nick, that's how the media is. They focus on scandal. However, there are some aspects in pride parades that are so outlandish that it cannot be shown on TV. I don't understand why some are so damn crude. Giving head in the middle of the street is disgusting. It is not proper. The orientation does not matter. It is WRONG to act like that in public. This is something more private.