80sU2isBest said:
However, some of these "Queer Pride" parades get downright nasty, with dog-collared, scantily-clad and leather bound people running around simulating sex acts and bondage scenarios. Do you think that should be allowed in public? Not me. I don't care if it's homosexuals or heterosexuals doing it.
this is a huge point of contention within the gay community ... my thoughts are that Queer Pride parades have outlived their usefulness, and such displays of sexuality aren't necessary anymore. one thing that must be understood is that now it is possible for gay people to be visible in media, but only within specific parameters of behavior outlined by majority hetereosexual culture.
for all of their supposed good intentions, American journalism and Hollywood popular culture has helped to create and nurture a dichotomy within American culture: The Good Gay vs. The Bad Gay.
The Good Gay is loveless and asexual, and thus welcomed into Americas living rooms. think of Ellen, Will and Jack, the Queer Eyes, etc. however, back on her show, Ellen could have never, ever casually get in the sack with someone, let alone embark on the sexual hijinks the heterosexuals on "Friends" seem to do quite often. nor could she fall in love. nor can Will or Jack. (the exception to all this being "Queer as Folk," but that show brings up a whole other set of issues). most gay people on TV are likeable and positive, but not one of them regularly portrays same-sex passion and desire, especially not in the ways that heterosexual lust is depicted in soaps by day and in hospital and courtroom dramas by night. straights have it all - love, respect, admiration, good jobs as doctors and lawyers, and hot sex. gays must remain chaste or at least discreet.
what these displays of sexuality were meant to do was to say that, yes, sex is part of being homosexual. there was also, much earlier, a belief that gays are far more liberated in their attitudes towards sexuality, and that dominant culture -- at least on the surface -- was repressed and Victorian, and that it was up to gay culture to tweak the mainstream, to frighten the skittish, to be in-your-face and mock the society from which they had been ostricized.
now, all that has changed. homosexuality is undergoing a great period of normalization and domestication, due to the growing realization that, gosh, gays are people too and their lives and loves are every bit as legitimate as those of straight people. gays now want access to previously exclusively heterosexual domains like the military and marriage. this is to be applauded, especially by actual conservatives (since gays aren't going anywhere, nor have they gone anywhere for as long as there have been people).
i'm young, and i don't find these displays of overt sexuality all that appealing. they seem like relics from another time, so in some ways i agree with you, and they also provide visuals for people who want to make the point that homosexuality is deviant behavior. hence, The Bad Gay. in reality, it is a naturally occuring abnormality like being left-handed or having red hair.
but i would also ask if you noticed the gay police officers, firemen and women, government works, and all the other normal, clothed, smiling, happy people walking with their brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, neices, nephews, grandmothers, and, yes, sons and daughters. since that makes up, you know, probably 90% of the parade.