Has Gay Pride Had It’s Day?

Stonewall And A Bit Of History

On the 28th June, 1969, a riot broke out at the Stonewall Inn, New York. For the first time in human history, homosexuals stood up for themselves as a group.

Of course homosexuality is nothing new. But being a homosexual (exclusively) is, relatively speaking. There have been societies that have accepted the exceptional, but this time it was unequivocal. Never before has the right to same-sex pleasure and love become the focus of a movement – and a political one, necessitated by its criminalization.

“A year after the riots, in June 1970, New York staged its first ever Gay Pride parade…”

But SBS reports it as;

“… celebrating the diversity of the LGBTIQ+ community”

SBS

Not so. I’m old enough to remember the 5th Annual Homosexual Conference in Melbourne in 1979. There was no alphabet soup then; it was ‘gay and lesbian’ rights. Amongst us there were those who took gender identity to an extreme; effeminate guys, butch women, transvestites and transexuals. But they were very much a minority. In a judgemental society, we got lumped together.

I was 19 then, and a founding member of the first Young Gays group (for males and females) in Australia.

In 1970, a gay group calling itself Campaign Against Moral Persecution (CAMP) had formed in Australia and in 1978, in solidarity with the Americans, plans were put in place to commemorate the Stonewall riots on a day in June. The following year Sydney held its first Mardi Gras parade.

The ‘celebration’ went from a day and then it became a week of activities.

By now, homosexuality was no longer criminal and no longer a mental illness. It was no longer a legislative issue. But it did remain a social issue, which is why, in 1987, I conceived the idea of Social Activism as a solution to the Gay Shame Game.

Pride Today

Now, ‘Pride’ goes for four months.

In fact, Queensland Pride Network lists pride events this year from April to November and yet it makes no mention of Stonewall. The Queen’s Ball in Brisbane is on 28th of June. It used to be on the Queen’s Birthday, which made it much more fun – for me at least. But someone seems to be losing their sense of humor. We could be having a right royal King’s Ball, or two, on the King’s Birthday. In fact, considering this national holiday is peculiarly state-based and is held on the 9th of June except in Queensland and WA, we could have three balls! Surely that appeals to the flamboyant? The signature event – the March and Fair Day – has been stretched out to September, for weather reasons, not that Brisbane’s winters are particularly cold.

Pride is also encompassing an ever expanding diversity of boutique identities in an attempt, it seems, to justify its continued rapacious corporate existence. Losing perspective seems to be what defines Pride. Talk about over-doing it, but extravagance is typically gay, right?

Grow Up

Somewhere lost in the mists of time there’s a grainy old photo of me grinning in a girl’s bathing suit, about to dive into a swimming pool. I’m about 8 years old.

Not too long after that my brother and sister must have figured out there was something a bit wrong with their little brother. One day we were playing in the back yard when they accused of being a sissy. I cried and went inside to Mummy, but she didn’t seem to be interested.

That was the 1967.

Maybe that’s when I first learnt that my femininity wasn’t going to win me any friends. Of course there were many confirmations later on, so I developed a way to fit in. Conforming to expectations comes with down sides and up sides. I value being able to connect with people. Gender extremes always struck me as rather performative and alienating. So I tried to strike an optimal compromise.

Attitudes have changed and I am much more comfortable with my femininity these days. But it’s pretty understated. As far as my same-sex attraction is concerned, I prefer to surprise people rather than be obvious. It usually comes out in the course of a conversation, buried as a pronoun in amongst a lot of other words in the story. The reactions are generally muted. Just as we always hoped for. So now we can get on with life.

But apparently being accepted isn’t enough for some people. They prefer to be a spectacle of hyper-sexualization and demand acceptance of that.

It disturbs me that gender extremists have ridden on the back of the gay rights movement without really justifying their existence in it. For example, what does the experience of a transexual have in common with a gay man like me? Very little. We might have both started out as gay, but soon took paths in opposite directions – I’m not a heterosexual trapped in a gay body telling myself I need reassignment (or conversion) therapy and possibly getting it from a group that affirms my beliefs. I’ve struggled to accept myself unaltered.

Pride relies on appealing to all sorts of disgruntled exhibitionists to keep itself going, including foreigners whose beef is with their home country, like Abdallah, the Head of Communications at Romeo, a ‘Gay, Bi and Trans’ dating app.

“Here at ROMEO, we usually show up loud and proud at Amsterdam Pride, our hometown highlight. But this year, we’re skipping it as a company to give our brand-new Head of Communications, Abdallah, time to settle in and plan ahead. Big shoes, big plans, and not enough hours in July 😅”

All that partying can be tiring, so it’s not surprising they’re taking a break… so Abdallah can ‘protest’ against the country he’s abandoned in a friendly, accepting one.

“Pride was, and still is, rooted in protest. And even though it’s wrapped in glitter, it’s always been about fighting for a better life, with more rights and visibility, for everyone.”

Everyone except the ‘normies’, that is. They can be shunted down a rung from middle class to lower class by the DIE multinationals, even if it takes us down with them. But hey, if you think you’re a normie, you’re bound to find a way you’ve been excluded that you weren’t even aware of. Check the Diversity Council’s calendar – there’s a plethora of categories to choose from: https://www.dca.org.au/resources/di-planning/di-days-dates

Less Is More

Could it possibly occur to some people that the whole point of gay rights was to not need street parades anymore? One day in the year – 28th of June – is more than enough to commemorate the beginning of the Gay Liberation Movement.