Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Happy Pride Month to EVERYONE!

Well, so here it is the end of June and almost the end of Pride month. I would have to say it has been a banner year for GLBT progress. Not that it's really gotten us anywhere, but in terms of visibility the results have been outstanding. We literally are everywhere nowadays, tv, newspapers, magazines, politics, wedding chapels, etc. Not that we weren't before, it's just that the conservative christian fundamentalists didn't know it then.

So during a typical June all the drag queens, kings, girlfriends, boyfriends, dykes, leather daddies (and mommas ;), and PFLAG go out on parade. We wave our flags, we dance in the streets, we get eyeballed by the media and the biggest queen in town ends up on the front page of the newspaper. But this year, I think the tone was a little different. The celebrations were a little more ABOUT SOMETHING bigger than ourselves, rather than just watching the sweaty boys in speedos getting hosed down. An article in the weekly Victory Fund enewsletter reported that more families attended the parades this year. WGN news in Chicago stated in their parade coverage that more politicians were present this year. A few straight people were also intereviewed and said they were just "Gay for the Day" and loved attending the parade just to show support and have a good time.

I wonder if any of this really signals a shift in public perception of the way GLBT people are viewed or is it just wishful thinking? Comments anyone?

1 comment:

sttropezbutler said...

Cool..and cool website too! I'll be back.....and remember, in the Jackson case it was not guilty..which is not the same as innocent of all charges...he dangled that baby over a balcony for goodness sakes and that's child abuse enough for me. See ya!