Pride

Yesterday I was strolling around downtown in Toulouse when I came across the "Gay Pride Parade". I think it's the first time I see such "spectacle" live, and I got the same feeling that when watching it on TV, I don't understand it and I don't like it.

I'm not homophobic at all. I have a deep phobia for religious fanatics, gipsies that are part of the "gipsy culture", nationalistic/racist/xenophobic scum... but I have a deep respect for peoples sexual tastes and desires. As long as everyone taking part in a sexual relation/game/whatever is doing it voluntarily (for pleasure, power, money, or just out of boredom...) it's totally fine with me. This said, what's wrong with the "Gay Pride" thing?

First, I don't like it's festive tone. There are many places today where homosexuals are discriminated, imprisoned and even killed because of their sexuality. Of course the worst situation is in Russia, muslim countries and some African countries, but even in civilized Europe you still find cases of discrimination (years ago a part of the French society went just crazy against gay marriage...) So the topic is very serious. There's no reason to do a senseless party, but to do serious demonstrations, to boycott countries that pass homophobic laws, to "attack" their embassies, to confront politicians or religious leaders that promote hate and unequaility. It's time for that, not to parade the streets half naked kissing everyone... Those attitudes gain you disapproval rather than support.

On the contrary, I think it would be great to do a party/parade/whatever to celebrate sexuality and to annoy religious leaders and anyone wanting to regulate who, how, how often and why people have sex. But that would not be about being gay or hetero, it would be about sexuality. To do a "gay pride parade" is like doing a "hetero pride parade", it keeps the division between one form of sexuality and another.

Finally, a rather minor point. I don't like the use of the term "Pride". For me, pride is something you should feel for something that you have achieved thanks to your efforts. Being gay, hetero, black, white, Asturian... is not an achievement, it's something that for the most part you are born with, you get it for free. So you have to accept it and make others respect it, but the idea of being proud, well, it seems odd to me.