Ever been to a Gay Pride Parade?
Notice the Queens in drag, the nearly naked men shaing their behinds at every chance they get? Or how about the guys smooching on the brightly coloured float?
I am all for celebrating our diversity and being Proud, but I wonder if all this public display of behavior has harmed our real cause for equality more than we perhaps think?
Arkansas has about 62% opposed to Gays/Lesbians being able to legally adopt children. Only a paltry 26% support it and it makes me wonder, Why?
The poll by Opinion Research Associates for a group of Arkansas newspapers owned by Stephens Media shows that 62 percent of adults surveyed oppose gays as foster parents. Twenty-six percent would permit it and the remainder either had no opinion or refused to answer. ( article at 365Gay )
In the 365Gay article it doesn’t touch on that, but does discuss that both Republican Governor Candidate and Democrat Governor Candidate support a ban on Gay/Lesbian adoption. Which naturally makes me wonder, what the fuck is the difference betwen a Republican and a Democrat these days? However, it isn’t that has me worried. It is the large numbers that oppose equal rights for Gays/Lesbians across the United States.
Seems to me that there is a lack of understanding about Homosexuality, that maybe the religious right have managed to exploit to its benefit. They hold up the photo’s of some Gay Pride Parade and point to unknowing people and ask if this who they think should raise children? Then there is also the constant beating over the head that Gays are only interested in sex, and are incapable of controlling their urges, and again point asking if this who they want raising kids.
I mean you have to admit, its a damn good Public Relations stunt that we have handed to them. I mean look at Queer As Folk and ask yourself, just how much that is real. I mean I went to the gay bar often before Marrying Dave, but while I did see the odd hardcore shit in the bathroom, it was rare. Hell I saw it in some straight bars too that was far more erotic than at the gay bar. So I wonder, is it that we give our enemies too much ammunition with Gay Pride Days?
The state Child Welfare Agency Review Board in March 1999 imposed the ban on placing foster children in households with gay adults in what it called an effort to protect children from disease, violence, sexual abuse, neglect and instability. ( 365 Article )
You have to look at these type of statements and ask: “Where do they get this shit from?” and yet if you look at some of the Gay Pride Parades that make the news, maybe you don’t have to look too far.
Makes you wonder why don’t focus on the more positive aspects of being gay, than being confrontational or in your face type attitude. It doesn’t really seem to work all that well as people are getting the wrong message.
Granted it was the Drag Queens that brought our plight to the forefront, but perhaps its time to change our tactics a bit? Maybe it is time to have shows where the Gay character isn’t nelly or colour co-ordinating everything he sees. Maybe it is time to showcase real gay life. I mean how many of you actually do go to the local gay bar and screw around in the back room?
Hell how many get lucky every night?
I mean sure some do, but not the majority and yet it is that perception that society has of Gay life. They don’t comprehend that many of us lead quiet normal lives, without the need to go to the bars and do drugs and fuck like rabbits.
In short maybe we need to attack the problem by showing that we are no different in our sense of values and maybe then public opinion can be swayed. As it stands now, equality seems a distant dream.
At the moment only the Justices seem to understand that the Constitution includes everyone, but think of how much easier it would be to get laws passed that gave Gays/Lesbians equality if the public perception wasnt one sided. People need to hear the other side, and in a lack of that they will always choose to follow those who come across as knowing what they say.
Gay Pride isn’t just about being able to have sex or wear outrageous outfits, it is about family too and about being loyal and monogomous as well. Some Gays have had the same partner for decades, yet rarely do we put them up front in this battle for equality, and perhaps its time we did.
The justices rejected an appeal from the Arkansas Department of Health and Human Services which had argued children would suffer under the care of gays or lesbians. ( 365Gay article )
Maybe then these type of legal arguments or perceptions would diminish.
