Pride Open: An Evaluation of the Gay Movement
- Daber A. Starcomed
- Jul 31, 2017
- 4 min read
Before I even say anything, I want to make it clear that I am in complete support of gay rights, including marriage and adoption. As an agnostic conservative, I have no traditional religious ties and therefore don't have anything against homosexuality. The thing that does bother me, however, is the methodology used to propel the modern LGBT movement.
At first glance, Gay Pride appears a perfectly reasonable way to promote tolerance and acceptance with regards to homosexuality. After all, isn’t that what they tell us? When we take a closer look however, it becomes evident that pride marches do the exact opposite, stereotyping gays and stirring up anger and intolerance against them. For total cultural acceptance, gays need to put down their flags and stop marching about their sexuality. The anti-gays will only become more accepting when they realize gays are not as flashy and obnoxious as their rallies would suggest. It's totally irrational to try stop homophobic people with the very stereotypes that upset them. Again, I am simply disagreeing with the tactics used to promote acceptance, not the gays themselves.
Before we analyze the problems with pride marching, we must confirm the goal behind it. According to Wikipedia, “Gay pride is the positive stance against discrimination and violence toward LGBT people.” This objective is well-grounded in both historical and current issues – intolerance against gays is a problem that still exists today, and we should work to stop it. The question then becomes how. The LGBT community has responded with pride marches, which actually do make sense when compared to other large scale protests against discrimination. The most renowned and successful of these organized protests would be the Civil Rights movement in the ‘60s, which pushed politicians to rewrite previously racist laws in order to give black people equal rights in this country. What it didn’t change however, were people’s racist perspectives.
The chart above shows how racism has slowly improved over the last half century (the factor being approval of mixed racial marriage). The thing to note here is that the Civil Rights Movement during the 1960s yielded no drastic spike, but rather got the ball rolling. Protesting is essential for fixing discriminatory policies, but in order to alter people’s mindset, the prejudiced group can’t use this strategy. Instead, they should peacefully integrate into society, combating individuals who discriminate on a case by case basis.
This process of acceptance is quite simple, and is applicable to the LGBT community. Now that gay marriage is legal in all 50 states, there are no policies that hold back gay people in this country. If this changes, or new laws arise that challenge the rights of gay people, then protests should follow. But, if the only issue that remains is people with prejudice, organized rallies are meaningless and ineffective. Gays can best help their cause by living their lives as usual, and reporting harmful instances of discrimination only when they encounter it. Flashing heterosexual culture in the face of people who don’t like it is at best a waste of time. For anyone anti-gay (or even neutral), this kind of inflammatory activity only serves to further derail tolerance towards LGBTs.
Now it could be said that telling LGBT people to stop their pride marches is restrictive and will result in their oppression. If they calm their efforts, the government could rekindle its anti-gay policies, as there would be no clear opposition. But if this were true, then why haven’t blacks in this country been re-segregated?* What about asians? These formerly disadvantaged groups don’t have to worry about bad laws coming back. They are now (for the most part) accepted into society, and in the last century there has been a notable trend: virtually all laws regarding discrimination have been removed, not created. Stopping protests won’t make gays an easy target. All it will do is make it easier for them to be tolerated amongst society.
Another possible counter to my claims could be the feeling of unity that many marchers get. As a minority group, gays can find themselves isolated if they don’t group together every now and again. Stopping pride parades could make these people feel like outcasts. But, I think nearly anyone who would go to a pride march would also willingly attend a gay bar or party or some other place where they can have a sense of belonging. Meeting up at a protest is not the only way to socialize with other LGBT people – using that as an excuse for marching is bogus.
So, to end the discrimination faced by homosexuals, pride marches are not the right method. Gays should stop their rallies and, at the same time, those who oppose them should practice acceptance.
* I realized here that technically black people still have protests with regards to racism, if you see BML (Black Lives Matter) as something even worth any consideration. The claim I was making was with regards to the Civil Rights Movement, and how the slowing of those protests did not open a window for segregation start up again. If you’d like to know more about my stance on BML I will be writing an article about them soon.
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