PRIDE.
 

Some people argue that they are tired of seeing PRIDE things around,
One reason being that there is no "straight pride" parades or anything of the like,
Another reason being that they feel LGBQT pride just separates people further rather than normalizing LGBQT people.

What are your opinions of PRIDE?

PRIDE parades seem to have only just recently started up in my country. Auckland (our largest city) had their fifth annual parade this year and Wellington (our capital) had their first one in over twenty years. I am not sure if it will come to my city as we are quite small.

They don't bother me. Especially not for the reasoning of there being
Being straight is not something which needs to be normalized as it is already treated as the "natural" default. There are issues within straight relations for sure, such as female sexuality being demonized, however we do have events and the like aimed at these.

As for whether they are normalizing them, my understanding is that the point of events is to bring attention to an issue. So the balancing between exoticizing and rendering them visible could be a contentious point. However I don't think we are at a point where they are probably recognized as full citizens. Around the world even the most basic of human rights such as marriage, adoption, and equal work opportunities are still being denied.

That's a fair enough point too. While I'm not concerned personally about parades, for some they can be quite enjoyable experiences. As for getting in the way, I don't think the delays are that significant really. Christmas delays for instance have quite minimal impact on how my work operates. They simply rearrange the order that the shops are receiving their deliveries slightly.

It irritates me. Mainly because there are those who decide to use pride as an excuse to ram it down your throat (You're gay. I get it. I don't care.) and whine about how bad they have it now and how they're being discriminated against when going for jobs (There's someone more quailifed than you, they're not going to employ you just to say we have a gay person. Please read up on equality and diversity laws.). Um...WHAT ?! You do know only 50 years ago the UK PARTIALLY de-criminalized homosexuality. Which means that there are STILL men who have to live with criminal convictions, which can be quashed but that takes time and money that some don't have.

Let's not get started on the ignorant being branded as homophobic.

There are those have a genuine irrational fear of gay people. Your gay uncle might have jumped out of a cupbored at you screaming and covered in cobwebs and scared you shizless. You don't tell people with claustrophobia to get aquainted with a nice small space.

I've got very unaccepting parents due to growing up with above said laws, very very different times to grow up in. I don't go ramming that down your throats. (My parents are old, dad is in his 70's).

I still don't get why transgender is shoved in with sexualities. It's like we're not sure where to put it...

HIM, I can tell you have some really strong feelings on the matter, but I just want to say that you're perceiving it as being rammed down your throat when that's really... not what it's even about.

We're still very much attacked and discriminated against. It's a real thing that real people are dealing with day to day. It goes so much further than "Oh I didn't get the job because I'm gay". It's "I went out to have fun and I got shot because some idiot with a gun decided to kill me". The PULSE anniversary JUST passed. Pride isn't being "shoved down your throats" because we want to wave our rainbows in your face. It's because we're human beings who are being killed or beaten.

I'm sorry, but if there's anyone out there with an irrational fear of gay people, that's on them. Comparing it to claustrophobia is a little insulting. You don't choose to have claustrophobia, but you DO choose to hate people and discriminate against them. They aren't comparable.

I'm hesitant to touch on your trans* comment, because I don't identify as such- but tacking it on at the end of your sentence is a little insensitive. We can't decide where to put it? It's fine where it is. It's someone's identity.

What I'm trying to say here is that it's unfair to say it's being shoved in anyone's face. Pride is, was and will always be important because of the sacrifices those in the community have made.

I'm bisexual. I have to live with being told it's wrong. There's something wrong with it.


I've been accused of not accepting people and being homophobic because just went yeah ok. Not going in with the rest of the "friend" group with over the top screaming about how wonderful it is for them being gay.

I have been in a possition where as a young teenager, myself and a group of friend were cornered by a group of students and forced to sign a petition on homophobia. It was you sign it or we brand you.

What I'm saying is IF people actually read the UK Equaility and Diversity Laws they would realize that if they genuinely had thought it was due to their sexuality all you have to do is report the company. Regardless of the size of the company action will be taken and it has happened.


With trans I've never been able to find an answer to that. I would say it comes under gender identity.

In no way saying I have a problem with pride.

It's certain people who think I should act a certain way that do.

I've never been someone to shout things from the rooftops but I've been in contact with people who think that's exactly what I should do.

---------- Post added 07-20-2017 at 08:07 PM ----------

Hence why HIM doesn't voice an opinion because it is always wrong.

Imagine the uproar if folks were cornered and "forced" align themselves with Christian ideals or become branded. There would riots. Not that riots are uncommon among the left. After all, if you cannot vault your political views upon the national stage via use of facts and reasoned debate, then marching and rioting is the way to go.

What concerns me most is a world stage is being set up and no one cares in the least. And it isn't more love in the world that approaches.

I see nothing wrong with PRIDE. People express things all the time. This one just happens to have rainbows :) along with recent victories in human rights issues such as gay marriage as well as personal and individual victories because it was not always so accepted to come out as non-heterosexual.

To be fair, as you acknowledge, there is still a fair amount of stigma surrounding non-heterosexual sexualities. To be able to reclaim one's identity as a positive thing can be quite empowering for some people. At my high school for instance it was still treated as quite a derogatory thing. Same sex marriage for instance was viewed as something immoral. This can potentially have quite a negative psychological impact on some people. Being able to reclaim one's identity can consequently be quite empowering.
That's a bit harsh. Not everyone is in an emotional/resource situation in which they would be able to take the required action for that. As a former Union Delegate, people in general seem quite unaware of their legal rights. I would never agree to this being grounds for their abuse being acceptable. Nor would I even attribute any blame to said abuse happening on them. The other issue is that this is quite a difficult case to prove.

In saying this, it definitely is important to have people more educated on their legal rights and the processes involved in securing them. So I totally agree with you on the importance of such laws and rights.

I do not have an opinion of pride. It is socially unacceptable for me to show any sort of racial or gender based pride. If I do, I may be mocked, ridiculed, assaulted, or otherwise. So I have no idea what being proud of what you are feels like.

Edit - Correction, I WILL be mocked, ridiculed, assaulted, or otherwise poorly treated by some group or another who feels I am an entitled person with privileges. (Which I'm in a really bad spot right now so if I could cash in on those anytime now that'd be great!)

That surprises me quite a bit. It is strange for me to imagine what it must be like to live in such a manner as to never experience such pride.

In my workplace it is acceptable to experience pride associated with the department you are in, the particular distribution centre you work at, and more widely the nationwide company we work for. Although perhaps not as common in other forms of employment due to how central team work is to distribution?

There is also pride in they city I come from and closely related how our sports teams perform.

If you show white pride you are met with immediate hostility. I am socially not allowed to be proud because of something people did a long time ago it's still my fault apparently.
I don't follow sports and the Seahawks winning means more noise disturbances that night. The super bowl win was horribly annoying.
I live in a very bad neighborhood, pot and meth has been very bad here. I had a meth dealer next door on the left and a lot dealer in the right.
I don't have pride in my work. I can be happy with my work but I will never be proud of it because I can always get better.

But for a generic white straight male to say "i am proud..." you would be amazed how many threats I would get.
Because I'm not Irish specific, Scottish specific, or any other specific race. I am a white mutt. So i am not allowed to have pride.

I can't be sure people will be as hostile about it as when I was a kid but I'm sure not going to risk a black eye to find out.

any show of pride in my heritage gets automatically billed as hate, so i know where you're coming from. especially living in an area where i am technically a minority, and sometimes have to be afraid to walk down the street to work at night because of it. much as i HAVE pride in my heritage, i have to be very careful about where and how i express it.

as far as LGBT "pride", i'm very much on the fence about it. i don't see these things as cultural, but biological, yet the notion of "pride" almost always indicates some tie to a certain culture or "lifestyle". and when i do look at the cultural aspect of LGBT, i tend not to like what i see. you can write me an essay on why this and that came into being (but i won't read it 'cause i've heard it all before), but as it stands now, a lot of it i do think does more harm than good. i don't like what i've seen of "gay culture" at all. the only thing i've seen that could count as "trans culture" is this trend of youngsters (almost always female) literally inventing genders and/or making a point of eschewing gender roles. i don't want any part of that, either.

i can see how having pride in something about yourself, whether cultural or biological, especially when it has a social stigma attached to it, can be helpful for some people and for "communities" as a whole. the problem is when everyone's idea of pride globs together into one homogeneous representation of the entire community, and those who express their pride differently are excluded while those who don't feel pride are branded as either self-loathing or bigots.

In my own opinion,
I have always believed that no matter who you are, what you look like, what your religion is, you should always have some pride in that.
At the same time, pride isn't an invitation to put down someone else. It's especially not a ways of saying that you are better than someone else.

I think a lot of people assume that having pride in yourself, your heritage, your culture, religion, etc. means that you think you are better than someone else. Which, isn't true. I have a load of pride in my culture, my ethnic backgrounds and my own spiritual beliefs, but I would never use that as a means of saying that I am better than someone else.

As far as pride goes for LGBT, I think because they are an oppressed minority, it makes sense that they should have a time of the year, every year where they can openly express themselves in a society where they would otherwise be forced to keep quiet. Realize, they aren't just marching for themselves in these wealthy, first world countries... They are also out there to raise awareness for those who can't walk and march for themselves in other countries, such as places where they can get killed for being gay or transgender.

I think people can be proud without being assholes about it. I do feel that pride events should be more focused on those who are minorities and to spread awareness. We don't need "Straight Awareness" when most people in the world are straight. We don't really need support groups for "white pride" when most of the countries that are first world are white.

The last time I saw a white person show pride they were accused of being a Nazi or part of the kkk and shut down and made to feel like a horrible person. This is done with no reasoning except that they are white.
Sure we don't need a day of the year but we are openly attacked by minorities if we show pride. In terms of being allowed to be proud of your race it's highly frowned upon for whites. You'd be amazed how many times I have been told I have no right to be proud.

This is kind of why I have such a bitter view on pride.

The marches make sense In that way. As many of them reach globally through the news as long as it isn't filtered.

do you mind if I ask you -- what racially-based things are you proud of?

The answer would be none. Seeing the way other people were treated when they were proud of their race, I didn't develop that pride.

I learned at a young age only minorities are allowed to show pride.

What did you see the other people being proud of?

They were proud of their race. Their origin which being white that was not allowed since WW2. The event of the Nazis, the KKK and the events of slavery, none of which I took any part of are very commonly brought up as reasons I have no right to show pride.
Other races on the other hand are encouraged to show pride in their race.

I think I was not clear about my question. I was asking what exactly were they proud of about their race?

For example, I know that Asian-American groups from various nationalities could be proud of their cultural food, music, dance styles, traditional garments. (I say "could be" because I recognize the possibility and acknowledge that not all members of those groups will share exactly the same sentiments.)

Are there specific things that you saw they were proud of?

Is there anything to be proud of? I've not thought about it that hard.

well I think that might be why there is a strong sentiment against white people being proud of their race. Because it is hard to think of something white people can be proud of.

For example, white people can be proud of their holidays...but then if you look at why Thanksgiving came about, you would see how the origins of that holiday were detrimental to the native americans. And I am blanking on other holidays...Easter is technically a Christian holiday, St. Patrick's Day is supposed to be an Irish holiday...

And then what food could white people be proud of? I guess cheeseburgers are mighty delicious :P

I don't know what clothing white people would be proud of either...

So I guess in the end they contribute nothing to society.

I am proud of being German.
I didn't even know my family was German until my grandfather died and before he died he told us (being my parents and I) that he spent childhood in Germany and came to the USA after he finished school.

I don't know much about Germany, but I am proud of Germany because they kept my grandfather there who wasn't perfect, mind you, but was a great person and did what he could for his family.

I am also very proud to be black because I feel like black people have endured so much in America, it's cool to be a part of such a strong group of people who (even though have a lack of their own culture and identity) can form their own culture out of nothing and who have made such important contributions to American history.