Current Events > To those who've attended LGBT Pride, what's your opinion?

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I make this topic as a Gay man that has attended pride twice. I'm not much of a fan.

I think the idea of it is fine. It's a great chance for everyone LGBT to unite and feel comfortable in their own skin, show solidarity, show mainstream America that we're as normal as everyone else.

But in the two times I've gone, I don't understand the hypersexuality of it all. Like with LA Pride, there's a certain section where you pay to enter. At this section they have places for dancing and tents where they sell sex toys / DVD's (unless they've changed in recent years). What stood out to me the most was a public exhibition where a guy volunteered to gag himself and be whipped.

Coupled with "models" from porn studios walking around, or people dressed rather indecently.

I'm really for people having their fetishes or kinks, but I feel that if we want to show modern America that we're "normal" like them, why are we so brazen with sexuality? Or why is that we're attributing that with LGBT "culture"? I know gay men who get excited to dress in fish nets or dress like Dr Frankenfurther for Pride, but we wouldn't be doing that normally in public.

I do admit i have biases because I come from a rather conservative background. I'm sure there are good counterpoints / reasons for why things are the way they are. So I'd like everyone else's take.

Our sexualities are leveraged against us daily. So pride usually celebrates our sexuality because it's a chance to celebrate us for us, and empower us to be ourselves.
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I personally find parades in general to be kinda boring. It's just a procession of colourful glorified advertisements, no matter what the parade is celebrating.

I've been to Toronto Pride a couple of times, the street fair before the parade is more enjoyable. On a side note, Pride festivals seem like they'd be lots of fun for straight guys too because there's lot of girls going topless (but that's completely legal here in Canada)
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I definitely find it both good and bad that pride is appealing to cis hetero people more and more. Especially since many are girls who will call a drag queen female pronouns but deadname a trans woman they never knew before transition.
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