I hope everyone has a wonderful Gay Pride month. I plan to find a husband this month. Wish me luck.

Gay-Unittttt!!!

M
[Edited 6/13/05 12:26pm]

[Edited 6/13/05 12:29pm]

That's kind of a dirty icon, ain't it? Looks like a set of nuts and bolts before it's...blown. Anyway, happy GLBTSCQWOSK pride!

MIGUELGOMEZ said:

Can you find me a wife while you're at it? I need somebody who cleans this place, and does the washing.


Happy Gay Pride Month! I won't be here for the Swedish Pride Festival in August this year though but on the other hand I'll be busy getting and

My respect and props to you all. This Southern Boy supports the right for you to love whomever you damn well please without consequence or judgement. Those who throw taunts or roadblocks probably need a lot more love in their life.

Be proud, stay strong, and find happiness.

GottaLetitgo said:

Thank you very much!! That really does mean a lot. A definite Southern Gentleman. I wish you love also.

M

Teacher said:

I will look for you. I may already have someone in mind.....hmmmmm.


M

also my 5 yr anniversary with my honey!

nope...


do not celebrate.....and do not support the pride events that occur in San Francisco...

they are totally inappropriate...and until the gay community starts to treat "all" members of its so-called community as equals (ie, lesbians, trans-gendered and people of color) I will continue to speak out against these sexually perverse, drug heavy and tacky ass events...

now you want me to tell you all how i really feel?




i celebrate my own self-pride.....everyday of my life...EVERYDAY OF MY LIFE- Dajae
[Edited 6/13/05 14:06pm]

sosgemini said:

Is it just SF or all gay pride events? They are pretty much the same all over.

It's a shame you swathe all of it as being negative. I really don't sense any racism within the LBGT community. Being gay is hard by itself...and I'm sure that being gay and a minority is just as hard if not more so. But never have I experienced any shunning of any of the people who want to particpate and align themselves with the gay community. We're pretty inclusive...even of politicians and republicans.

Even I don't participate all that much, but I am not against it. It is what it has become. I do think it's an important thing though. It stands for the day that we were no longer to be afraid of who we are and what were about. It's an homage to those that did so before before us with Pride and Dignity and a little fear and spit on their faces as they marched.

superspaceboy said:

You really think the gay community is free of racism? I don't think any group in the USA is free from it. I don't think it's any more predominant within the gay community than it is in others, but it's there. I also think there's more acceptance from the community for the LG part than there is the BT.

Gay Pride events are important for some, and I understand why. Not everyone has the support and validation of their sexuality. For them, this event is needed. I've got the support I need in my life, so generally speaking I don't "participate" in Pride events.

RipHer2Shreds said:

CO-SIGN on the racist part.

I agree with the whole Pride thing too it's just that sometimes I like a good party, especially like the one they throw in San Francisco. At the age of 16 I went to my first Gay Pride and for me it really made a difference in my life. It made me feel like I belonged. For me that was very important at the time. It was great to see older men and women couples holding hands and having a great time. I think it's a pretty important right of passage especially for teens that have come out. I don't agree with all the drugs and stuff going on though.


M

superspaceboy said:

let me tell you all what changed it for me...i attended pride event for years.....never once felt any sense of "community"..

on the contrare, people seemed more interested in "hooking up" then celebrating...i look at the event as false advertisement...call it what it is, "dick pride"..

anyhoo, so...the last time i went...im there with friends..feeling content...not annoyed...had danced and enjoyed myself..

then i look up...theres five perfectly beautiful white bodied men on a bus stand (of course, they were white cause a brotha get up there and the cops would have tassared his ass.. ).. at anyrate: they start making at...at this point im annoyed but im like yeah yeah..whatever....now, the crowd starts cheering...and im talking this is the main event after the parade....and then the guys start stripping...and then the guys start giving each other head...

now, this isnt something new...but what was new was i look away in disgust and i see a mother holding her three year old on her shoulders.....the mother looked at me and we both could see the shame in our eyes...

i immediatly left the function and i have never went back and i take every oppurtunity i can to speak up against these events....

now, i feel an even stronger since that these events are wrong because i hear of the wonderful protest events that african americans gave in this country... *that* is the way you protest.....these events have never historically been about protesting...they've always been about getting your dick wet...

so, i'll pass..i have better things to do with my life.....

sorry, if this is the thing your into...more power to you..but i will never forget the woman's face...never....and never will i return...

GottaLetitgo said:

This is pretty fucking awesome of you.

For me i have i have a love/hate relationship for Pride.

This year i've voulunteered for Long Beach and Los Angeles Pride, and marched in both Parades on behalf of the Los Angeles boys of Leather.

We're given money from LBPride and Christopher Street West and we donate it to chairties that make a difference, The Trevor Project, The One Institue, PAWS LA, Being Alive LA, Jeffrey Goodman Community Clinic, the Leather Archives. and the like. It's a good way to raise awarness and money for lots and lots of orginazations.

I enjoy spending time with my friends while working these events, i love the sense of community in the staging areas before the parade, and the Leather community lines up and just hangs out and enjoys the sense of family. It's touching to watch the Sisters of Preputal Indulgence pray before the parade. Its alot of fun to watch people's reaction to all of LALC, Los Angeles Leather Conference, coming though. It's one of the few times most of the clubs in LALC are together.

I'll be at San Diego Pride cause i work for a San Diego Gay Paper.

I am over the shallowness of alot of the people that attend though. it's most of the time about the way you look.
At Erotic City i got into an agreument with a porn star because he wanted me to bend the rules for him cause he did porn.


I'm over the commericalizism. but oh well...

I don't go anymore, cuz I have gone for 15 years, marched etc. I have pretty much seen it all and don't care to sit int he sun for 4 hrs to see a float or a dragqueen. I just go to the after celebration in the Fairie Village.

I don't go to the Pink Saturdays anymore as it's too crowded and sort of a meat market. It's just how it is.

I know some racism exists within the community, but I have always found the gay community as a whole of accepting to everyone. Sure the B&T of LGBT are the minorities...they are reletively new (to the LGBT moniker). Not sure what community thay really have, but I think it's important for them to be included and recognized.

superspaceboy said:

are you a black or other minority member? i dont mean to sound argumentative with you and your own experiences..but i cant fathom how you can say that your personal experiences would put you in a position to see racism...

i see it...either its in your face, "ohh...i didnt know it was run-dmc night" was said in front of my face at Universe....to "oh, your cute..for a black guy..but i dont date black guys"...all my life.....

so no, theres no pride in it for me....the people that go to these events are the same people that propogate that attitude..

and lets not forget just two months ago what went down at badlands..


and its subtle....the guys dont think they are racist....it just slips out..how so? because deep down they dont hate black people...they just dont want to have anything to do with them either...

Thanks!


My people have a long way to go, but it helps to have these events further our cuase and ground us!

my people?

sosgemini said:

Sorry.
Got caught up in the momment.
Miguelgomez tends to do that to me.

sosgemini said:

But what happened at Badlands is NOT or should NOT be a reflection on the whole community. I'm sure many of our gay brothers and sisters were not happy to hear about that. I wasn't. It's pretty shameful. Racism in general is pretty shameful...gay straight or otherwise.

superspaceboy said:

What happenned exactly?

TIFFANY AND GIBSON TEAM UP FOR GAY PRIDE FINALE

Eighties pop rivals Tiffany and Deborah Gibson joined forces to bring Los Angeles' Gay Pride Festival to a close Sunday night.
The two singers performed to close the weekend's activities, which featured Paris Hilton and her mother Kathy leading the Gay Pride parade.

The hotel heiress was a big hit among the 300,000-plus people, who crowded the parade route through West Hollywood, despite the fact that she upset many gay rights officials by disapproving of gay men kissing on her reality show "The Simple Life."

Newly engaged Hilton made sure she made amends by not only attending the parade, where she was one of four grand marshals, but she also flew in from Miami, Fla., to attend a pre-parade party on Saturday night.

Gay Pride publicist Rob Shuter insists Hilton was thrilled to be invited to the celebrations.

He says, "She has an enormous number of gay and lesbian friends and is very supportive. Paris believes in equality for everyone."

ssb says - it don't get much gayer than that.

superspaceboy said:

i think that belongs in my thread.

AsianBomb777 said:

Recent article...though it's more af a retrospect on what happened and what's happening now...

SAN FRANCISCO
Board likely to back Castro bar bias finding

The San Francisco Human Rights Commission's finding in April that the Badlands bar discriminates against African Americans has forged new ties between the city's black and gay communities, which had often found themselves at odds.

City supervisors are expected to pass a resolution Tuesday supporting the commission's finding that bar owner Les Natali tried to ban black patrons and didn't want to hire any African Americans, in violation of anti-discrimination laws.

The rights commission doesn't have the power to levy fines or take punitive action against the Castro district bar because it is not a city contractor. But if the city attorney upholds the commission's findings, the San Francisco Entertainment Commission could revoke Natali's entertainment permit.

Natali and his attorneys have strongly denied charges he referred to African Americans as "non-Badlands customers" or tried to keep black people out by requiring them to show multiple forms of identification and by inconsistently applying a dress code and a "no bag" rule.

"These allegations stem from misunderstandings," said Natali, who noted Badlands has 17 nonwhite employees on its 40-person staff, including five black workers. "I never discriminated against anyone of color."

Several dozen demonstrators have gathered outside the nightspot to protest each Saturday since the rights commission's finding. The anti-racism group And Castro for All says those pickets will continue until the state revokes Natali's liquor license and the city revokes his entertainment permit.

Natali has demanded the commission withdraw its finding. His attorney, Paul Melbostad, dismissed the Board of Supervisors resolution, which Supervisor Bevan Dufty introduced this week.

"It's clear to me that this resolution is clearly a result of political intimidation," Melbostad said. "If you went to Badlands at night, you'll find more African Americans inside the bar than you would outside protesting."

Natali, who also owns the Detour bar in the Castro, is awaiting state approval of his bid to purchase the Pendulum, a Castro bar that is considered to welcome blacks.

Several political and community leaders say the allegations against Badlands are symbolic of the alienation blacks have experienced for years in the Castro.

"In the 30 years I've been here, the rank-and-file white gay leadership has not consistently partnered with the African American community at all," said the Rev. Amos Brown, head of the San Francisco chapter of the NAACP.

Brown said he and the Rev. Cecil Williams of Glide Memorial United Methodist Church were brought in to try to mediate the dispute between Natali and gay organizations.

Calvin Gipson, who is black and a former president of the city's Gay Pride Committee, said the straight black community and the gay black community have been offended by the charges surrounding Badlands.

Gipson said he's heard complaints about Badlands dating to 2001 and that he was once harassed inside the bar and accused of stealing a jacket.

"I moved to San Francisco as a gay man to be free," he said. "I had no idea that I'd experience racism within the gay community."

Paul Mooney, one of the founders of And Castro for All, said: "This is a much larger issue. It's not about one bar."

Mooney said his group has drawn the support of Supervisor Sophie Maxwell, the board's only black member, and Supervisor Tom Ammiano. Dufty said he is working with the San Francisco San Francisco Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Community Center and other groups to fund an education campaign for local businesses to fight discrimination.

"I do think I can create greater affinity with the (two) communities," Dufty said.

superspaceboy said:

i understand that.....hence me commenting that i used to go to these events...but when you look at the collective of my experiences, i just dont see anything to "celebrate" about....

sosgemini said:

you pick and chose what we want to represnt the community. if we chose to only see the racism that's all we see... if we chose to only see good things that's all we see.

i have a unique position in the gay community i can easily just fit in with the rest of the white twinkie boys, but i spend most of my time with the Leather crowd, so therefore i get looked down upon.

i could just focus on the negative side and feel sorry for myself for people treating me like a deviant. or i can just look at is my mission to educate. last year i had someone come up to me after a demo in the Leather Expo and tell me i opened their eyes to a lifestyle they didn't understand and would just make fun of. granted more people attend demos i'm in, but if i can reach one person and open their eyes. i've done my job.

why focus on just the negative.

Pride does do good things.