Okay so here's the scenario my best friend told me she & her girlfriend went to a gay Pride event in Florida and she described the things the men were wearing and said they were kinda over the top with their dress. She also said she witnessed the people throw beer and do all kinds of disrespectful things to this guy who was preaching about the bible and had a bull horn. The guy wasn't hurting anyone, but my friend said the crowd was so disrespectful towards him that it was kinda sad My question is was this behavior just maybe a local thing for St.Petersburg or does this kinda behavior occur at all gay pride events? Just wondering

nursev said:

Okay so here's the scenario my best friend told me she & her girlfriend went to a gay Pride event in Florida and she described the things the men were wearing and said they were kinda over the top with their dress. She also said she witnessed the people throw beer and do all kinds of disrespectful things to this guy who was preaching about the bible and had a bull horn. The guy wasn't hurting anyone, but my friend said the crowd was so disrespectful towards him that it was kinda sad My question is was this behavior just maybe a local thing for St.Petersburg or does this kinda behavior occur at all gay pride events? Just wondering

That muthafucka knew what he was doin'! but nah the Pride events i've been to have been pretty fun. Only bad thing I have had to experience is old dudes with saggy man-tittibresticles wearing bondage and shit.

AsherFierce said:

nursev said:

Okay so here's the scenario my best friend told me she & her girlfriend went to a gay Pride event in Florida and she described the things the men were wearing and said they were kinda over the top with their dress. She also said she witnessed the people throw beer and do all kinds of disrespectful things to this guy who was preaching about the bible and had a bull horn. The guy wasn't hurting anyone, but my friend said the crowd was so disrespectful towards him that it was kinda sad My question is was this behavior just maybe a local thing for St.Petersburg or does this kinda behavior occur at all gay pride events? Just wondering

That muthafucka knew what he was doin'! but nah the Pride events i've been to have been pretty fun. Only bad thing I have had to experience is old dudes with saggy man-tittibresticles wearing bondage and shit.

OMG but yeah that was the kinda shit she descibed too Just asses out and everywhere

I don't think I will ever go out and support those events until they get rid of those tacky underwear-boy floats.

I mean, women's sufferage marchers and black Americans didn't have floats with hooters girls to get their points accross. It's just tacky as hell.

People tell me that it's only a small minority of the floats, but the fact that they're allowed at all is just tacky, tacky, taaaaccccckkkkkky. There's no point to them, get rid of them.

SO, I can't say that this is normal behavior.

However, my home I still claim as Tampa Florida, and St. Pete is obviously part of that (on the other side of the bay), and the preachers are part of a group that also goes to Ybor city on Friday nights. Ybor city is essentially Tampa's 'French' quarter, but with a Cuban flair, and it is extremely popular with folks in their 20's during the weekends. Anyways, those 'preachers' will stand in street coners in Ybor and holler and hoot about sin, while all the passerby's shout abusing things at them.

They know what they're walking into.

They also have an annoying habbit of protesting gay-themed movies at Tampa's historic art theater---and they're prophesing isn't exact...tame. These religious zealouts are often abusive in what they say.

I think gay pride parades are fun but by the end of the day I am sincerely "gayed-out"

I remember once, back in 1999 , just tired of the floats and the leather and all the rainbows. After that parade I seriously just needed some blandness. But they are fun and everyone is usually in great spirits.

nursev said:

Okay so here's the scenario my best friend told me she & her girlfriend went to a gay Pride event in Florida and she described the things the men were wearing and said they were kinda over the top with their dress. She also said she witnessed the people throw beer and do all kinds of disrespectful things to this guy who was preaching about the bible and had a bull horn. The guy wasn't hurting anyone, but my friend said the crowd was so disrespectful towards him that it was kinda sad My question is was this behavior just maybe a local thing for St.Petersburg or does this kinda behavior occur at all gay pride events? Just wondering

Um who's really doing the disrespecting here? These guys go every year. To every pride in every city I've ever been to during Pride. And yes they are hurting people. They yell at us and hold up HUGE signs that tell us we're going to hell. Not that I believe in hell and all that bullshit, but there are some younger, newly out gays that don't need to be reminded of bible bullshit at their party. These assholes go there deliberately to start shit not because they're concerned for our souls. But out of pure mean-spiritednes. Not to mention Fred Phelps and his crew telling us that "God Hates Fags." I don't go to a chritian church picnic and tell them not to eat shell fish or they'll go to hell. It's usually just the christians. I've never seen Jews, Hindus, or Muslims (though they hate us too) at these events. It's always the brotherly love of the Christians.

And yes men are wearing over the top dress. It's part of the camp culture of some gay communities. It's the "gay" in GAY. It's all fun and over the top. Silly things mixed in with serious things. And I know some other poster said that women's suffrage and black americans didn't need to need to do tacky things to get the point across. Those marchers were different although they were civil rights marches they were simply political statements. Pride is not just politics but pride in the myriad of things gay people are about. Some are dikes on bikes others are go-go boys in thongs, yet others are gay parents with their happy straight kids. And yes some of it is tacky as hell. But who cares? I find the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade a tacky over the top corporate whore fest, but I can let it be and just enjoy the madness. Ours is a pride parade on being proud of being gay in all of our rainbow awesomeness, and not a full on political march on Washington. Not yet anyway.

[Edited 7/2/12 20:23pm]

[Edited 7/2/12 20:24pm]

[Edited 7/2/12 20:25pm]

Pride parades are not my cup of tea for several layers of reasons, nurse. But for better or worse -- and placing responsibility wherever it lies (including at the Bible thumper's feet) -- I'd say the scenario described is pretty much par for the course in every city I've been in during Pride season.

[Edited 7/2/12 21:13pm]

Very disrespectful of the guy to go preaching about the bible at a gaypride.

Gay pride has way too many people here in SF to be fun for me, but I went to several over the years. If protestors don't want to be disrespected, they should keep their religious nuttery way the fuck away from gay pride. It's bad enough we walk through our days being judged, hated, and litigated, but must we really suffer the stupid fucking bible thumping bullshit even on a weekend celebrating our personhood?

Fuck that guy and fuck a bunch of religious crackheads. Too bad one of those crazy gays didn't rip the guy's pants off and start fellating him. Who knows, he mighta found a new hobby to get him away from that poisonous book.

As both a believer and a gay man -- and one who's fairly honoured to proclaim both -- I think just one of the misfortunes of this predicament is that while reactionary religious dude was being clearly an agitator, reactionary queers played right into his game by being downright criminal... at their own public event. You can't just go throwing stuff at (i.e. assaulting) people who say things you don't like. Or rather you can, but there will be consequences... like eroded public opinion, like eroded future attendance at similar events, like threats of pulled public funding, like possible arrests, like lawsuits. In the end, who has lost?

Some Pride committees have seen benefit in actively inviting progressive religious groups to take part in their parades. It's not a panacea, but it has been rich to watch these clerics and layleaders engage religious naysayers -- and often hand them their asses -- on their own "turf," so to speak. No thrown beer cans; just equally faithful people who not only represent an even fuller diversity of the LGBTQ community, but exemplify the humanity of their faith in ways assholes with bullhorns never could.

[Edited 7/2/12 22:08pm]

Why ponder and speculate on all this? Just go to a Pride event and find out for yourself.

While it can certainly be outrageous and even scantilly-clad, I'm not sure what the attire of the folk celebrating has to do with anything.

The preacher folk who usually show up at gay events are not the most respectful, by the way.

Their MO is not to set up a stand with religious literature by the sidelines so much as heckling the festivities.

Lammastide said:

As both a believer and a gay man -- and one who's fairly honoured to proclaim both -- I think just one of the misfortunes of this predicament is that while reactionary religious dude was being clearly an agitator, reactionary queers played right into his game by being downright criminal... at their own public event. You can't just go throwing stuff at (i.e. assaulting) people who say things you don't like. Or rather you can, but there will be consequences... like eroded public opinion, like eroded future attendance at similar events, like threats of pulled public funding, like possible arrests, like lawsuits. In the end, who has lost?

Some Pride committees have seen benefit in actively inviting progressive religious groups to take part in their parades. It's not a panacea, but it has been rich to watch these clerics and layleaders engage religious naysayers -- and often hand them their asses -- on their own "turf," so to speak. No thrown beer cans; just equally faithful people who not only represent an even fuller diversity of the LGBTQ community, but exemplify the humanity of their faith in ways assholes with bullhorns never could.

[Edited 7/2/12 22:08pm]

I feel that the day where gay folks should sit silently while people abuse them is over. Protesting is fine & great, but if you protest people then you run the risk of incurring the wrath of those people. Gay people have a right to be disgusted by religious folks in 2012. In fact, I find it kind of amusing that one can remain religious after acknowledging their homosexuality.

Spinlight said:

Lammastide said:

As both a believer and a gay man -- and one who's fairly honoured to proclaim both -- I think just one of the misfortunes of this predicament is that while reactionary religious dude was being clearly an agitator, reactionary queers played right into his game by being downright criminal... at their own public event. You can't just go throwing stuff at (i.e. assaulting) people who say things you don't like. Or rather you can, but there will be consequences... like eroded public opinion, like eroded future attendance at similar events, like threats of pulled public funding, like possible arrests, like lawsuits. In the end, who has lost?

Some Pride committees have seen benefit in actively inviting progressive religious groups to take part in their parades. It's not a panacea, but it has been rich to watch these clerics and layleaders engage religious naysayers -- and often hand them their asses -- on their own "turf," so to speak. No thrown beer cans; just equally faithful people who not only represent an even fuller diversity of the LGBTQ community, but exemplify the humanity of their faith in ways assholes with bullhorns never could.

[Edited 7/2/12 22:08pm]

I feel that the day where gay folks should sit silently while people abuse them is over. Protesting is fine & great, but if you protest people then you run the risk of incurring the wrath of those people. Gay people have a right to be disgusted by religious folks in 2012. In fact, I find it kind of amusing that one can remain religious after acknowledging their homosexuality.

To many people (including myself), there's a big, big difference between "religion" and "belief". Just saying.

Dave1992 said:

Spinlight said:

I feel that the day where gay folks should sit silently while people abuse them is over. Protesting is fine & great, but if you protest people then you run the risk of incurring the wrath of those people. Gay people have a right to be disgusted by religious folks in 2012. In fact, I find it kind of amusing that one can remain religious after acknowledging their homosexuality.

To many people (including myself), there's a big, big difference between "religion" and "belief". Just saying.

Yep. And typically, people who merely hold 'beliefs' tend to not fall directly in line with religious texts and the bandying about of interpretations.

If they don't want to be disrespected, then they should stay the hell away from gay events doing all that preaching. The reason they preach at these events is to disrespect it so if you dish out disrespect, you deserve disrespect right back on your ass.

Spinlight said:

The Ukrainian Gay Pride was no fun this year.

Florida probably is much more party and sunnier.

Have fun.