So our local Gay Pride festival has been and gone and this year had a subterranean theme thanks to the appalling British weather. Still had a great time and the heavy downpour nearly didn’t spoil it – those speedo-wearing twinks were the ones laughing at the end.
I’m always left with mixed feeling after the annual Big Gay Event. This is because, despite the themes of diversity and inclusiveness, when I see the whole big gay world laid out in front of me, I feel alien from a large part of it. When you flit on and off the scene and have pockets of friends from across the spectrum, it’s not so noticeable.
I think my membership of the Gay Community™ might have lapsed, although I’ve never been a fully paid-up member. I’ve attended the events, read the newsletter, bought the merchandise and been active in meetings, but I’ll never be part of the inner circle. Some guys seem to have turned being gay into a full-time job and it seems like a lot of time and effort to me.
The other thing I noticed about the attendance at Pride and the street party the day after is a smaller number of younger guys than you’d expect. Maybe a lot of 18/19/20 year olds see Pride as Old Gay, like drag queens and poppers; they’d rather go see Lady GaGa with everyone else. In fact, they might think the idea of leaving some of their straight mates behind and spending the day in a park full of strangers an odd idea.
For young gays growing up now there is ever more inclusiveness away from this one day out of the year; they’re enjoying the freedoms and acceptance fought for by all those past Gay Prides. The politics has largely been won and maybe it’s a natural evolution and sign of progress that gay parades and festivals might eventually seem old fashioned. At which point, drop the ‘gay’, book Lady GaGa and get the youngsters back, but keep the drag queens, the dildo candy … and the twinks in speedos.
Part-time gay
I’m always left with mixed feeling after the annual Big Gay Event. This is because, despite the themes of diversity and inclusiveness, when I see the whole big gay world laid out in front of me, I feel alien from a large part of it. When you flit on and off the scene and have pockets of friends from across the spectrum, it’s not so noticeable.
I think my membership of the Gay Community™ might have lapsed, although I’ve never been a fully paid-up member. I’ve attended the events, read the newsletter, bought the merchandise and been active in meetings, but I’ll never be part of the inner circle. Some guys seem to have turned being gay into a full-time job and it seems like a lot of time and effort to me.
The other thing I noticed about the attendance at Pride and the street party the day after is a smaller number of younger guys than you’d expect. Maybe a lot of 18/19/20 year olds see Pride as Old Gay, like drag queens and poppers; they’d rather go see Lady GaGa with everyone else. In fact, they might think the idea of leaving some of their straight mates behind and spending the day in a park full of strangers an odd idea.
For young gays growing up now there is ever more inclusiveness away from this one day out of the year; they’re enjoying the freedoms and acceptance fought for by all those past Gay Prides. The politics has largely been won and maybe it’s a natural evolution and sign of progress that gay parades and festivals might eventually seem old fashioned. At which point, drop the ‘gay’, book Lady GaGa and get the youngsters back, but keep the drag queens, the dildo candy … and the twinks in speedos.