Gay Rights Versus Gay Rites: The Two Faces of Philadelphia's Gay Pride Parade, June 13, 2010
There was Taps and tap dancing in downtown Quaker City as LGBT groups took to the streets for their annual celebration of themselves in an event that is slowly becoming a safe haven for kindred civil and human rights causes. That new blending, however, may force a re-examination of the event's sometimes narcissistic, self-indulgent dress code and conduct.
If ever an event had a split personality, it was Philadelphia's Gay Pride Parade, Sunday, June 13, 2010.
First, there was the gala, reminiscent of the city's famous Mummer's Parade with a tad of Rose Bowl procession added for extra zest and zeal. This was the parade most of its participants marched in and most of its thousands of spectators watched. This was the parade with acrobat troupes, marching bands and even corporate sponsors. This was the parade of mainstreamed homosexuality and gay rites.
Second, there was the solemn procession, reminiscent of freedom and anti-war rallies. This was the parade that attracted a vanguard of veterans groups as well as a rear guard of Christian clergy and churches. This was the parade of proud parents, loving friends and determined activists. This was the parade of civil, human and, above all, and gay rights.
Although I enjoy the sight of small-herd multi-colored dyed poodles, andun-closeted men and women happily free to be themselves in public, I was there to see a gay rights parade that was a movable feast of causes linked to this far-from-ended quest for justice. I was there as a peace activist in the year that the United States military will most likely repeal its infamous "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy with regard to Gay and Lesbian recruits. This imminent and momentous abolition was central to the occasion. Or should have been. But it failed, as far as I was concerned, to adequately reflect it.
Gay rites trumped gay rights.
Both parades began around noon in sweltering, dehydrating heat with a bosun's pipes and taps for the fallen American soldiers in all its wars, as well as their victims in the most recent failures of empire throughout Asia. Tireless peace activist Bill Perry, who persuaded a local veterans for peace group to join the Gay Pride Parade last year, was the bugler. There wasn't one other decibel of crowd noise in the respectful hush that accompanied him. That gesture anchored the event in implicit nobility and idealism, and gave the march new marching orders as a political not just a cultural event. The parade was about transition.
The Great Koan: The Right to be Gay with the U.S. Killing Machine
Funny thing, some veterans were conflicted about their presence in the parade. No, the reluctance had nothing to do with lingering ambivalence about gay rights. It had to do with gay rights advocacy for the world's most hyperactive military force. If the dozens of former soldiers marching had their way, everyone of those troops whose right to be openly gay that they are espousing, would come home now. As one veteran told me, "We've got a dilemma. We are asking the government to abolish the last legitimate excuse to escape active duty in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and--who knows--maybe one day soon Iran."
He was only kidding--well, maybe only half-kidding. True "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was, and is, a terrible compromise. As things stand, gays can die for their country, but they die as unknown soldiers since their identities are kept secret. So the participation of veterans peace groups in a Gay Pride Parade in support of the right to die and kill openly as gay uniformed men and women had a certain irony to it. As I mulled over this debilitating conundrum, I suddenly felt the need for less gravitas and more, pun intended, gaiety. I needed to drown in the local color of the event as a gala. But that aspect of the event posed other dilemmas.
Finally: A Marketing Niche All Their Own
Perhaps the most visible sign of the Philadelphia Gay Pride Parade's mainstream status was the presence of New York Cheers, a non-profit cheer-leader squad that lends highly skilled and drilled bodies to gay rights and related causes in the Tri-State area. Comprised of ultra-limber gays and straights, this was the group's first appearance in the parade and it lent just the right note of exuberant precision to the occasion. I hope they are asked to march in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. They project both a mainstream and Main Street wholesomeness that would be very welcome at Disneyland.
And they explain why companies like U.S. Airways and the ChipolteMexican restaurant chain sent contingents to invite gays to their friendly spaces all across and over America. Gays may not yet have civil rights but they have full spending rights as an actively, aggressively pursued marketing niche. It is a measure of acceptance in a capitalist society to see gay dollars recognized as a distinct species of lucre from a viable new demographic.
Are Gays Stepin Fetchits When They Parade in Drag?
Okay, let me pause here to get something off my chest. I admit to squeamishness with a kind of Mardi Gras costuming that attracts many parade participants who see it as an annual freedom frolic rather than a freedom march. Does dressing in drag, leather briefs or net stockings reinforce anything but alienating stereotypes of Gay Life? And, if so, doesn't such parody reinforce the separateness of Gay and Straight lifestyles? Isn't becoming the equivalent of a Gay Gargoyle a form of Gay self-bashing? Don't Gays become Stepin Fetchits when, instead of leaving the closet behind, they bring it with them?
I don't mean to preach etiquette. But can Gays have it both ways? Is the parade for outreach or outrage? It's easy to scandalize a repressed society, Alan Watts said, but much harder to be own's own solitary liberated self no longer in need to prove anything to anybody. With the government ready to mandate full integration of Gays into the Armed Services, shouldn't Gay Pride parades build bridges rather than risk burning them? If Congress were going to pass a Gay Rights bill today, would any Gay person think of attending the vote dressed in drag? With representatives from other sectors of the Civil Rights movement joining the march, should not LGBT groups dress mindful of their presence. You can guess my answer.
Like it or not, the Gay Pride Parade is now a political event. Participants should respect this fact and dress ( as well as behave) accordingly. I know that many young out-for-fun readers will see me as a prude and a spoil sport. If so, I'm sorry. But since the parade is a public-consumption event, maybe dress code discretion is now called for.
Some Matthew Moments
As could and should be expected, believers in Yahweh took to the streets in support of gay rights. There are a growing number of churches in the Delaware Valley where gays are welcome to wafers, wine, baptismal waters and every other token of expression of participation in communal Christian life (I looked in vain for similar welcome signs from synagogues and mosques). It was gratifying to see representatives from a Catholic church that believes homosexuality is no longer a sin to be confided in a confession booth.
As a recent convert to what I call "Matthew-Gospel spirituality," my most comforting, joyous and memorable moment in the parade was to see a woman pastor carrying a placard which read, "Love thy neighbor," from Matthew. If I had been walking with her, my sign would have read, "Judge not lest ye be judged."
After the march, I noticed a Quaker woman standing as still as a statue in front of the new Constitution Center. She told me that there was always a volunteer standing there making the same handwritten request: "Pray for peace." That prayer should become "the very hum of our being," I told her. "Pray without ceasing," the Bible says. So, in the end, Gay Pride has to do with much more than being gay or proud. It has to do with being a sentient being. It is a sign of what religionists calls grace that the Philadelphia Gay Pride Parade has become a magnet for all civil and human rights. Marchers in the parade would do well to honor its new stature.
If ever an event had a split personality, it was Philadelphia's Gay Pride Parade, Sunday, June 13, 2010.
First, there was the gala, reminiscent of the city's famous Mummer's Parade with a tad of Rose Bowl procession added for extra zest and zeal. This was the parade most of its participants marched in and most of its thousands of spectators watched. This was the parade with acrobat troupes, marching bands and even corporate sponsors. This was the parade of mainstreamed homosexuality and gay rites.
Second, there was the solemn procession, reminiscent of freedom and anti-war rallies. This was the parade that attracted a vanguard of veterans groups as well as a rear guard of Christian clergy and churches. This was the parade of proud parents, loving friends and determined activists. This was the parade of civil, human and, above all, and gay rights.
Although I enjoy the sight of small-herd multi-colored dyed poodles, andun-closeted men and women happily free to be themselves in public, I was there to see a gay rights parade that was a movable feast of causes linked to this far-from-ended quest for justice. I was there as a peace activist in the year that the United States military will most likely repeal its infamous "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy with regard to Gay and Lesbian recruits. This imminent and momentous abolition was central to the occasion. Or should have been. But it failed, as far as I was concerned, to adequately reflect it.
Gay rites trumped gay rights.
Both parades began around noon in sweltering, dehydrating heat with a bosun's pipes and taps for the fallen American soldiers in all its wars, as well as their victims in the most recent failures of empire throughout Asia. Tireless peace activist Bill Perry, who persuaded a local veterans for peace group to join the Gay Pride Parade last year, was the bugler. There wasn't one other decibel of crowd noise in the respectful hush that accompanied him. That gesture anchored the event in implicit nobility and idealism, and gave the march new marching orders as a political not just a cultural event. The parade was about transition.
The Great Koan: The Right to be Gay with the U.S. Killing Machine
Funny thing, some veterans were conflicted about their presence in the parade. No, the reluctance had nothing to do with lingering ambivalence about gay rights. It had to do with gay rights advocacy for the world's most hyperactive military force. If the dozens of former soldiers marching had their way, everyone of those troops whose right to be openly gay that they are espousing, would come home now. As one veteran told me, "We've got a dilemma. We are asking the government to abolish the last legitimate excuse to escape active duty in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and--who knows--maybe one day soon Iran."
He was only kidding--well, maybe only half-kidding. True "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was, and is, a terrible compromise. As things stand, gays can die for their country, but they die as unknown soldiers since their identities are kept secret. So the participation of veterans peace groups in a Gay Pride Parade in support of the right to die and kill openly as gay uniformed men and women had a certain irony to it. As I mulled over this debilitating conundrum, I suddenly felt the need for less gravitas and more, pun intended, gaiety. I needed to drown in the local color of the event as a gala. But that aspect of the event posed other dilemmas.
Finally: A Marketing Niche All Their Own
Perhaps the most visible sign of the Philadelphia Gay Pride Parade's mainstream status was the presence of New York Cheers, a non-profit cheer-leader squad that lends highly skilled and drilled bodies to gay rights and related causes in the Tri-State area. Comprised of ultra-limber gays and straights, this was the group's first appearance in the parade and it lent just the right note of exuberant precision to the occasion. I hope they are asked to march in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. They project both a mainstream and Main Street wholesomeness that would be very welcome at Disneyland.
And they explain why companies like U.S. Airways and the ChipolteMexican restaurant chain sent contingents to invite gays to their friendly spaces all across and over America. Gays may not yet have civil rights but they have full spending rights as an actively, aggressively pursued marketing niche. It is a measure of acceptance in a capitalist society to see gay dollars recognized as a distinct species of lucre from a viable new demographic.
Are Gays Stepin Fetchits When They Parade in Drag?
Okay, let me pause here to get something off my chest. I admit to squeamishness with a kind of Mardi Gras costuming that attracts many parade participants who see it as an annual freedom frolic rather than a freedom march. Does dressing in drag, leather briefs or net stockings reinforce anything but alienating stereotypes of Gay Life? And, if so, doesn't such parody reinforce the separateness of Gay and Straight lifestyles? Isn't becoming the equivalent of a Gay Gargoyle a form of Gay self-bashing? Don't Gays become Stepin Fetchits when, instead of leaving the closet behind, they bring it with them?
I don't mean to preach etiquette. But can Gays have it both ways? Is the parade for outreach or outrage? It's easy to scandalize a repressed society, Alan Watts said, but much harder to be own's own solitary liberated self no longer in need to prove anything to anybody. With the government ready to mandate full integration of Gays into the Armed Services, shouldn't Gay Pride parades build bridges rather than risk burning them? If Congress were going to pass a Gay Rights bill today, would any Gay person think of attending the vote dressed in drag? With representatives from other sectors of the Civil Rights movement joining the march, should not LGBT groups dress mindful of their presence. You can guess my answer.
Like it or not, the Gay Pride Parade is now a political event. Participants should respect this fact and dress ( as well as behave) accordingly. I know that many young out-for-fun readers will see me as a prude and a spoil sport. If so, I'm sorry. But since the parade is a public-consumption event, maybe dress code discretion is now called for.
Some Matthew Moments
As could and should be expected, believers in Yahweh took to the streets in support of gay rights. There are a growing number of churches in the Delaware Valley where gays are welcome to wafers, wine, baptismal waters and every other token of expression of participation in communal Christian life (I looked in vain for similar welcome signs from synagogues and mosques). It was gratifying to see representatives from a Catholic church that believes homosexuality is no longer a sin to be confided in a confession booth.
As a recent convert to what I call "Matthew-Gospel spirituality," my most comforting, joyous and memorable moment in the parade was to see a woman pastor carrying a placard which read, "Love thy neighbor," from Matthew. If I had been walking with her, my sign would have read, "Judge not lest ye be judged."
After the march, I noticed a Quaker woman standing as still as a statue in front of the new Constitution Center. She told me that there was always a volunteer standing there making the same handwritten request: "Pray for peace." That prayer should become "the very hum of our being," I told her. "Pray without ceasing," the Bible says. So, in the end, Gay Pride has to do with much more than being gay or proud. It has to do with being a sentient being. It is a sign of what religionists calls grace that the Philadelphia Gay Pride Parade has become a magnet for all civil and human rights. Marchers in the parade would do well to honor its new stature.
posted by David Federman @ 8:32 PM
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