Gay Pride? Obsolete? Albatross? Outmoded?

Is Gay Pride obsolete? Or just the celebrations? Are the Gay Pride celebrations doing us (the Gay and Lesbian community) more harm than good?

I have thought so for years, but I just recently read an article in the Advocate that I agree with 100%. The article was written by a straight guy (Michael Levine) whose observation of "gay pride" was the 20 second national newsblurbs that we see on CNN, Fox, ABC, CBS, etc... each year duing pride celebrations. Drag queens, leather daddies, and floats in the shape of a giant penis. The full text of his article is shown below.

Is the image we are so proud of? Is this the image we want the red states to see? Or do we even care?

Apparently, the "gay press" and organizers of gay pride events think so. Gay pride week has become a celebration of booze, strippers, drag queens, circuit parties, and sex. And this is what we are telling the younger men and women that are now coming out that being gay is all about. Surely we have more in common as a "community". In just a few minutes, I came up with a list that most gays and lesbians have in common other than parties and an attraction to the same-sex.

• Rejection (or fear of rejection) by family, friends, and co-workers
• Being proud of who we are and who we are with, but being unable to tell anyone
• Handling being gay at work?
• Trying to make dating or relationships work in the face of adversity (and the male urge to roam)
• Being on the outside (or inside) of a clique
• Temptations of the gay “party life style”
• Dealing with religious, sibling, and parental acceptable
• A history of men and women like us that have struggled with the same issues and become successful (and sometimes famous) anyway

Gay Pride was originally a celebration of who we are and that "that is okay." Somehow it has mutated in to "we are all drag queens, leather daddies, pretty / effeminate boys in thongs, and masculine women on motorcycles". Yet none of those things are who I am nor who my gay friends are. I am a teetotaler, out, successful, professional, "guy next door", partnered, and happily monogamously person. I have never put on a dress, never wore chaps, and sure never put on a thong in public (at 43, I'm sure THAT would be felony!)

Gay Pride has never represented me and I'm finding that it does not represent my friends. I suspect a lot of people feel that way. And that is why so many celebrations are as pathetic as the one in Honolulu.

Next year, I challenge the organizers of gay pride celebrations to organize an event that more accurately represents who we are, better helps us to live and work within our communities, and gives more of a sense of community.

I have a few ideas, of course. Rather than organizing a flambouyant parade, reserve space in a large park that includes places for meetings, discussion groups, and entertainment. Have speakers, seminars, stand-up comics, karaoke contests, fashion shows, and live entertainment (not lip syncing.) Need ideas for some sessions or seminars? How about some like this:

• Death and Taxes: Legal issues for Gay and Lesbian couples
• Till death do us part? Maintaining a long term relationship for gay men
• Handling substance abuse in loved ones
• Coming out
• Being religious and being gay? Mutually exclusive?
• Being out at work
• Health and sports (finding friendly leagues)
• Gay and Lesbian Couples and property / home ownership
• Responsible consumerism in your community
• Gay friendly travel destinations
• Same sex marriage and domestic partnerships: Where do we stand?
• Homosexuals and history: Famous people
• The Internet: How it has changed the gay community

Thanks to the Advocate's weird web site, I cannot provide a link to the article, so below is the full text.

Is pride good PR?

A-list Hollywood publicist Michael Levine assesses the public relations impact of pride festivals and parades.
By Michael LevineFrom
The Advocate June 6, 2006


It is undeniably true that it is difficult to be gay in our society. Cultural, religious, and in some cases governmental disapproval of homosexuality by the majority infects the daily lives of gay men and lesbians, and it can seem that the pressure from all sides to deny one’s identity is overwhelming and unrelenting.

The need for release, for freedom, is unmistakable. But gay pride festivals in cities around the country can sometimes do more harm than good.

I say this as a sympathetic heterosexual who makes his living in public relations and has done so for more than 20 years. When I discuss the impact of gay pride demonstrations and parades, it is not from a standpoint of moral disapproval or even political ideology. I’m assessing the impact made on society as a whole—the good or damage done to the cause of gay identity and rights in the United States—by the spectacle that gay pride demonstrations can make.

From where I’m standing, it’s not doing a lot of good.
Believe me, I understand that it must feel wonderful to take to the streets with hundreds, sometimes thousands, of people who, finally, agree with you and understand your life. I realize that even in today’s less closeted society it has to be a joyful moment to stop trying to play by the majority’s rules and simply acknowledge one’s own identity: to be you.

But it comes with a cost. Society’s mind-set in the 21st century is determined by the media, in particular television. And in a 24-hour news cycle, when entire networks have to fill a full day, every day, with current happenings, the impact of gay pride festivals will be reduced to a 20-second piece of videotape that will be played and replayed multiple times during the day until something new, something else that makes “good television,” replaces it.
And if you think that 20-second clip is going to be a reasoned assessment of the plight of an oppressed minority, a sound bite from a gay man or lesbian who makes a thoughtful point about demanding an equal place in our country, you are living in a very different society than I am.

What’s going to be shown on CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, and for all I know Aljazeera, is a montage of drag queens, leather enthusiasts, and floats in the shape of a penis—all parading down Main Streets in major cities with the implied message to the red states in Middle America that this is on its way to an avenue near you.

We can debate for years whether this is an accurate or appropriate depiction of most gay men or lesbians. But I can tell you from a strict public relations viewpoint that it will not—ever—help the cause of gay equality in the United States.

When Muslims in this country argue that the media (in news or fictional television and film) depict only the most radical of their religion and thereby distort the view that most Americans have of all Muslims, they have a point. Such portrayals make for vivid images, something that will cause a viewer to stop channel surfing and take a look—and that’s what television networks are trying to do. But it doesn’t necessarily paint an accurate picture or provide comprehensive information about complex issues.

You’d think that a 24-hour news cycle would offer more depth, as news organizations would have much more time than they once did—30 minutes a night until the 1980s—to delve into complex issues. But what has happened is that the news has become polarized, and the extra time is generally given to loud political debate (if one cares to use the most polite term for the screaming that goes on). Discussion of issues is left by the wayside.

I don’t argue for one second that gay people should not be proud of who they are, nor that they should deny their true identities for the sake of society. But I don’t think that wild gay pride celebrations and demonstrations in public serve well the cause they claim to support.
They make good television, but they certainly don’t make for better public policy.

Levine is founder of the prominent Los Angeles public relations firm Levine Communications Office. He is the author of 17 books, the latest of which is Broken Windows, Broken Business (Warner). Find out more at BrokenWindows.com.