When I lived in New York up to 1991 the Pride March was a powerful political protest. I think that the relative absence of things to protest against, plus the "bigging-up" of affluent, middle-class lesbians and gay men, has had its effect. New York was the first (remember Stonewall?) and for a long time the biggest and best, so it will be one of the last to go. But go it will, unfortunately.
What would be good would be for the Heritage of Pride organisation to start thinking about how to galvanise people once again in a new and different way, and turn its attention to organising that. Instead of being the last ones out the "parade" door and turning out the lights, with a bit of flair and panache they could make the idea of celebrating our sexuality important and popular again. Obviously it's not a parade that will do the trick now, so if they look for the next Big Thing, they can start the bandwagon rolling. Good luck to them!
When I lived in New York up to 1991 the Pride March was a powerful political protest. I think that the relative absence of things to protest against, plus the "bigging-up" of affluent, middle-class lesbians and gay men, has had its effect. New York was the first (remember Stonewall?) and for a long time the biggest and best, so it will be one of the last to go. But go it will, unfortunately.
What would be good would be for the Heritage of Pride organisation to start thinking about how to galvanise people once again in a new and different way, and turn its attention to organising that. Instead of being the last ones out the "parade" door and turning out the lights, with a bit of flair and panache they could make the idea of celebrating our sexuality important and popular again. Obviously it's not a parade that will do the trick now, so if they look for the next Big Thing, they can start the bandwagon rolling. Good luck to them!