Comments on: Parades and Tolerance, Then and Now (Guest Voice)

By: Silhouette

Silhouette — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 02:37:40 +0000

.."Haredi protesters steered clear this year, in part to avoid having to explain to their children what the parade was all about"

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"having to explain to their children what the parade was all about"

I think the goal is to publicly expose children to forms of deviant sexuality thus forcing their parents to "have to explain" [introduce] it to them. Thanks for letting the cat out of the bag. Case closed.

By: joeinhell

joeinhell — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 07:09:06 +0000

I attended my first gay pride parade after I went to the 2nd anniversary celebration of the Stonewall “riot.”
Several people that I knew came up to me and said something like “I didn't know you were gay.” My stock answer was and always will be, “I'm not gay, but you people need all the help I can give.” Even if it is just a small parade in a redneck town in Australia, I'm there.

By: roro80

roro80 — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 18:32:02 +0000

Brian, what an interesting story. Thanks for sharing! I live very close to that famous San Francisco corner (I can see it from my roof!). It's awesome to hear how people from all over the world (including your daughter!) are standing up for the rights of the sexual minorities.

Despite Father Time's assertion that normalization will not come, I don't think you'd be surprised that your 1978 article would barely raise an eyebrow now-a-days, even in SF's mainstream newspapers. I think besides marriage rights, the next big barrier for the gay community is the idea that teenages, and even children, do have sexuality, and that that's ok. This is, like so many of the rights gays are fighting for, an issue that has deep ramifications for society as a whole. If we as a society can acknowledge that sexuality is something that develops from a very early age -- even birth -- then not only will young gay people be less harassed and less shamed for who they are, but we might have a chance to stop the stud/slut dicotomy, get some real sex ed in school, lower the teenage pregnancy rate.

The big message is: when the majority is tolerant of the minority, it's not just the minority that benefits.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 15:06:17 +0000

“… what is it about religion that makes one believe that a supernatural being is on the believer’s side or, indeed, that one can reasonably ascertain what that deity’s opinion is on any particular earthly issue?”

If you have any faith you wish to keep, best not to answer that question.

By: Father_Time

Father_Time — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 14:38:03 +0000

Tolerance yes. Normalization, Never.

You cannot pretend to be what you are not and expect the world to bend for you.