Aspects that are diluting the significance of Pride Parades!
The modern generation is messing it up big time, and it is an understatement because they already neglected the root cause of creating awareness and focusing on all the unnecessary things that need not be involved while hosting, managing and participating in a Pride parade. Admiringly, the dilution has nothing to do with the initiations that corporates, sponsorers, nations, governments, police forces, and queer activists extending their support to the queer community because here a few senseless people who are walking in the Pride parades are the problem as they are doing everything except creating awareness.
Pride parades depict the image of riots, movements, social marches, and cause walks, to portray the injustice, inequality and discrimination against queer community and queer people to make the crowd understand what challenges a queer person faces in society and how society should perceive and accept them the way they are without spilling judgmental criticism. Regrettably, the same pride parades, after all those decades, are being treated as flashy events with decked-up people who shout out slogans only to enforce the idea of being queer in the minds of the ignorant crowd and giving a chance to people to judge the queer community in return. Don't you think a few aspects followed by current-generation queer people are diluting the whole concept of Pride parades?
Needless to say, the scenarios have changed drastically from the 1960s to the 2020s in terms of queer representation in society from fighting against all odds to celebrating achievements but why does the root cause of Pride walks keep getting diminished year by year? Why struggling movements are turned into a spectacle of celebratory moments? Are we celebrating ourselves or are we giving an ode to the people who fought for us decades ago? Do celebrations mean abandoning the purpose of celebrating and the cause behind the celebrations?
Pride Parades aren't for Pre and Post Pride parties where you get sloshed out over drinks and end up having sex with a random stranger you meet in Pride walks. Sorry, that's not you should be proud of.
Focusing on the irrelevant appearance than an appealing presence is such a turn-off for a walk that is supposed to broaden awareness. You may retain all the creative liberty to dress up however you like but dress up with some relevance in a way that people must understand your personality and the reason why you carry an outfit that represents your personality.
Pride parades aren't fancy-dress competitions. It's humorous how people have converted the whole meaning of walking for a cause into participating in a fashion show. Plus, they aren't theme parties where your look must come from movies. You represent a queer person who strives for equality and normality, not a person who is ready to give audition for a role in a movie. Come out of that la-la land and present yourself relevantly for the cause.
Your presence in a Pride parade must obtain a contribution as a kind act that involves the upliftment of the queer community. But people nowadays participate, in making social media coverage, cruising and walking like divas without making any effort to create awareness. If you participate in a pride walk to take countless selfies and receive endless attention, then your presence is a waste of time.
Building contacts, meeting new people, making friends, talking to other queer people and getting along with various people from various orientations and identities are some of the best parts of utilising a social gathering under the name of Pride parades. Sadly, people employ it as a chance to look out for someone to approach, flirt and hook up with whomever they feel attractive. These parades are not walking date opportunities.
The queer community is an amalgamation of various inclusions that represent people of unique personalities with respective identities and orientations. A dedicated queer person must initiate, engage and get along with other queer people to follow the struggles experienced by the community from a broader perspective. Unfortunately, even in Pride parades, tribes walk together and don't engage with others. Then, what's the point of gathering the whole queer community at one place to march from one spot to another.
Acknowledging the crowd around in mind, a person must behave properly to generate awareness by considering people from all ages, cultural and social spectrums. Sadly, some extreme behavioural patterns of a few queer people out of unusual excitement create a nuisance and make things pretty awkward for people to even look at, especially the intense PDA that's unnecessary to portray in front of people. One can kiss publicly out of love or to show that you are someone special to your lover but what's the need for entwining tongues and bodies on roads? Netflix is giving enough sex education to people. So you must calm down!
Participating means being there in a parade from beginning to end, handling hoarding that specifies a message, walking with your allies, shouting out engaging slogans, enlightening people who seek the purpose behind the parade, engaging with other queer people as the representation of a united community, making people understand the importance of queer community in society, and most importantly inspiring others to proudly represent themselves without hiding behind closets. But how a person can do all of this, if that person comes in the middle of the walk and vanishes before the walk reaches the end, only to flaunt one's outfit, flirt with a few, party at the nearest bar and leave with someone before the parade ends?
One can surely celebrate one's identity and orientation during Pride Month and in Pride parades but one must not forget the root cause of enhancing awareness in the minds of people regarding the importance of queer community, acceptance and normality of queer people. Once the parade ends, you can do whatever you desire as it's you live your life on your terms but when you sign up for participating as a contribution to the queer community, be selfless and work for the cause by remembering the very people who sacrificed themselves while facing struggles in society. Period.
