Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: dyer@spdcc.com (Steve Dyer) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Lesbian/Gay PRIDE day, suggestions... Message-ID: Date: 17 Jun 91 00:08:46 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: S.P. Dyer Computer Consulting, Cambridge MA Lines: 56 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article benning@iccgcc.decnet.ab.com writes: >Many of the citizens of this fine city who have chosen a "alternate" Life >style will take to the streets in 'pride', proclaiming their victory over >traditional (male/female) relationships. ]And clh sayeth: ]I think it is fair game for those who support gay rights to comment on ]the role that public demonstrations play for them. It's my hope that ]the intent is not to proclaim victory over conventional relationships, ]but rather over those who portray such relationships as the only ]legitimate alternative. Well, thanks for the excessively diplomatic correction. I would not guess that anyone attending a gay pride march would describe themselves as "proclaiming their victory over traditional (male/female) relationships", or at least they wouldn't say that without breaking out into fits of laughter. And I still want to know what an "alternate lifestyle" is. My life is too mundane as it is. Lesbian and Gay Pride marches have many purposes. One is to erase, if only for a day, the invisibility which too many gay people impose or have imposed upon themselves. In Boston last weekend, we had more than 90,000 people from throughout New England, marching for several miles and then rallying on the Boston Common. The gay "rainbow" flag flew on the plaza of City Hall alongside the official flags of the city and the Commonwealth. The mayor of the city and the governor of Massachusetts proclaimed "Lesbian and Gay Pride Week". People of all ages, races, parents, their children, healthy and ill, march along asserting their visibility, their solidarity in diversity, and their dignity. Some floats on the parade are pure fun: those moving ads for bars and clubs, complete with non-stop dance music, or the group "Gays for Patsy", complete with a Patsy Cline-clone lip-synching her songs while a group of cowboys and cowgirls dance the Texas two-step behind her. Still others are defiant, celebratory or moving, and sometimes all at once: PWAs being wheeled by the volunteers in their hospice, PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gay Men) marching proudly alongside their grown children, and of course the variety of religious groups such as the Jewish association Am Tikva, and the Metropolitan Community Church (Protestant), Dignity (Roman Catholic), and Integrity (Episcopal), along with inclusive and welcoming mainstream religious groups like the Unitarians. One of the high points of the march is in front of the Arlington St. Church (Unitarian) which flies the rainbow flag proudly, and greets every participant for the duration of the march with a continuous peal of its bells. It is notable for recently having elected a Lesbian as its chief minister, and its support for gay people goes back for many, many years. One wonders which of Benning's recommendations were taken by the vocal anti-gay minority in Boston that weekend, for they were nowhere to be found. They certainly weren't missed, although there is a kind of warm satisfaction to be gained observing a cowed crowd of people with Bible quotes on placards being greeted by 90,000 people strong shaking their arms and shouting "Shame, shame" as they pass by. -- Steve Dyer dyer@ursa-major.spdcc.com aka {ima,harvard,rayssd,linus,m2c}!spdcc!dyer dyer@arktouros.mit.edu, dyer@hstbme.mit.edu