OREGON'S LGBTO NEWSMAGAZINE
H
voices •
how uptight and puritanical I am. Sexuality is
something that bubbles right at the surface
here. It can be unnerving just walking down
the street to have people look at me in an
overtly sexual way. I come from a culture
where that’s not something you do on Main
Street U.S.A. in the afternoon. Maybe in a
club at night, but not all the time.
So I can understand being uncomfortable
with the over-the-top sexuality on display at
Pride. O ut of context, it’s a little alarming.
But there’s a background here.
History of Pride
JUNE 17, 2011
community. It was a rallying cry that told us we
could stand up for what was important to us,
for what was right. And I love that queen for
swinging her bag (though I wish she’d kissed
the cop instead).
So Pride is important. Beyond the commer
cialism and the binge drinking, it’s a declara
tion of individuality. It’s a nod to the street kids
and the hustlers who said no, a thank you to
the queen with the purse.
Does everyone in the parade know
that? Hell, no. Are they looking for a good
time? Yes. A chance to be their most outland
ish selves? Maybe. The first time I marched I
was scared. Would my family see me on
TV? Would this ruin my political career? I
made sure I wasn’t in a position to be photo
graphed with a partially naked or body-paint
ed person, just in case.
I was also exhilarated. Even now, I get a
thrill every time I march, every time I watch,
every time I hear the rumble of the dykes on
bikes. I tear up every time I see the families of
PFLAG marching with their kids, church
congregations marching in rainbow col
ors. O ur communities are all diverse. We all
have marginalized segments that are told to
be quiet. Once a year, the gay community
embraces itself—hilly and publicly.
I often get the question, “Why does the
gay community have to march? The straight
community doesn’t have a ‘Straight Pride
parade.”’
No, the straight community doesn’t have an
annual parade to declare its sexual indepen
dence. The straight community has the main
stream media to do that every day of the year.
Here’s a challenge for everyone: Take one
day and notice every sexual thing you
see. Look at the ads in magazines, the bill
boards, the television commercials. Look at
the books, the movies, the sitcoms you
watch. Consider what’s on the news, and how
many people you hear talking about the dates
they went on the previous night. And consider
how many of those things are presented in a
heterosexual way, whether overtly or not.
It’s enough to make just about anyone want
to put on chaps and dance in the street.
For those who aren’t up on their gay history,
in the ‘50s and ‘60s the community had it
rough. Gay men, afraid of being outed, were
being entrapped by police officers in city parks
(one of the few places they could go to meet
each other), and lesbians and drag queens were
being strip searched at bars (one of the few
places they could go to meet each other). There
was no real, safe way to meet other queers and
no real, safe way to express homosexuality.
The early “homophile” groups engaged in
pickets—quiet ones, in suits and dresses, and
white gloves. Finding it important to “fit in,”
they adhered to strict rules, removing any
thing that could be seen as offensive or abnor
mal. Not everyone in the community agreed
with this approach (we never do), but the
pickets went on for a while.
Something changed the night of June 28,
1969, during a raid at Greenwich Village’s
Stonewall Inn. The bar was known as a gay bar,
the only one in town, and was frequented by
the most marginalized aspects of the commu
nity: queens, hustlers, homeless youth. Raids
had been happening more frequently. Tension
was building. That night, when men were
asked for their identification, and women were
escorted inside for gender checks, somebody
said “no.” Then someone else did the same—
for the first time. A police officer pushed a
drag queen. She hit him with her purse.
The bitch hit him with her bag.
A riot erupted, things thrown, police at
tacked, fires lit. The riot continued the next day,
growing from 100 people to 1,000. It contin
ued a week later, in what established Stonewall For more history, humor ami a how-to Pride
of immediate and lasting significance to the video,, visit Kristin at askthegay.com.
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