Let me hear your thoughts
Love
Charl
Monday, August 23, 2010
TO MARCH OR NOT TO MARCH
Hey there folks
With Johannesburg's Gay Pride around the corner (http://www.joburgpride.org/) I have come across a lot of debate over whether or not there is still a need for PRIDE marches, especially in SA. Some people feel that we have gained what we wanted and we now have a pretty liberal constitution that allows us the rights we once fought for. Some feel that it should be tansformed into a different kind of celebration or sorts and others feel that it should just be taken away completely as it has become a specticle to the 'straight' world out there and paints a wrong picture of what it means to be gay.
I have posted a new poll to see what you guys out there feel. Is there a need for Pride Parades? What is your opinion on Pride? Has it become a spectacle, or does it still have a very important role to play in our society? Why do you really attend Pride?
Let me hear your thoughts
Love
Charl
Let me hear your thoughts
Love
Charl
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2 comments:
Of course we need Pride. In fact, we need it today more than ever in our fledging democracy.
The state is becoming more authoritarian and there is a marked trend towards (or rather a regression) the patriarchal norms that devastated society before.
The greatest threat to an egalitarian society has come to the fore: misguided nationalism.
We should not ghettoize but use the day to make a political statement, for even if we are so fortunate as to have full equality (on paper at least) we ought to fight for those who are not so fortunate.
Hi Charl, well yes we need to have PRIDE, however we should also Pride ourselves in the manner it is conducted in.
For the past 13 years or so we have not been as we feel that the way majority of the gay community behave on the day creates an even more negative vision on how we as gay people are seen by the greater community.
However this is the one day were real issues can be brought to light i.e. our case with Home Affairs. This is the day where we should all stand together and raise our legitimate concerns on how we are treated etc. As Cobus Fourie has put it, we have full equality (on paper at least).
As you are aware we don not enjoy the same equality i.e. our continual struggle with Home Affairs as same-sex parents.
Let's march and let's voice real concerns around real issues. And not turn it into a circus.
This should also be the time where we as Gay and Lesbian people can stand together and say thank you for the grater acceptance. We must all be proud to be part of a march like this, but the way it has been over the last couple of year a large number of people are excluded from the celebrations and activities.
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