Hi all!
I wanted to wait until the heat of this had blown over a bit for me to write about it. Now that it has been a while, I think it’s a good time to talk about it calmly.
I remember hearing about the group of people who wanted to hold a Straight Pride Parade in Boston Massachusetts, and my first thought was singularly “What?” I was so entirely confused. Straight Pride Parade? But why?
And that honestly is still my thought. When I have brought up this question to my parents, my mother (who loves to play devil’s advocate to the point where it’s annoying) said simply “Why not?” I never understood this initial response, and I voiced that. “Because there’s no reason?”
Something that I don’t think many straight people understand is what the LGBT Pride Parades are really about. I understand that at this point in history and in our part of the world, they can be seen as just a big party, but that is not what they are and that is not what they have ever been.
LGBT Pride Parades began in the United States in the 70’s, the first one being on June 28, 1970. This marked the one year anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in New York, where many members of the LGBT community fought back against police violence. This was the catalyst for the modern day LGBT movements. Pride didn’t come from a celebration. Pride is rooted in fear and perseverance and an unwillingness to conform despite the entire world telling you that you are wrong for simply existing.
As time has gone on, the LGBT movement has gotten a lot of attention, and bigotry and homophobia has decreased greatly. Whether this is a sign of the times or the passing of older and bigoted generations I do not know, but either way I am grateful for the increase of acceptance. However we are nowhere near perfect.
This is a list of countries and their punishments for being gay.
Maximum sentences in countries that criminalise homosexuality:
LIFE:
Gambia
Ghana
Tanzania
Sierra Leone
Barbados
Guyana
Bangladesh
20 YEARS:
Malaysia
17 YEARS:
Egypt
15 YEARS:
Antigua and Barbuda
14 YEARS:
Kenya
Malawi
Zambia
United Arab Emirates
Papua New Guinea
Tuvalu
Solomon Islands
Kiribati
Nigeria
10 YEARS:
South Sudan
Ethiopia
Dominica
Grenada
Jamaica
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Sri Lanka
Tonga
Zimbabwe
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
7 YEARS:
Samoa
Qatar
Kuwait
5 YEARS:
Cameroon
Senegal
Comoros
Mauritius
4 YEARS:
Libya
3 YEARS:
Morocco
Togo
Uzbekistan
Guinea
Eritrea
Oman
Syria
Tunisia
2 YEARS:
Algeria
Burundi
Turkmenistan
Pakistan
1 YEAR:
Liberia
Bhutan (laws currently bring brought forward to decriminalise homosexuality)
UNDISCLOSED:
Chad
Namibia
Swaziland
Countries that carry fines for convicted homosexuality:
Angola
Countries where a homosexuality conviction caries torture as a punishment:
Maldives – whipping for 20 strokes
Countries that carry the death penalty:
Mauritania – for Muslim men
Nigeria – northern states that approve Sharia Law
Sudan – after a third conviction
Qatar – for Muslims, for extra-marital sex
Somalia
Iran
Saudi Arabia
Yemen
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levent Afghanistan – where controlled by Al-Qaeda
Sixty six countries have made being gay illegal and a punishable offense. That is about 1/3 of all the countries of the world. This isn’t even including places where gay marriage isn’t legalized, which is one hundred and sixty nine countries. I cannot go to sixty six countries and exist for fear of being put in jail, tortured, or killed. If I chose to move to another country, I could only live in 26 where I could legally get married to a man. Being transgender adds a whole other level of fear and inability to live, but this is just about being gay. I am bisexual so I am not even gay, but if I were to wish to marry a man I couldn’t do it in 169 countries, 66 of which I would be imprisoned or killed.
THIS is what Pride is rooted in. Pride is rooted in the fact that LGBT people are not allowed to exist in places, let alone are they represented. The United States has come along way, but it’s not enough to be happy to live in this country when there are so many other people around the world who are killed for simply existing.
Straight Pride is rooted in being glad that you aren’t gay. Honestly if you are straight, good for you. I don’t care frankly, if you are a good person. It’s not about that. It’s never been about that. Gay people don’t attack straight people for being straight, and if you are straight and a member of the LGBT community has attacked you for being so then I am genuinely sorry. People often conflate homophobes with straight people, and everyone needs to remember that is not the same thing. But straight pride parade is unnecessary. Straight people have never been oppressed. There is not a single country where a straight couple can’t get married. There is not a single country where a straight person can’t exist for fear of imprisonment or death.
I remember reading the article about the group that wanted to have a Straight Pride Parade, and I remember laughing out loud while reading it. The article is from the Boston Globe, and states the following:
The Super Happy Fun America (the people who wanted to begin the Straight Pride Parades) website states that heterosexuals are “an oppressed majority” that has “languished in the shadows for decades.” The organization also wants the letter “S” to be added to the acronym LGBTQ.
“Until an ‘S’ is added, LGBTQ pride will continue to be a system of oppression designed to systematically erase straight people from existence,” a blog entry states.
…”We just want to have our own celebration just like everybody else has a right to.”
(If you wish to read more, here is the article https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2019/06/26/straight-pride-parade-will-held-boston-aug-according-organizers/g8PJbGFiMevFI3PdtENgXP/story.html )
As I previously stated, straight people especially those who approve of and want a Straight Pride Parade believe that LGBT Pride is just a big celebration, and not a symbol of perseverance, as they literally stated through “We just want to have our own celebration just like everybody else has a right to.”
Apparently the people here believe that the so called “Gay agenda” is to systematically erase straight people from existence, which is completely ridiculous. The entire idea is to be equals. Just like Black Lives Matter means that people of color are equal to white people, LGBT pride means that LGBT people are equal to straight cisgender people.
The claim in here that frankly pisses me off is the sentence “languished in the shadows for decades.” Since only 2003, consensual sexual activity between two adults of the same sex has been legal nationwide in the United States. It has only been since 2015 that gay marriage has been legalized nationwide. Since it has been legal everywhere, it hasn’t even been two decades. Since gay marriage was legalized, it hasn’t been a single decade. The idea that straight people have ever been oppressed is misguided and frankly, just plain wrong.
This is why so many people got so angry at the idea of a Straight Pride Parade. It makes people in society who don’t know anything about LGBT issues believe that we just want a party to celebrate being us for no reason. It lessens the weight of the systematic oppression that LGBT people face everywhere, including in this country.
I am very lucky to live in the country that I do as an LGBT person, but even still, nowhere is perfect and the idea of Straight Pride just shows this country’s general ignorance towards LGBT issues.
Until next time, stay strong, stay beautiful, stay you.
LGBTQ+: Together We Stand 