Quote:
Originally Posted by VamPyroX
While they are a minority, there's also an issue of excessive pride.
If a person was proud to be gay, good. He doesn't need to go around wearing a rainbow shirt with "I'M GAY!" on it and yelling, "WOOT! Gay Power!" That would certainly scare away others.
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VamPyroX, you might consider examining just why this bothers you so much. On the surface, it seems irrational and petty.
Our nation is chock FULL of people who express personal pride in their everyday lives... whether they're wearing t-shirts proclaiming their support for a particular political candidate (or party), sporting bumper stickers to that effect, putting signs up in their yard (or apartment windows) proclaiming their support... to people with the "Christian fish" symbol or "What Would Jesus Do?" bumper stickers on their vehicles, to anti (and pro) abortion bumper stickers, to "My Child is an Honor Roll student at XYZ High School" bumper stickers, to "I Love My Pet Schnauzer" bumper stickers, to Italian-Americans wearing t-shirts proclaiming "Italians Do It Better", to "Kiss Me, I'm Irish" sweatshirts, etc.
Get the point? While it's QUITE obvious that some foes of the homosexual community in our country (yourself included?) would seem to want to "keep gays in their place" by inhibiting their ability to have pride in who they are, I'm sorry to tell them (and you) that there's such a thing in this country as freedom of speech, which is the concept of the inherent human right to voice one's opinion publicly without fear of censorship or punishment.
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution says that Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of "speech." Note that the document uses the word "speech," although a long succession of court decisions has expanded this concept far beyond ordinary verbal communication. Protected expression now includes such non-verbal expression as wearing a symbol on one's clothing, dance movements, and a silent candlelight vigil.
My question to you is: why is that form of expression any more threatening to you that any of the ones I mentioned above? Why are gays and lesbians any less deserving of that basic human right that is the birthright of every other citizen of this nation?
If the parades bother you, don't watch them. But that's the simple solution. Getting to the root of just WHY it bothers you so much is likely a more difficult journey of self-discovery. Well, take it from someone who knows: self-discovery is oftentimes not easy, but it's worth it.