I've seen a lot on people in twitter discussing wether people should do "kinks"(?) in pride because they might scar the children for life and other arguments. Also calling people like the youtuber Big Joel pedos for thinking this is not a huge deal.

What happened? Maybe this is an american thing but since when have kids been brought to pride?

  • SoyViking [he/him]
    ·
    4 years ago

    My thoughts on this

    1. All pride events are not the same, nor do they have to be. You can have different events catering to different people with different objectives. Violently dismantling cishet patriarchy, normalising LGBT people by making them visible in public and just having a party for LGBT people are all valid objectives.
    2. Queer kids exist. LGBT people doesn't start out as blank slates until they reach the age of sexual maturity and suddenly someone flips the gay switch. Kids can identify as LGBT although they've not reached the age where sex and dating becomes relevant. These kids grow up feeling different and insecure. Going to pride events and seeing that you don't have to be cishet and that there is a community for people like them can be a huge experience for them.
    3. Queer parents exist. Obviously. They should also feel welcome at pride events.
    4. Family stuff is really lame. I'm a parent myself so I know. Being inclusive to families shouldn't mean that everyone else is excluded.
    5. Kink in public can mean a lot of things. Are we talking about wearing a collar with your normal clothes or are we talking about a gangbang in the streets?
    6. There is a point where expressing your sexuality in public, be it straight or gay, vanilla or kink, crosses the legitimate boundaries of other people. You shouldn't bow down to every bigot angry to see people kiss in public but at some point you are including people in your sexuality without their consent.
    7. Things like this is best handled in a constructive way. Organise Drag Queen Story Hour instead of demanding that the manager of LGBT gets rid of people.
    8. Everybody should chill. Kids are not going to be traumatized by seeing two men in leather pants kiss. And nobody's sexuality is being oppressed if they can't swing their genitals around in front of the kids.
    9. Practical solutions that gives space for everyone should be found. Maybe there should be different events? Maybe having an event that starts out family-friendly in the afternoon and then turns more adult-oriented in the evening?
    10. Rainbow capitalism is a fuck, obviously. So is cishet people going to pride events to gawk at LGBT people as if it were a zoo. This doesn't mean that families should not be welcome though.