Pride

I went to Pride for the first time today.

The parade was long.

And it all wasn't as fun as I expected.

Sure there were lots of people to look at.

And I finally found a nice = sticker to slap on my water bottle.

I know that homosexual is a term often used to categorize people's sexuality, but I felt like there was too much focus on SEX.

Men all over the place walking around in Speedos or boxerbriefs.

Too much PDA.

Condoms thrown out during the parade (which the children picked up!).

Don't get me wrong. I'm not overly prudish.

Or maybe I am.

I just don't think that my sexuality needs to be on display for everyone.

I've been to parades to honor pioneer heritage. And people dress up in thick pioneer dresses and bonnets and they pull handcarts down main street. That's something I can be proud about. My ancestors (or at least someone's) crossed all the crummy middle states (no offense to anyone) to get to gorgeous Utah only to find huge black crickets, a nasty salty lake, and sagebrush. People DIED while making that trek towards religious freedom. Towards life without persecution.

I've seen parades honoring the birth of my very own nation--The United States of America. People crossed the ocean when it took weeks to do so. They fought in the Civil War and the Revolutionary War. People worked together for freedom. Religious freedom. Freedom of Speech. Great people worked hard and wrote some fabulous documents that established the foundation of a whole nation, which they hoped would reach the world--the idea that every person is entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That's something to take pride in.

Now, a bunch of people marching in high heels and speedos while tossing out condoms...

I realized something today. I'm not proud. I love activism. I love being who I am. I love the idea of loving who I am, and being proud of who I am. But I am not proud to stand with my fellow gay Utahns who shove things in people's faces and encourage each other to go kiss on Temple Square just to show the Mormons that we do whatever we want. Not once did I see a Mormon protesting against the Utah Pride celebrations. Someone please let me know if they saw anything like that. I'm not proud of flamboyancy, or too much PDA, or anything bordering on nudity. I do not like to see condoms thrown out at children--where is the pride in that? Life does not revolve around sex. If that's what it means to be gay or to be lesbian, then I have no pride.