While I remain slightly dismayed at the recent, somewhat moronic turn this thread has taken, I'm still keen to help Kegboy "understand" Pride.
So. Kegboy: you've used a couple of sporting analogies. Let's take your original one, baseball. Try to imagine the following:
You love baseball; you have done for as long as you can remember - or, at least, as long as you were aware of its existence... Baseball, y'see, was only recently decriminalised and some older people still view it as a mental illness of sorts. Your family never talked about it - or, if they did, they did so sneeringly - and 'baseball fan' was a popular term of playground abuse. There were even periodic whisperings that so-and-so killed himself because he was into baseball and couldn't admit it to his loved ones...
In any case, things are different these days, aren't they? A penchant for baseball is much more accepted - in the larger towns, anyway, and as long as you're careful to avoid anything offensive or confrontational - wearing your cap in public, say, or 'promoting' baseball to children. Some cities have specialist bars or clubs where you can wear baseball gear and even watch (expensive, extremely poor-quality) baseball videos. Going there is a risk, certainly - they're not infrequently raided by the police (and you wouldn't want your employer to know you visit THOSE places) - but it was a revelation to discover there were other people, LOTS of people, equally into baseball. You just have to be careful not to be too 'obvious' in public; you wouldn't want to invite a beating, eh?
There are still areas where baseball fans face discrimination: you can't get married, and there are problems buying property or getting a pension. On the whole, though, things are much better than they were. There's even a day - one day out of the year - when you and your fellow baseball fans can emerge blinking into the daylight to march through the streets being open, honest and up-front about your love of baseball. Okay, you still can't actually PLAY baseball in public yet, but there's something liberating about putting on the gear and enjoying the company of your fellow afficionados. Just be sure you're polite and don't go deliberately causing offence to the non-baseball-loving majority...
Doesn't really work, does it? Even stretching your own analogy to the (ludicrous) limit, Kegboy, I'm finding it impossible to convey where us "pride parade people" are coming from and why we value the opportunity to act - for one day a year - in ways you evidently find baffling. If you're still unable to see the point, and baseball remains the nearest common reference point you can muster, I don't think I can spell it out any more clearly. I'm afraid you may never "get it". |
