I run a LGBT Pride: AMA

[lgbtpride]

Long time lurker but have NC for this.

I run an LGBT Pride event. I want to deal with some of the nonsense theories that we welcome pedophiles or have banned lesbians.

Ask me anything. (Disclaimer: I won't answer anything specific that might out me.)

@lgbtpride

Come on how 🤔 many Genders are there in reality compared to Pride events inclusive reality or fantasty reality then?

My friend who passed recently on, reckons he found out there were 56 Genders realities according to inclusive Pride
is there anything in what he said 🤔 there?

Whats a unicorn 🦄 symbolise?

Whats intergenders or the other word for it ?

Do you understand why it’s so toxic? Do you think it’s reasonable for people to disagree that calling yourself the opposite sex makes it so? Do you understand why women wouldn’t want, for example, a man with a nappy fetish calling himself a woman, in intimate spaces with them or their kids?

Do you ever resent the trans community for turning pride into a symbol of derision in the eyes of so many?

That's very lovely, thank you. Back at you! 🌲

@lamppost123

I was uncomfortable because a man was involving the general public in his sexual fetish. I spend my entire life safeguarding kids, and blokes like this - and by association, the people who enable them - are antithetical to safeguarding. I also have no idea what it’s got to do with LGBT.

Because they are completely different groups.

The problem is the LGB rights issues have mainly be dealt with in terms of law, general acceptance, marriage. All without impinging on the rights of others.

The T is now extremely controversial due to the attempt to impinge on women's sex based rights and the indoctrination in some schools.

I personally think the joining the T to LGB has done harm to the Pride name and LGB.

I'm not even really sure what Q+ really is. I don't care what people do in their private lives. It should have no relevance to me.

You know, the "dozens of genders" line is such a silly missile in the culture war. I volunteer to run Pride because it makes people feel loved, welcomed, part of a community. If that's because we welcome them and their gender, that's good for me.

Sorry about the loss of your friend.

I'm sorry but that's so grim. It feeds into the idea that being gay is weird somehow. Absolutely does not help the cause.

Not at all. I just resent the tone of the contributions on the topic. It makes volunteering a very difficult thing sometimes. I'm not a bad person!

You don't need to. We all know what a person’s sex is without having to look in their underwear.

A few questions:

What do you think the purpose of Pride is in the UK in 2023? Is it a political event or a celebration?

Where does your funding come from?

Why do you expect events for 'kink' to be subsidised by 'big business' - why can they not be subsidised by the attendees?

What positive impact do you think UK Pride events make in terms of making things better for gay men and lesbians in other countries where there are homophobic laws?

Do you understand that welcoming fetishism and kink will cause some other individuals to self exclude? One young lesbian with autism at a small local pride only felt safe to attend because at this event full face coverings were not allowed. She could not have attended had there been pup masks.

Would it be correct to say that the only group of people that Pride is not aimed at is straight people who aren't into "kink"?

Homosexuality is same SEX attracted. Trans ideology rejects sex for a social construct/belief. They work against each other. How can this work together?

Thank you for your questions. I'll answer them in order.

I think it's both a political protest and a celebration.(I think it always has been!)

Our funding is from sponsors, merchandise and ticket sales. We got £10k from Lottery a few years back. Occasionally a very small grant from the local council, never more than £500.

We don't run events just for kink. All our events are funded the same way. We think that free events are inclusive events especially with the current COL crisis.

We sometimes get messages from people abroad who see our event on social media and write to us about the hope it can give them. And we are part of international pride networks where we get this feeeback time and again.

Interesting, thank you. We work with a local charity that supports people with ND conditions and I will talk to them about this.

I'd say the event is for everyone in the LGBT+ community, so not for straight people. Allies are of course always very welcome except at events where we say otherwise.

@lgbtpride

How do you feel about the way Pride matters in relantships in regards of schools being taught 🤔?

How do you feel about some sections of the communities feeling that Pride inclusiveness in relantships being taught in schools is a form of indoctrination brainwashing ?

How do you feel about primary school children being taught about Pride inclusiveness in all its entirety being taught to school children so young then?

Do you think it's should be only secondary school children not primary school children taught about Pride subject ?

Thank you for your message on sympathy too..
appreciated.

@lgbtpride - thank you for answering my question. If I’m allowed a follow-up, when you say adult human female lesbians who want to be a group of solely adult human female lesbians would not be welcome at Pride, how does that square with Pride being there, in part, for lesbians?

I am not a lesbian, but I am horrified at the thought of lesbians being told they need to ‘get over their genital preferences’ and accept penis-in-vagina sex, and that they need to bow to the demands of male-born individuals, otherwise they are not welcome at Pride - a movement they were foundational to.

I don't have a firm view. I remember Section 28 and I am terrified we are heading in that direction again. I would always defer to teaching professionals.

Parent of a teenage lesbian here who would definitely be uncomfortable at a pride event where kink and fetish are a welcome (and encouraged?) feature, particularly as the majority of attendees in that cohort are male.

They are welcome at Pride. What would not be welcome at Pride would be a banner or placard that was transphobic (or racist, ableist, etc).

I'm sure some people who come to Pride hold lots of views we don't agree with. Keep them to yourself and respect our event and our attendees - or go to your own event.

As I said I'm a lurker so not used to actually messaging. Can anyone tell me how to post a message in this chat without it being a quote? I'm using the mobile app.

But I've always assumed a male who wants to have sex with females is 'straight'?

I'm not gay but I have some small experience of gay pride marches in the 1990s through knowing Act-Up activists and via university studies. I think the white-washing of AIDS and HIV from history of the 90s Pride marches AND Section 28 is appalling. Gay Pride was gay pride until the 00s. The T was a corporate add on.