Is Pride really just turning in to one big kink fest?

[TitsInAbsentia]

I mean, who wouldn't want to see this on a day out? 😡

twitter.com/TPostMillennial/status/1541196113222504448

The women’s toilets were full of other friendly gay men

That's even worse 😒

@Artichokeleaves I think I love you 😍 You’ve said everything I’d like to have said, but far more articulately! 👏👏👏👏👏

I went to Pride a couple of times in the late ‘90s, I wouldn’t go anywhere near it now. I’m worried that all the progress we’ve made for LGB people is being undone by the TQ+ lobbyists: I sense a big backlash is coming and we’re going to get dragged in to it 😕

@Artichokeleaves
If I could star your posts I would!

I went to Pride in Birmingham in early 2000s as a student with my housemate and her girlfriend. There was a fair amount of obvious gay male sexuality going on, men in arseless trousers, some in leather or thongs etc. It definitely wasn’t a place for kids but it wasn’t a kink-fest either.

So which came first- bring-your-kids for a family fun day or the extension of what Pride is about to TQ+ with extra kink? Or did the two evolve together?

Some truly unbelievable comments on this thread...

Let me start by saying that I totally object to people (men, women, gay, straight or whatever) forcing their nudity on others in public. Exposing your genitalia in public spaces is against the law and it is unacceptable, Pride or not.

But:

• why would anyone start defending Laurence Fox and making him into some kind of free speech hero? the man used a swastika on his Twitter profile which is beyond vile.
• kink and fetish wear and culture has always been associated with gay culture. Being into kinky sex with another consenting adult does not make you a pervert. Anyone remember the guy out of the Village People wearing all that leather? are we suggesting anyone watching that band was traumatised for life or immediately felt compelled to buy a whip and chains?
• Pride started as a political, activist reaction against the persecution of people of all walks of life simply because of their sexuality. It has always and should always be edgy and political too. During the miners' strikes activists fund-raised to support the miners and their families. They marched together at Pride. Pride is not a Disney parade aimed at bored children where everything you will see will be sanitised
• The people saying LGBTQ+ should aim to be safe and beige and just match the heterosexual ideal...I mean where do I even start to unpick this... Pride should be about acceptance and respect of others, not about uniformity and conforming to whatever middle-class straight ideal some people aim for. I am sorry if you only find some type of LGBTQ+ acceptable (it seem the less flamboyant and the more cardigan and slippers loving the better...) but this is a wide-ranging community, no a an Abercrombie and Fitch advert.

For the first time I am volunteering at Pride as a Steward this weekend and doing my best to keep an open mind. My goal is for everyone to be safe and have a good time and for me to help anyone who needs info and support. That's all.

By the way I am a woman, bi and a feminist.

Pride should be about acceptance and respect of others

But I don't accept furries and nude men swinging their knackers around in front of children.

It's male exhibitionism, pure and simple.

why would anyone start defending Laurence Fox

We need all the allies we can get in this battle.

Idk why we have been suddenly visited by coachloads of visitors from the L F obsessive fan club and his obsessive haters club but it’s tiresome. I’m going to report every post that mentions his name from now on!

tastefulrainbow I know it’s really tedious isn’t it. I can’t stand him yet there seems to be a concerted attempt to insert him into random threads on this board as if he’s some beloved mascot of the MN Massive. Not. The. Case.

Isn't the problem that Pride is now trying to hold together too many groups with too many disparate aims. The gay men and women I know have always been very cynical about pride. Largely because they're just like the rest of us, except in same sex relationships instead of opposite sex relationships. It's all very boring. That's why corporations need the drag queens to make it interesting. None of it is tenable any longer.

I saw more children at Pride this year, as in the 12-14 age group, apparently out without parents. There were more adults showing skin in sexualised costumes too. I think this mix has child protection concerns written all over it, specially with the internet.

A drag queen in a thong gave me side eye. I don't get the aggression? Is Pride not meant to be a fun, colourful uplifting experience?

I grew up around wonderful gay men who were absolute gentlemen. They came of age in the era of having to hide their sexuality in wider society. I was told one of them hated Pride. Pride is not really about homosexual rights anymore, is it?