Anyone else feel Pride is really toned down this year?

[Moonandstarz]

I was shopping yesterday evening in my local shopping centre & besides Primark & Schuh no other stores had a pride window display or even a sticker on the window. Flying Tiger had rainbow merchandise on the window but not specifically pride.
Precious years we had rainbow crossings in the car park, rainbow flags everywhere. Nothing like that this year.

In my opinion this toned down pride is much more inclusive & is signalling everyone is getting on with their lives & co existing. May just be my area but I found it very refreshing.

Because there are plenty of us everywhere, so if pride is the 'only place you see other gay people' then you must have a very small world.
Also, what has a rainbow flag and blatant displays of kinks, fetishes etc got to do with being gay? People have accepted that we just look like any other human and don't need to be camp.

There's also the problem of the trans lobby taking over everything. These days the people who attend pride are that sort and I don't appreciate TWAW telling me who to date

I saw one sad display in our local sainsburys. A couple of rainbow mugs and some flags. I noticed last year the stuff didn't sell either.

I work in central London and am surprised that the Union Jack flags haven't been replaced by the rainbow flags yet on Regent Street/Oxford St. I suspect they may be changed closer to the Pride London march.

Shops seem to have toned down the Pride stuff although M&S have stickers on their doors on the Pantheon branch but the main window relates to Fathers Day, Primark have the Found Family window display and one or two banks have rainbow flags in windows so it's more toned down than the last couple of years but still there.

In my home town I've not seen anything much really but that's not unusual and we only had our first Pride event last year.

Not where we live, but then we are a very diverse and accepting city. I love pride, promoting awareness and positivity culminating in a massive party. What's not to love? Oh and "anti-heterosexual"?? I think you know it's not.

No, there are not 'plenty of us everywhere'. I live in an area where there are few gay people. My daughter does not regularly see other lesbian parents. It's absolutely a small world - she goes to a tiny school; we live in a small village. And for that reason, Pride is more important for us than it might have been had we lived in Hebden Bridge or Brighton. But what's wrong with that?

Sure, 'we' (whoever 'we' are) don't need to be camp. But ... what if you are camp? Or butch? Some people are. Should they have to hide that?

Exactly, lgb people are co existing very happily, living ordinary lives like the rest of us. They don't need plastic stickers or flags flying to prove their worth or acceptance.
The lack of rainbow paraphernalia speaks volumes about how normalised the lgb community is. We all muddle along together & are co existing very happily, isn't that what the end goal always was?!

I would’ve been an out an out pride consumer and worn and bought everything rainbow to show my support. But the TRAs have ruined it. I want nothing to do with it now. It has actually become quite triggering and I associate it with bullying and oppression.

@Screamingabdabz I think many companies are feeling the same. Even the small coffee, shops, hairdressers & barbers have no rainbow graphics or slogans up. They had in previous years. In my opinion it's unnecessary as lgb should be accepted & treated like everyone else in society. Virtue signalling isn't doing that. I'm sure many will feel much more comfortable going for their coffee without all the gimics this month.

But, @Moonandstarz, do you realise that there's a huge gap between saying 'In my opinion it's unnecessary as lgb should be accepted & treated like everyone else in society' and that actually happening? Gay people still aren't accepted and treated 'like everyone else'. Wouldn't it be lovely if they were, of course. But since they're not, why is Pride 'unnecessary'?

You keep stressing how important it is that gay people should be 'ordinary' or should 'just live their lives,' and I can't for the life of me see why you think those things are incompatible with going to Pride? The only way it would make sense would be if, by 'ordinary' you mean 'as barely gay as possible so that I am not having to notice gay stuff'.

I’m in London. Lots less merch and signage around than in previous years. I note that the Waitrose app has not changed to the flag as it did last year.

I think people are tiring of the nonsense and beginning to turn away. That won’t stop some from rabidly continuing to force it though 🙄

I'm not in the UK but everywhere is full of pride flags , clothing etc. And rightly so

I don't understand the problem on this thread. What are people arguing about? Either go to a pride event or don't. It's an individual choice, surely?

Lots of LGB people enjoy joining in, lots don't. They are both perfectly valid choices.

there's a widely supported understanding that Pride is now fuelled by corporate money

And the sheer hypocrisy of those corporates that rainbow wash and preach to their customers here in the UK whilst doing business with and in Countries where being homosexual would result in you being imprisoned at the least and at the worst put to death.

We’re in a cost of living crisis.

Thumbs up.

The core of it is probably money. Branding for Pride does not make you any more money than if you didn't in all likelihood.

As for the public sector, there is noticeable difference. Not much, whereas last three years was trans led Pride. Now, nothing and no Stonewall. Probably connected.

Why? Genuine question. It’s not an achievement to be gay is it? Why are we expected to celebrate sexualities?

Seriously. Have a parade; have a weekend to celebrate. I don't care. But a month is overkill and the rainbow crap everywhere is off-putting.

I don't think anyone is expected to celebrate anyone else's sexuality.

If by 'why' you mean 'why Pride', I posted about this upthread. It might be someone wants to bring their child to an event where there are other same-sex parents, because in general, children of same-sex parents don't get to see their home set-up normalised and it's nice for them. It might be someone wants to remember friends who died of AIDS (there is usually an AIDS memorial marcher if not several). It might be someone lives in a community with few or no other gay people, and they want to get together. Lots of reasons. It's just nice.

LGBT+ people have been persecuted for centuries. In many countries it's still illegal. In some communities in the UK they are still vilified and some are rejected by their family.
Pride is to celebrate the LBGT+ communities without shame...and with pride. Simple as that.

But how can rainbow banners & stickers for the month of June make it more accepting? If anything it's the opposite & society including lgb is getting sick & tired of the virtue signalling.
Genuine acceptance is being able to go about your business with no fuss & that goes for ALL walks of life.
Our towns pride event is happening later on in the month which is always a joyous event but pride month seems to be a non runner this year barr Primark.

It’s all become too much. Where I work, every other week there is a national day of celebration for something LBG, T or whatever. Pride is just another of those now, except its a month longs worth. People are bored of it.

Gay friend of mine who quietly gets on with life with his partner says he doesn't need Pride Month any more than I need Heterosexual Month.

He hates the whole thing, refuses to have anything to do with all the rainbow nonsense and says its just a load of shit.

I asked someone pedalling a whole lot of plastic crap from a stall in the city at the weekend how much was recyclable or biodegradable. They looked totally blank, clearly hadn't thought about it.

Why is it a month anyway? Most causes get a day or possibly a week.

It's not the Pride event it's the "pride month" that started in recent years eg shops, coffee shops etc doing window displays etc for the whole month of June. It hasn't happened in my town this year. This council & shopping centres haven't put up decorations either. They have in previous years for the whole month of June.
The pride parade IS taking place & has traditionally been very well supported.

I don't think society is getting tired of virtue signalling; I think society is becoming more homophobic. There's an obvious dislike of gay visibility. But visibility is crucial. For many people, growing up, being gay was hidden and treated as shameful. I know lesbian mums in older generations who had to hide their relationships. You can't be 'accepted' and also invisible, can you?