Portsmouth pride

[Sparklybutold]

I have been invited to Portsmouth pride, my kids too (4 and 15). I've declined stating I don't think it's appropriate for young kids owing to sexual content plus ime events like this end up being about exposing kinks with lots of men parading and taking the piss out of women.

What's everyone thoughts? Any experience?

Politely decline the invitation with a no thank you, and do something else?

I stopped going to Pride events a long time ago as they seemed to be all about men, and very commercialised. They haven't improved: 'Pride' isn't anything to be proud about if you're not in the TQ+++ part of LGBTQ++++ , especially if you're 'L'.

I don't think your kids will be missing much, in fact I think you'd have to be doing a lot of explaining of 'what this has to do with 'Pride' Mum?' 'Mum why has that man...?etc etc.

I once encountered a group of gay men on the London Underground on their way to Pride talking very very loudly about rimming and fisting, and a woman with a couple of kids sitting nearby, with a glazed expression, and I'm sure she was praying neither of them was going to pipe up in that especially audible voice kids have to ask things like 'Muuuuuum - what's rimming?'😱

It's important they learn about diversity and inclusivity, but they probably won't get much of that at Pride.

It's important they learn about diversity and inclusivity, but they probably won't get much of that at Pride.

Sadly true. Certainly no inclusivity for lesbians, just a diverse range of male kinks,.

This helps validate my thinking, just checking I'm not being over sensitive.

Pride in no place for kids these days.

I don't see why anyone would go in for rimming. Yuch, double yuch.

Innocence is under valued now, say no and let your DC be children and enjoy their childhood for a bit longer

I’ve been to a couple of the Brighton Prides and was surprised how young some of the kids watching the parade were.

Especially considering that the same parents who took them wouldn’t, (you’d like to hope), expose them to the same sights in any other context - eg in a magazine or online.

As PP have said, it was very male dominated and very fetish heavy.

These are my thoughts. Lots of drag, lots of men in fetish gear and TQ dominating the space.

I was also wondering about the implications of safeguarding. Sexual abuse can involve exposing children to sexually motivated images, environments etc... so how does a pride event manage to supersede this?

I have to admit feeling disappointed at my invitees today who will be bringing there children who didn't share my sentiment. She works in the medical field and I remain flabbergasted that she remains so non-critical about the whole thing. She will also be taking her young child who is of the TQ+ variety and she still doesn't seem to grasp how events like this, can just exacerbate a child who is already showing signs of confusion and distress.

I'm not religious, but I do believe Pride comes before a fall...

I'm just wondering how can they make a pride event 'family friendly'?

By having 'doggies' for the children to pet.

🤮

It's several years since I've been to one, but my experience of Pride family day is that it's very different to the parades. I think it's a bit off to use it as a chance to expose your child to diversity, though. Like gay people are zoo animals, or something. Isn't Pride supposed to be a chance for celebrating and taking pride, and family day allows the children / neices & nephews / godchildren &c. of gay men and Lesbian women to celebrate too?

This for me scares me. If my youngster saw a furry I think she'd likely want to interact/stroke it. Given the adult context and the fact she has no awareness, this isn't just about having fun. It feels dirty. I find myself perplexed because why isn't taking kids to some of these events which are sexually charged treated as sexual abuse? Where is the line between celebrating difference and pandering/indulging in someone's kink?

Fwiw my DH and I are bi, I just don't feel the need to celebrate this. Especially if it comes with all the extra TQ bits.

My DD, recently 18 pointed out to me that society doesn't have heterosexual parades about sex so why have any others about sex, how is it benefitting inclusion?

The TQ variety would likely reply the rest of the year is for the hetero's (I've had this said to me on a number of occasions). I have seen an increase in fetish positivity (ie out in the open, if you have issue, you're the bigot) and a reduction in healthy shame.

I’m not a massive pride fan but they had a family pride day local to me and it was like a camp concert with glamorous drag queens and musical acts.

@Gymrabbit I used to enjoy a drag show, where it was for adult entertainment, but since Covid, it's different.

i think it varies hugely. The drag queens here were two late teenage boys who wear sparkly dresses and lip sync to pop songs.

I think the moment for 'Gay Pride' or 'Pride' has passed, TBH.
There was a time when being lesbian or gay was dangerous. 'Gay-Bashing' was common, up to and including murder. Men could offer as a defence that a gay man had made a pass at them and they had reacted as any red-blooded heterosexual man would, and killed him in a fit of righteous rage.

One of my most terrifying experiences was being cornered by a large group of teenage boys in a park and threatened because I was 'one of those dirty lezzies' - fortunately they didn't physically attack me, and I was lucky to get away terrified but uninjured.
Friends who had children lived in constant fear of their children being taken away from them simply because they were lesbians.
People were often disowned by their families when they came out as lesbian or gay.

It's hard to relate to those times if you didn't live through them. A look around the world at other countries where being lesbian or gay carried with it dangers, even the danger of a death sentence, gives an idea of what it was like to be at risk of losing your family, losing your job, or even losing your life.

Lesbian and Gay Pride was about standing up to that, and it took courage to march. Spectators were often disapproving, sometimes aggressively so.

The laws changed, and gay male culture become more accepted. It was realised that gay men [not lesbians] had extra disposable income, so Gay Pride [the 'Lesbian' part was quickly dropped] became more and more commercialised to capture the Pink Pound.

Then along came the TQI+++++ era, and even the 'Gay' part was dropped, and now it's just 'Pride', and which is a bit meaningless because if it represents anything and everything, it represents nothing.

The force teaming of the TQ+++ means that any call to ditch Pride will be called 'homophobic', because of its lesbian and gay origins. But I bet the accusations of homophobia will be a lot louder from the trans community than from lesbians and gays. We have gained nothing from the addition of the TQ+++ . Quite the opposite in fact.
LGB✂T

I really appreciated this perspective - thankyou 💐