Straight Pride (3 Viewers)

[RazorOye]

I'm not proud to be a straight white male because it would be the same thing as being proud of having brown (well, brown and gray) hair.

but I wouldn't care if you were. I'm not into policing pride, personally. There's a co-worker who is proud to have 'gray' hair, actually. Doesn't hide it, or her age. I'm proud to be Cajun, which is not really anything I've faced adversity over - not like my dad did, in school, when he was punished speaking French. But I'm still proud of it.

I mean, I suppose if you're 'proud' that your doing something hideous is one thing. But proud of whatever makes you you - that's fine by me. I do think, though, that there's a scale of pride and something like being 'straight white male' isn't going to have the same level of adversity or demonstrated resilience as, say, being a gay black cowboy who comes out on Twitter and then gets hit with a steady stream of homophobic comments and insults.

So, I think Lil Nas X has to endure things that are tougher than I do - as a result of his ethnicity and his sexuality. And if we are going to be proud of overcoming things and pride in overcoming is commensurate with the difficulty of what's overcome, then I totally get something like "Pride Month" or "Black History Month."

Personally, I don't feel 'proud' to be white (as distinguished from white pride that comes as a result of racist beliefs of other cultures and ethnicities) because I don't really associate anything with it vis a vis adversity. I'm more proud that I grew up lower class and climbed a few rungs on the ladder, due in part to hard work. So, I'm proud of that because it took work - a lot of hard work and a lot of patience and applied diligence. And I got harassed for being white in the neighborhood I grew up in, but there was no real 'adversity' there (maybe I was too young to realize it, I dunno)

But if someone wants to take pride in hair color, that's cool by me. It's not an all or nothing - worthy of pride or not - thing for me. I'm not in a position to judge. Rather, I think things like context matter.

I mean, I'm super proud that our youngest daughter has been peeing the potty earlier than the older two. Proud of a toddler going to the toilet. But who knows, years down the road maybe I'm proud of her because she's made the basketball team or made the Robotics team or volunteers at the long term disability facility down the road from us. It's still pride, but it's a matter of scale.

 

[N.O.Bronco]

To be fair, 95% of gay people in America under age 40 have also not had any of those things happen to them.

I can tell you from close personal experience, and from working in direct contact with industries like construction, industrial, and factory development over the years, and those industry’s corporate structure, that you are dead forking wrong. Especially in more rural and southern areas and industries(sorry, but cultural shifts have always taken longer to penetrate these areas, if ever fully). It’s outright demoralizing to hear gay and the gay bashing get thrown around so casually to this day.

TV and politics might have destigmatized some stuff, and maybe you live in a bubble, but the real world is still very much mired in homophobia and intolerance. Is it as bad as 20 years ago? Absolutely not, but it is far from gone. And in many sub cultures and communities it is still a badge of pride and unifying thing to hate on gays and use homosexuality as a measure for masculinity and weakness. To mobilize people around causes that are rooted in discrimination against gays.

You would be hard pressed to find any community that exhibits even a fraction of that sort of cultural intolerance toward us straight people.....and you wouldn’t have nonsense like this parade if there wasn’t a seething resentment and bigotry in the undercurrent. This thread alone has exhibited the contrast between straight people and the stereotypes that are still persistent about gay people, presented antagonistically.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

I can tell you from close personal experience, and from working in direct contact with industries like construction, industrial, and factory development over the years, and those industry’s corporate structure, that you are dead forking wrong. Especially in more rural and southern areas and industries(sorry, but cultural shifts have always taken longer to penetrate these areas, if ever fully). It’s outright demoralizing to hear gay and the gay bashing get thrown around so casually to this day.

TV and politics might have destigmatized some stuff, and maybe you live in a bubble, but the real world is still very much mired in homophobia and intolerance. Is it as bad as 20 years ago? Absolutely not, but it is far from gone. And in many sub cultures and communities it is still a badge of pride and unifying thing to hate on gays and use homosexuality as a measure for masculinity and weakness. To mobilize people around causes that are rooted in discrimination against gays.

You would be hard pressed to find any community that exhibits even a fraction of that sort of cultural intolerance toward us straight people.....and you wouldn’t have nonsense like this parade if there wasn’t a seething resentment and bigotry in the undercurrent. This thread alone has exhibited the contrast between straight people and the stereotypes that are still persistent about gay people, presented antagonistically.

just to add anecdotal perspective - i will say that i've noticed a much more tolerant attitude from HS students over the last 10 years - granted this is in NO and in 'uptown' schools
but it's been nice to see ideas and behaviors that would have been immediately ridiculed 10 years ago hardly raise an eyebrow now

probably bc of pride parades and anti-bullying efforts

 

[sfidc3]

To be fair, 95% of gay people in America under age 40 have also not had any of those things happen to them.

Above has to be one of the most ignorant posts I've ever read on this board....

 

[Bleu Raeder]

To be fair, 95% of gay people in America under age 40 have also not had any of those things happen to them.

Where did you pull this stat from?

Why do I even ask?

 

[Goatman Saint]

It’s getting better, but it also varies by area. In a lot of areas in California, I’d say kids have had very little harassment. However da gay male in the Hispanic community here has a tough life. Much less accepting than the white culture.

Now, if you go back to Montana/Wyoming area, I’d guess 90% have had those things happen to them.

 

[RazorOye]

an amusing post-script to this little episode...

Apparently, they were using the TripAdvisor logo on their advertising for the event and talking about how they were in negotiations to sponsor the event - corporate sponsorship being one of the primary forms of legitimacy currency these days.

Well, apparently none of that was true.

And TripAdvisor was having none of it. Here is their Cease and Desist letter, peppered with all sorts of embedded allusions.

 

[Madmarsha]

And TripAdvisor was having none of it. Here is their Cease and Desist letter, peppered with all sorts of embedded allusions.

That's clever.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

Got to be real

 

[RazorOye]

Got to be real

Referencing Queen, Madonna, and Cher, TripAdvisor blasts ‘Straight Pride Parade’ over alleged trademark infringement - The Boston Globe

TripAdvisor, the Needham-based travel company, has written a cease-and-desist letter to an organizer behind the controversial “Straight Pride Parade” scheduled for later this summer in Boston, alleging that he is infringing upon the company’s intellectual property rights.

www.bostonglobe.com

TripAdvisor Is Latest Company To Denounce Boston 'Straight Pride' Parade, Threaten Legal Action

The controversial parade is planned for August.

boston.cbslocal.com

Burn! There's a hidden message in TripAdvisor's cease-and-desist letter

"We believe the organizers of this event owe the LGBTQ+ community an apology," TripAdvisor spokesman Brian Hoyt wrote.

www.wcvb.com

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

Referencing Queen, Madonna, and Cher, TripAdvisor blasts ‘Straight Pride Parade’ over alleged trademark infringement - The Boston Globe

TripAdvisor, the Needham-based travel company, has written a cease-and-desist letter to an organizer behind the controversial “Straight Pride Parade” scheduled for later this summer in Boston, alleging that he is infringing upon the company’s intellectual property rights.

www.bostonglobe.com

TripAdvisor Is Latest Company To Denounce Boston 'Straight Pride' Parade, Threaten Legal Action

The controversial parade is planned for August.

boston.cbslocal.com

Burn! There's a hidden message in TripAdvisor's cease-and-desist letter

"We believe the organizers of this event owe the LGBTQ+ community an apology," TripAdvisor spokesman Brian Hoyt wrote.

www.wcvb.com

 

[dtc]

just to add anecdotal perspective - i will say that i've noticed a much more tolerant attitude from HS students over the last 10 years - granted this is in NO and in 'uptown' schools
but it's been nice to see ideas and behaviors that would have been immediately ridiculed 10 years ago hardly raise an eyebrow now

probably bc of pride parades and anti-bullying efforts

I hate to admit it, but I've used the words "gay" and "gay" as a pejorative my whole life. I've always had gay friends. I have gay family members and I really don't have any problem with homosexuals, but I have used "that's gay" forever and it's hard not to. I do it on occasion even with my gay friends and then immediately feel like a heel.

My 15 year old daughter gets very mad when I do and her anger is actually helping train me not to use it, but I'm old.

Her age group is offended by people who are offended by homosexuals and my age group has it so engrained in us that gay is weird or odd that I use it as a cut down wholly unrelated to sexuality.

Times are changing, but not fast enough.

 

[saintmdterps]

I hate to admit it, but I've used the words "gay" and "gay" as a pejorative my whole life. I've always had gay friends. I have gay family members and I really don't have any problem with homosexuals, but I have used "that's gay" forever and it's hard not to. I do it on occasion even with my gay friends and then immediately feel like a heel.

You do this because you're afraid of your own gayness

j/k

 

[dtc]

You do this because you're afraid of your own gayness

j/k

That's gay.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

I hate to admit it, but I've used the words "gay" and "gay" as a pejorative my whole life. I've always had gay friends. I have gay family members and I really don't have any problem with homosexuals, but I have used "that's gay" forever and it's hard not to. I do it on occasion even with my gay friends and then immediately feel like a heel.

My 15 year old daughter gets very mad when I do and her anger is actually helping train me not to use it, but I'm old.

Her age group is offended by people who are offended by homosexuals and my age group has it so engrained in us that gay is weird or odd that I use it as a cut down wholly unrelated to sexuality.

Times are changing, but not fast enough.

the problem is “gay” is such a good perjorative, it just refers to the wrong thing
Awhile back I tried to change it to mean ‘dick Cheney and things that are like dick cheney’
Hasn’t quite stuck yet