They’ll be able to fly over the puddles. With their wings!

Like I said, our nationality is chosen, our sporting achievements our earned, our dead have accomplished things. Sleeping with someone of the same sex is not exactly an achievement, it’s just your nature. The damage this pride festival has is to damage the image of the gay community by making it look like they are all camp and flamboyant.

You choose your nationality? You don’t have to sleep with someone of the same sex to be gay. That’s like calling virgins asexual.

Seanbeag,
Thing is nationality the same as sexuality isn’t chosen by YOU when you are born, so if you are born in Ireland and you decided to shout about it then thats fine. If you decide not to shout about it then thats fine too.

The same can be said for your sexuality, if you want to shout about it or not the decision is YOURS.

In the scale of things there’s worst things people going be doing then taking part in a parade.

It’s quite easy to change your nationality you know, and it doesn’t make much of a difference in the overall scheme of life. Do you think the same of your sexuality?

Seanbeag, yes you can change your nationality in writing but that would not actually change the fact that if you were born in Ireland you are still Irish at the end of the day…even if you try change your nationality later in life. Its kind of a case of trying to deny what you are which many people that were gay had to do for years just so they could survive in our society.

As I’ve said, if you decide to shout about being Irish or not thats YOUR decision, my point is if people want to get involved in a gay pride parade thats their choice and its great they actually have that choice and can’t be told no by other people.

We don’t have to go far to see that people don’t have that choice, as i’ve posted below…if they were in Russia they wouldn’t have a chance at having a parade for more then a few min before you’d be attacked and arrested.

And what’s wrong with camp and flamboyant? Are you that afraid to deviate from the prescribed gender binary?? Masculinity is as much a performance as camp? You are not born masculine it’s a learned behaviour. nNo damage is done to the gay community because the only people it affects are the ones who are afraid.

Nationality doesn’t represent who you are, it also isn’t where you were born. Someone born of two irish parents during holiday in china isn’t Chinese. In fact nationality is a virtual concept. Nationality is where you feel at home. nnHomosexuality is a biological fact, you want it or not you are who you are. Regardless of your parents, place, gender or mood…

Exactly.

Well said. Hope you have a great day mate.

It’s not the same. Your nationality can be chosen by your parents for you. Your sexuality is part of you. Pride and shame should not be associated with aspects of your biology.

Can we have a straight pride then? Because I’m proud of who I am. Seems a bit unfair :(n

Seanbeag

“Pride and shame should not be associated with aspects of your biology.”

Whether it should or shouldn’t is irrelevant, the fact is, on a daily basis people are made to feel ashamed about aspects of their biology.

The stereotypes people are complaining about make up a small but welcome minority of the parade. I used to have the same opinion as Seanbeag but I’ve gone to this 5 years in a row now, the majority of the people marching are normal every day people, celebrating our refusal to be ashamed.

Let’s not forget where this originated, the pride march is about remembering the brave people who stood up for their rights fought for ours. People who stood up against terrible discrimination so we don’t have to face it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonewall_riots (apologies for the wikipedia link but it’s the best summary i could find)

I see your point Sean but unfortunately there are so many people who choose to conceal this aspect of their biology for one reason or another, which quite often has a detrimental effect – days like today encourage them not to do so!

John Ryan,

Of course you can have a Straight Pride parade. There’s no law against it. But it would involve you getting off your behind and organising it (as the organisers of today’s march did).

Old Nokia Charger

Well said. People complain about the parade, and they are 100% free to organise a straight parade. But the essence of the parade is to show that the people taking part are no longer afraid, and are free to show their sexuality. If someone needs to organise a straight parade, what sort of costumes will they wear? If its not flamboyant, i suspect it would be a rather dull parade :D
How many Church leaders are going to be at the parade today? Has the Church accepted the real world yet? Or are they still supporting medieval doctrine that says people chose to be gay and are Evil.

I’m not much into organising events so I’ll leave to the people that do, which is probably the same as nearly everybody attending the gay pride. I suspect if someone did attempt to organise a ten day long straight pride they would be vilified. I’m not against it, each to their own but I think straight people should have one too just to be fair.

@John,

Let’s organize one! Stop talking about it. If there was one, how would you dress? Me? I’d wear an outfit from the ’60′s. Play the music from the ’60′s and ’70′s all through the parade! ;)

@ John

I didn’t think you’d be prepared to put the work in to organise the parade you wish to see take place. You just think “people should have one” but that somebody else should do all the work. If you really want to see it take place, make it happen. That’s what the organisers of today’s parade did. It doesn’t happen by magic.

You don’t have to go to Iran, try Russia…..you won’t see any gay pride parades there….well the first 5 were banned and they did manage to hold one in 2011 for a few min before an ultra-Orthodox protest group attacked the parade. Moscow police arrest over 30 participants involved in the parade,

You don’t have to go far to see how many people don’t have many rights

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow_Pride

@

Watched an hour long programme on that subject the other night on RTE1. Wow, the fear and awfulness that gays had back then was just awful. People (straight!) going into primary and secondary schools around America scaring the hell out of young people. Same here in Ireland in the ’60′s/’70′s Must have been so hard to try and hide that one was gay and live a pretense of a life.

Thankfully people like David Norris and others have made it possible for gays to live a safer life and to feel so proud of who they are and the part they play in life.

Ha! How ironic: the thumbs-down further underscore the need.

I agree Sean, it would seem, if anything, that this march alienates the lgbt from the rest of the population and does more damage than good. Seems to be a hell of a party though.

imho its as a result of years of oppression by the state and religious orders, hell the religious orders are still oppressing them and the state still needs to improve on a good few things.

Sure what harm is it doing if they want to do this?

I think the point is that gay people still aren’t equal. Kids in school are still afraid to come out of the closet because the words “faggot” or “queer” are still the most insulting things you can be called as a teenager. Marriage still isn’t an equal status in the traditional sense of the word. The church still thinks the gay lifestyle, is wrong (in their eyes its not a sin to be gay, but it is to carry out homosexual acts!?!) And when you put it into perspective, homosexuality was only decriminalised in Ireland in 1993. So if a parade makes even one person feel its safe enough for them to come out of the closet because it’s not such a bad thing, then Happy Pride :)

It’s the one day of the year when people can be who they are because they feel safe in large numbers. And after all it is a parade. How boring would it be without all the entertainment. :)

@Seanbeag,

I understand what you’re saying, but people need to recognize that gays are born to be….. just like you and me. Many need to see that it’s nothing to feel guilty about. Be proud and live the life, the one life we all have on this earth. It is not for us to judge, but to understand and accept.

1. Pride is not a PR exercise. It’s not for the benefit of straight people. It’s for the LGBT community. Not you, straight people. It’s not about you. I understand it’s super hard to grasp, because everything, every single day of your existence has been about you, but no, Pride is not. 2. People who are butch or effeminate are not “perpetuating stereotypes”. They are being themselves. They are enjoying the one single day a year they can be as unapologetically themselves as they want to be with only a small chance of harassment instead of harassment being an absolute certainty. 3. We don’t necessarily choose to be gay (and so what if we do?) but we do choose to not hide. We choose to be out and that’s not easy. And yeah, PRIDE.
People are welcome to have Prude parades if they have issues with people having fun and being proud of themselves for being brave and wonderful and honest. Today, proud people celebrate themselves and each other. Happy Pride Everyone!

Pride us not necessarily about sexuality. There is also mad Pride. In view its about celebrating being different something we are not good at in this country.

You’re right! our sexuality is biological, not something we’ve ‘chosen or accomplished’. But for some of us ‘coming out’ is an accomplishment.
Do you know of anyone who has had to face the threat of verbal or physical violence for coming out as hetrosexual? I doubt it.
Do you know the fear and anxiety that people feel just before they have to tell their strict religious parents that they are gay?
Take a look at the parade today; there are people marching today for the very first time, people who are still in the process of ‘coming out’, people petrified of the unknown but feeling braver because of these parades.
Its getting easier but we’re still not there yet, we’re still not being treated ‘the same as everyone else’, maybe when we do we wont need parades anymore. Heres hoping

Totally agree

In what sense ?????

More like an antidote to it, Notsoright!

God hates Fgs:-)

That’s ok though. That’s how change happens. It might start as a forced change because society demands it but over time people realise that change isn’t that big a deal and people come round. All change starts with the minority and spreads to the majority. A lot of kids growing up now not petrified about telling their parents and friends. This can only be a good thing.

I have to disagree. I knew from a very young age i was gay, and grew up with a certain degree of self-loathing and shame because like most of the children in Ireland at that time, i came from a catholic run school, where the topic was taboo. I also used to hear my family insult and laugh at openly gay people, and my friends and peers threw around the words faggot and queer as the most degrading insult that they could use, without even knowing what it meant. So the moment I entered secondary school i made it my mission to keep it to myself and never tell anyone. This as you can imagine was hard and even damaging. At 18, i went to Dublin on my own to see the pride parade. I can’t explain what it meant to me to see to see so many thousand people enjoying themselves and without the fear I carried. I came out of the closet very soon afterwards. Anyway, each to their own opinion, and i’m not disrespecting yours, just explaining how it is a positive thing for so many people

I just don’t see whats wrong with messing about and letting loose for a day. A lot of the people in the parade are straight and out for a laugh too. nI’m like you,I don’t like being in the middle of things like this but I’d find paddys day just as awkward,people dressed up and being loud and a lot of them drunk isn’t my thing. But I don’t see it as an embarrassment or anything. I’m straight by the way…..

hbenroe, I have nothing in common with many of the people at St Patrick’s day parades. At lot of people there are loud, drunk and embarrassing and it makes me cringe. It’s not how I want to see Ireland represented However, I still go, because I’m proud of Ireland and want to celebrate that. If I achieve nothing else by going, at least I ‘dilute’ the number of drunks with plastic hammers.

There are may reasons to go to a pride parade. My wife and I go every year to just to show support. I’m embarrassed by straight people who are homophobes – they don’t represent me and I want to balance it out by showing my support.

If you feel that pride parades don’t represent you, then, in my opinion, that’s all the more reason you should go: show how you DO want to be represented. Don’t wave a flag or blow a whistle, walk quietly with the crowd. Show the world that not all LGBTQ people fit the stereotype.

Ailistair, you deserve a beer for that comment. There will be thousands of straight people out at the parade, marching and cheering from the sidelines.

My favourite group every year is the Parents’ support group, they always have banners proclaiming how they will not be ashamed of their gay children.

Yes, nice comment Alistair. Good on you for going along.

Well put Alan, pride for a lot of people shows them they aren’t alone and can be an overwhelming experience.

Quick (but genuine) question at hbenroe: as a gay woman, how comfortable are you about being open about your sexual orientation in all/any situation?

Alistair Thacker, sound guy.

You can if you want, nobody;’s stopping you :)

If you feel heterosexual people are discriminated against and made to feel ashamed of something they have no control over, you should definitely organise a march. I’d march with you.

No reason why you can’t Pa. Are you volunteering to organise it?

@ Big Pa McGarry

This reminds me of something that comes up in the Irish Times letters page now and then. There’s a letter from the Women’s Council of Ireland, and some old sod writes in asking if we can have a Men’s Council.

The answer to this, and your, question can only be: sure you can, now get off your arse and make it happen!

Wow mister charger. Are you a little protective about your little parade today? I will stand and cheer you in your tight leather shorts…..

But you’d like to see me without the shorts. You’re sitting there, imagining that, with a big smile on your face… ya dirty fecker!

Ill pull out you wedgie ;)

family friendly….joke btw, i disagree with u :)

Have a great day everyone involved and people that are not involved, enjoy!

There is a bicycle race around the village today. Not a word mentioned anywhere. I hope it doesn’t rain…..

And to all those in the egg and spoon race in Ballygok and the wheel barrow race in boggerstown.

And the Junior B bog snorkelling play-offs in Baile Gan Gaire

This might be evidence to the contrary? :)

What a silly comment to post! Many pubs have frosted windows or pans to stop people staring in! The George hasn’t being changed much since it opened and you find that a lot of old pubs of that age have similar windows. Take the dragon, front lounge or pantibar – they don’t have frosted windows, you can clearly see the inside. Pantibar doesn’t have a smoking area and people smoke outside the front… I think you just want to see what its like inside and I think you should pop in – for those who have never being in a Gay bar before, I think you’ll be surprised its pretty much the same as a straight bar and you will have fun!

They have a beer garden at the back Cian were you can hide if you are not out to your friends and family, but it is ok for you to smoke at the front if you want with everyone else. Happy Pride to you all.