No Pride Goeth Before the Fall...

Every year, some self-hating schmuck (who usually happens to be a close friend of M'Lynn's) has to go out of their way to remind me how much they don't like the annual Gay and Lesbian Pride extravaganza here in New York City, the biggest of its kind in the world and the most important for simple geographical reasons. And every year, I find myself wondering, 'Schmucky friend of mine, if you hate Pride so much, then perhaps it would be a wise decision for you to a.) shut the fuck up about it, and b.) stay home or leave town all weekend so that you're not spreading your negative energy throughout the heavily trafficked streets of Manhattan.'

I take great umbrage at self-identified gays and lesbians who go out of their way to dis Pride, to call it a big mass-marketed commercial event, to vocally express their displeasure with the entire weekend, to remind me—even when I don't ask—that they don't DO Pride because it's all touristy and overpriced. Well, you know what? It is touristy, overpriced, overhyped, and exhausting. But so are Valentine's Day, New Year's Eve, St. Patrick's Day, and Halloween, and I don't see that stopping anybody. Rather than criticizing a ginormous celebration of our brother- and sisterhood, our diversity and our important place in the local and global community, maybe these folks should stop for a minute and think, 'Gee, I sure am thankful that some overheated queens angry about Judy Garland's death finally blew it out back in June of 1969, because if they hadn't, I may not have been able to call myself a gay person and live to see another day.'

I go to a Pride celebration every year both out of a sense of loyalty and a sense of duty—not to mention a sense of oh-Jezus-this-is-gonna-be-a-memorable-BLOW! I do it for the generations before me who had no voice, and the generation that found its voice, only to have it significantly lowered by AIDS just a decade later. I go for the inexplicably giddy feeling that I get when I walk around the West Village in a tank top with hordes of fellow gays and lesbians and our extended family of supporters and I think to myself, 'It doesn't get much better than this.' And I go, of course, because there are tons of shirtless hotties running amok, and since when would M'Lynn pass up an opportunity to freely ogle THAT on an early summer's day?

Pride is important, vital, and positive. It is a celebration and a protest, all wrapped up in a big ol' rainbow flag.

I'm sad for those who fail to recognize this.