Misconceptions about Pride

June is Pride month. Throughout the month, I will be posting various thoughts about Pride, including some perspectives from LGBT+ people and allies in the community. These Pride related posts will lead up to my own involvement with Springfield Pride on June 24th.

What is Pride about? What does it mean? These are some of the questions I'd like to explore, at least at a basic, introductory level.

But first, I'll tell you a little bit about my first impressions of Pride month.

I grew up just south of Columbus, OH, in a small town. There, I attended a Fundamentalist Baptist church. When Columbus Pride rolled around each year, it was not uncommon to hear commentary from my fellow Christians.

There was commentary year-round, of course. I am thinking of my Christian friends who called for a boycott of the film Finding Nemo because Ellen Degeneres was "a bad influence on our families." Or the call I heard many times from my pastor's pulpit, to boycott Disney because they had Pride day within their theme parks.

And when Columbus Pride came around each year, the event provided a local basis for further scorn and condemnation.

This blog will not be about these kinds of voices. I'd like to zero in on the positive, empowering, life-celebrating aspects of Pride, and to amplify the voices of those who have something constructive to say. But because this blog is intended for allies (or potential allies) who are new to some of these topics, I would like to take a moment to address some of the misconceptions I heard about Pride when I was growing up.

In other words, let's begin with what Pride is NOT.

The negative assertions about Pride fell into three basic camps. Here they are:

 

Yes, believe it or not, this was one of the most common complaints I heard about Pride from my pious neighbors. In the conservative Christian bubble, Pride was a flashy festival designed to "draw in" young people. The underlying conception was that LGBT+ people were trying to woo young people into a "homosexual lifestyle" by offering fun and excitement. In essence, we needed to be on guard because the Pride people were trying to capture the hearts and minds of our children and "recruit" them to become gay.

I feel a little silly saying this, but you know that's not how it works, right? People do not become gay because they went to a parade and decided it was a good idea. People do not become lesbian because a festival happened downtown, and people do not become transgender because "it's the cool thing to do, and everyone is doing it."

Or, a subset of this argument: Pride was about "making a gay lifestyle more acceptable to the general public." If gay people march in the streets enough, then more and more people will decide that an LGBT "lifestyle" is permissible.

It's true that increased visibility may have an effect on the community, and perhaps that effect might be a more accepting and kind attitude. But the sinister overtones are unnecessary. 

My peers tended to look at Pride with fear and suspicion, as if there was an ulterior motive behind the festivities, a secret conspiracy to advance some kind of sneaky agenda (more on that in a moment).

No, Pride is not about turning the hearts and minds of our children. No, Pride is not about convincing more people to become LGBT+.

But, imagine you were a young LGBT+ person who thought you were alone in the world. What would a Pride parade mean to you?

This was another common complaint among my conservative Christian peers. Pride was about wallowing in sexual perversion. In the eyes of my pastor, Pride was about brazenly displaying sexual activities which should happen behind closed doors, in the privacy of the bedroom. Pride was about flaunting lewd and scandalous behavior in public, with no regard for decency or "family values."

After all, on the news there was a person walking down the street... with his bottom exposed!

Okay, let's be real for a minute. It's true that you might be exposed to overtly sexual content when attending some Pride festivities. That dynamic does exist... a sense of liberation and exploration and celebration of sexual values which might not mirror that which is considered traditional in some circles.


But, it is helpful to pause for a moment before associating every Pride participant with overt sexual behavior or expression. The LGBT+ community, just like any other community, is broad and diverse. There are LGBT+ people from all walks of life, from a variety of backgrounds, and with a variety of worldviews. The ass-less chaps cowboy you saw dangling from the front of the float is a valuable member of the community, but he does not represent every person.

Pride is about openness and freedom, so you will see a wide range of expression. Pride is, in part, about celebrating this wide range. The point is not to make judgement statements about which types of sexual activity are permissible and which are taboo; the point is to acknowledge the broad spectrum that exists within our diverse community.

One quick note on promiscuity. In my church growing up, conversations like this were used to imply that gay people were more promiscuous than others, or that Pride participants were more likely to lead unrestrained, wild, or otherwise licentious lifestyles.

Again, the community is broad, so just like any group, there is a wide range of values at play. But, it should be noted that there is no evidence to show that LGBT people are more promiscuous than any other group of people. LGBT people are just as likely to be in a monogamous committed relationship as anyone else.

Finally, the third broad category of criticism fell into the culture war. Pride was about "forcing their agenda down our throats." Pride was supposedly about advancing some sort of cause, mainly taking away the rights of straight, white Christian people. "These gay people are no longer satisfied to stay in the privacy of their homes," the pastor would say, "They have to storm into our neighborhoods and force us to agree to their agenda."

In closing, I will tell you that I think the pastor was on to something. There is an agenda. There has been all along.

The agenda is to stand against discrimination. The agenda is to promote equality for all people, including minority groups such as LGBT+ people. The agenda is to affirm the value of every person, and to promote equal rights and preserve the dignity of people from all walks of life. The agenda is to raise the visibility of groups within our communities who may be overlooked, ignored, marginalized, or misconstrued. The agenda is to celebrate diversity instead of being threatened by it.

In the next few weeks, I will be posting some more perspectives about Pride, which means many different things to many different people. Maybe you will be able to attend a pride event in your area. Here in Springfield, Pride will take place on City Hall Plaza June 24th from 12-4. Stop by and see what's going on.