What NOT to do at Gay Pride

[TotallyOz]

What Not To Do At Pride

It's that special time of year again when gay pride parades start happening! While pride is a wonderful thing and should be embraced, it should also be noted that there are some no-nos as well.

At Boy Toy, we've attended some of the early pride marches and seen some things that just should not be. So, we figured we'd write today about the things you should avoid when it comes to having fun at gay pride.

These are all things we've seen in person even the weirdest stuff and you can pass the info on to your fag hags and straight allies as well, because it's all good and everyone should behave - because how can you be proud if you are being ridiculous?

First: Obviously straight girls trying to steal our thunder. Look, you are welcome, but don't turn up wearing a brightly colored wig and think that will make you fit in. There are actual gay girls there who don't need you turning heads. Beyond that, the bright wigs should be on the drag queens, not on people with vaginas. You can stand out and get noticed 364 days of the year. This is not your time.

Speaking of which celebrating weird sexualities that are not gay is not appropriate. Gay pride is about being gay. It's not about being asexual, demisexual, aromantic, grey A, pansexual, or any other variant of that. Wearing shirts that declare you are a aromantic demisexual soulbinder is screaming, I'm not gay but am taking up space at your event. If you are proud of thinking you are The Joker and that you don't fuck your partner, make up your own fucking parade for that. You aren't gay, so don't show up and be a distraction.

Also, don't wander around with a bottle of Jack Daniels and get drunk in the street during pride. Drink all you want in the bars after the parade. But remember, the parade is when people are seeing us - and do you really want gay culture to be represented by a bunch of nasty drunks? We can do better than that, so let's make an effort to stay sober until at least 7 p.m.

Wearing fake cartoon villain mustaches have also become popular at pride events. Stop this shit right the fuck now. You are a homo, not a hipster, and hipsters suck, so don't make yourself look like one. It's not even original given that hundreds of dudes are doing it. Get over your damn self.

Get to know your body and figure out what looks good on it. If you are a skinny 19-year-old twink, a belly shirt might look fine. But if you are a 55-year-old 350-pound hairy woman, belly shirts just make you look like sad.

If you are going to do the drag queen thing, go all out. This means wearing heels and having a complete outfit. We saw a guy who didn't have his hair done, was wearing old dirty sneakers, no shirt and then had a tutu on. Complete your look! If you go halfway you just look odd, you don't look fabulous.

Should you be a dude, don't get on a lesbian float. Should you be a girl, don't get on a gay male float. Keep to your own teams it's simply better that way!

Nazi paraphrenalia is also a big bad. It might go OK in some of the more hardcore fetish bars, but in public it makes you look like a total douchebag. Do you really want to be associated with people who put us in gas chambers?

Shirts reading Biohazard also suck. Enough straight people already think we are disease vectors. Don't give them ammunition. Plus, you are lowering your odds at getting laid down the line.

Check the weather before you go out. If it's sunny, wear all the makeup you want. If it looks like it might rain, then wearing tons of white makeup to look like Marie Antoinette is going to make you look like shit when it starts to melt off you in the rain. Yes, we saw this happen last year.

Cop outfits may seem sexy, but they can also be very triggering for many people. There are still a lot of gays who got gay bashed by cops over the years, so wearing a cop outfit can come off as hurtful.

There, that doesn't seem so hard does it? Now go out and be your pride self!

[Guest hitoallusa]

I'm not sure why gay parade is necessary... But I guess some people do it because it's fun.. Anyways, if I ever have a parade, I want a shoe parade.. It will be awesome, don't you think?

[TotallyOz]

It is necessary for so many reasons. Today, we are in a very different atmosphere than we were 20 years ago. The parade was to put our issues out front and in the eye of the world at least one day per year. I see them as not only fun but necessary!

[Guest hitoallusa]

I have never been to one so I simply didn't know the parade was to put our issues out. I just confused with something else. So is it like AIDS Bicycle ride?

It is necessary for so many reasons. Today, we are in a very different atmosphere than we were 20 years ago. The parade was to put our issues out front and in the eye of the world at least one day per year. I see them as not only fun but necessary!

[BiBottomBoy]

Showing people how many of us there are and how many friends we have causes political change for the better.

[Guest EXPAT]

I have really lost interest in going to pride events. That might be because in LA it is absolutely impossible to get there easily because there is no parking. So it's a much bigger pain than it's worth.

[AdamSmith]

They also don't always seem to have quite the same feel of -- I would almost say authenticity, or at any rate urgency, or something like that -- as in the past. This may be just old-fogey nostalgia. But I took part in the Stonewall 25 event in NYC in 1994, and that was a tremendously moving time. I remember walking along beside Armistead Maupin for a little while, and listening to him exclaim softly how unbelievable it was how far things had come.

But that was 19 years ago -- not that much less than the time span from the original Stonewall riots to that 25th-year anniversary. Maybe the feeling of urgency in publicly agitating for social change is beginning to ebb -- rightly or wrongly -- now that broad public acceptance is, slowly but apparently surely, on the horizon.

[Suckrates]

I have really lost interest in going to pride events. That might be because in LA it is absolutely impossible to get there easily because there is no parking. So it's a much bigger pain than it's worth.

I agree Expat, Here in NYC its usually hot, humid and extremely crowded, and the focus always tends to be on those that give the gay community its bad image. Pride is not about drag, dykes on bikes or freakish costumes or Nudity. It should be about our issues, but over the years its more about Spectacle than message.

[TotallyOz]

Pride is not about drag, dykes on bikes or freakish costumes or Nudity. It should be about our issues, but over the years its more about Spectacle than message.

LOL It is about all those things and more. My friends who are drag queens have just as much right as anyone else to go and be seen and party. I also love the Dykes on Bikes and the nudity and freakish costumes. But, I believe that the more boundaries are pushed, the more accepted we all will be.

I marched beside Hillary one year (not her guest but just close) and loved it. Issues are important but it is also about EVERYONE having their place to say and express what they want.

[Suckrates]

LOL It is about all those things and more. My friends who are drag queens have just as much right as anyone else to go and be seen and party. I also love the Dykes on Bikes and the nudity and freakish costumes. But, I believe that the more boundaries are pushed, the more accepted we all will be.

I marched beside Hillary one year (not her guest but just close) and loved it. Issues are important but it is also about EVERYONE having their place to say and express what they want.

I Dont disagree, but its those "spectacle" things that the general str8 public seems to remember and focus on, so I believe its counter-productive in furthering acceptance for our community. However if our community wants to party, Pride is the place to be for it, no doubt... YES, EVERY facet of the Gay community should be present and represented in an enviornment that is SAFE and accepting. I just dont believe the Parade accomplishes that in the bigger scheme of things.

[TotallyOz]

I Dont disagree, but its those "spectacle" things that the general str8 public seems to remember and focus on, so I believe its counter-productive in furthering acceptance for our community. However if our community wants to party, Pride is the place to be for it, no doubt... YES, EVERY facet of the Gay community should be present and represented in an enviornment that is SAFE and accepting. I just dont believe the Parade accomplishes that in the bigger scheme of things.

I have been wishy washy for years on this to be honest. Like you, I don't think it furthers acceptance from the breeders. But, I do think it fosters relationships inside the community.

Likewise, the Rentboy float that for years was in NYC Pride Parade was not going to foster anything positive for the community but I still felt they had a right to be there.

However, I don't like groups like NAMBLA participating and think they should be banned.