Gay Pride was celebrated once again in the
streets of America last week as part of June's Gay
Pride Month. Here in San Francisco, home of the
largest gay parade, this year while some chose to
express their political and sexual agenda visually,
a different face was trying to be presented. Instead
of the usual dominant 'in your face' activist,
sexually explicit show, it was 'all about families.'
Many of the participants were dressed in regular
clothes, pushing toddlers in strollers, or walking
holding hands. The message found in books we've all
heard about that are being used in kindergarten and
other classrooms, such as 'Heather Has Two
Mommies.," found expression as little kids carried
signs saying, "I love both my mommies."
The parade did not lack in participation by elected
officials. San Francisco Police Chief, Heather Fong,
was not only at the parade, but marched in it with
some of her officers. According to the San Francisco
Chronicle, Sgt. Lea Militello said, "This department
really does mirror the community we serve...there
are so many police departments in the country where
officers can't be out of the closet."
The police department also had one of their own at
the announcer's booth, who along with the other two
announcers, was very affirming of the various parade
participants, for instance, drawing attention to
certain drag queens as 'she' and how much good
they've done, and money they have raised, for the
city. Several State Legislators were also in the
parade, such as Carole Migden.
Gavin Newsom, San Francisco's Mayor, responsible for
starting the wave of illegal gay marriages that took
place across the country in 2004, told the camera,
"The bottom line is this parade defines what San
Francisco represents: It's about living life out
loud." Referring to the recent gay marriage bill in
California's state legislature Gavin said, "A year
ago, could you have seen a vote on same-sex marriage
being that close? We're just in the beginning of
this fight."
Several companies were represented in the parade, or
lined the streets with banners. The San Francisco
Chronicle had a pink truck as their float, and
Kaiser Permanente marched in the parade celebrating
gay pride.
Some hailed and some groaned to learn of the Freedom
in Christ Evangelical Church's float in last
Sunday's parade in San Francisco which had a rainbow
cross and a huge sign that declared, "Christian &
Gay = OK."
While this gives a quick picture of 2005's annual
gay event, there’s nothing like direct quotes to
gain a clearer picture of the mentalities and goals
that exist around this (or any) issue. For
instance...
In "The Overhauling of Straight America: Waging
Peace Part Two" written in 1987, it outlines the
recommended steps to be taken in order for America
to accept homosexuality as normal... "To desensitize
the public is to help it view homosexuality with
indifference instead of with keen emotion...if you
can only get them to think that it is just another
thing, with a shrug of their shoulders then your
battle for legal and social rights is virtually
won."
"For when people endorse the idea of sexual
pluralism, they are also implicitly endorsing social
and political pluralism...Homosexuality then becomes
more than an individual quirk or private choice. It
becomes a challenge to absolute values of all types.
Authoritarian regimes don't like that." -Jeffrey
Weeks, The No-Nonsense Guide to Sexual Diversity
"You would think that those who are always talking
about family values would want to create an
environment of permanent relationships for people of
the same sex. But they're not advocating family
values. They're advocating their values... I still
get this sh#t full-time...They just are haters,
period." -San Francisco former Mayor Willie Brown
"I'm a transgender activist. Not only that, I'm part
woman, part man. Something out of science fiction.
I'm a little bit of both, and I like it that way. I
identify with a lot of you lesbians out there, since
I live as a woman and love women. But I love both
men and women, so I guess I really identify with you
bisexuals. I think I could pass as just about
anything, but who...cares, anyway?" -Nancy Nangeroni,
Boston Gay Pride
The Advocate is the national magazine for the gay
rights movement, and it's online version is probably
its main news source. They say "children will listen
and hear that gay people are not part of the
American family, (that) the America created by our
Constitution is not the country George W. Bush wants
to preserve and protect. He just wants to be
President of the United States of Americans he
Likes."
The ACLU's site advocates "Get Busy, Get Equal." The
Lambda Legal site is the "national organization
committed to achieving full recognition of the civil
rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, the
transgendered, and people with HIV or AIDS through
impact litigation, education, and public policy
work."
GLSEN's (Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network)
site "envisions a future in which every child learns
to respect and accept all people regardless of
sexual orientation or gender identity/expression."
And Youth.org is an online source of gay youth
sites.
To bring a balance of resource sites I recommend
visiting Changing Worldviews' Issues Library under
Dr. Christopher Wolfe's and Dr. Warren
Throckmorton's interviews with us for links such as
People Can Change, and Is Homosexuality Genetic? See
http://www.changingworldviews.com/IssuesLibrary.htm#homosexuality
.
As America is being faced with the increasing
acceptance of gay marriage around the world, such as
most recently in Spain, it is critically important
to know and communicate the facts effectively on
this, as well as on all issues, based on the stated
motivations and agenda of its advocates, the
existing law and the basis for it, history and the
voice of wisdom and time-tested truth our nation was
founded on. To make decisions about critical issues
such as this out of emotion, or what we think apart
from these elements, can have disastrous results for
any culture.
© Sharon Hughes 2005
Sharon is the President of
The Center for Changing Worldviews, and hosts
Changing Worldviews TALK Radio which is heard
Monday, Wednesday and Friday on KDIA AM1640 San
Francisco/Vallejo; Saturdays KGDP AM660 Santa Maria
WITA AM1490 Knoxville, TN, as well as online daily
at Oneplace.com. Her column appears on several
online news sites. She maintains a blog at
http://changingworldviews.blogspot.com.
A
New Face For Gay Pride