PROUD OR NOT SO PROUD?

I noticed from a lot of bloggers that this weekend was Pride in USA in most if not all US States. Scotland held their own Pride Scotia in Edinburgh - I didn't attend. This march and festival has gone from bad to worse and is kind of an embarrasment in Scotland. I've been to Pride in Manchester and it's completely different, I don't know if it's the Scottish culture or that there aren't as many gay people in Scotland but it's pathetic. The committee that ran Scottish Pride went bust and there is no real funding from any city council to promote this festival so where in other UK cities like Brighton or Birmingham it thrives whereas North of the border, it's reduced to a march by some butch looking lesbians and some geekt gay boys followed by a sniff of poppers in a park in the rain.

As for gay rights, I'm not an extremist by any stretch of the imagination and like to think in this day in age that we can live in relative harmony regardless of our sexuality, this isn't the case and although we can't stop prejudice in everyone I think education is important and that being gay isn't a disease, in the same way that being black isn't a disease either. That's about as soapboxy as I'm ever going to get, cases like Matthew Shepard make me sick to my stomach as I can't comprehend that sort of hatred. I dislike people in a Dynasty/Melrose Place sort of way but to torture someone, tie them up and kick the shit out of them until they're left for dead is just sick. End of. When I think of Pride I think of it as a reminder of all the people who have suffered prejudice or struggled in life because of their sexuality. The Stonewall Riots are a perfect example of when gay people fought oppresion and won - on the day of Judy Garland's funeral no less. I think I would've flipped a bit if the police interrupted my mourning of Judy had I been alive so can't blame these people for demanding acceptance at such a difficult time, Somewhere Over The Rainbow was possibly playing when the police raided the Stonewall bar. Now that felt very thought provoking and it may not make much sense but my god, it felt good to express!