Gay Parades Celebrate Marriage Rights

[Mags 112]

I think it's sad that so many here feel that everyone isn't equal. That everyone shouldn't have the same rights.

They're human, doesn't matter if they're gay or straight. They have the right to be happy. Who are we to say they are "inferior" and don't deserve this?

It's sad, really sad.

[Sheriff Uling 3]

I think it's sad that so many here feel that everyone isn't equal. That everyone shouldn't have the same rights.

They're human, doesn't matter if they're gay or straight. They have the right to be happy. Who are we to say they are "inferior" and don't deserve this?

It's sad, really sad.

Stand for something or fall for anything.

Not everyone believes the same or shares the same moral/ethical center. Who's right? Who's wrong? I believe that the people should decide. This is a lifestyle acceptance case and not a human rights case. Gays and lesbians are not being persecuted or denied their right to live as they so desire under the umbrella of our laws. Because something isn't explicitly spelled out in the constitution doesn't necessarily mean folks are free to exercise a perceived right or perceived privilege.

We have become such a liberal nation that we have lost our moral compass in order to please the extreme with no ethical boundaries and it’s based on power, politics, and money. Now that is really sad...

[VisaJourneyLady 33]

So I shouldn't celebrate St. Paddy's day, cos it's "flamboyantly alienating everyone else"? No it's not, join in the fun, you don't have to be irish to enjoy the parade, you don't have to be gay to enjoy a pride parade. It celebrates the freedoms that America congratulates itself for every day.

Not everyone believes the same or shares the same moral/ethical center. Who's right? Who's wrong? I believe that the people should decide. This is a lifestyle acceptance case and not a human rights case. Gays and lesbians are not being persecuted or denied their right to live as they so desire under the umbrella of our laws. Because something isn't explicitly spelled out in the constitution doesn't necessarily mean folks are free to exercise a perceived right or perceived privilege.

We have become such a liberal nation that we have lost our moral compass in order to please the extreme with no ethical boundaries and it's based on power, politics, and money. Now that is really sad...

How would you like it if you could not have petitioned for your spouse to come to america, that if you have a hospital stay, she was not allowed in as not considered 'family' and upon your death, your estate was divided amoung your nieces and nephews as opposed to your life partner? There are rights at stake.

[Sheriff Uling 3]

So I shouldn't celebrate St. Paddy's day, cos it's "flamboyantly alienating everyone else"? No it's not, join in the fun, you don't have to be irish to enjoy the parade, you don't have to be gay to enjoy a pride parade. It celebrates the freedoms that America congratulates itself for every day.

How would you like it if you could not have petitioned for your spouse to come to america, that if you have a hospital stay, she was not allowed in as not considered 'family' and upon your death, your estate was divided amoung your nieces and nephews as opposed to your life partner? There are rights at stake.

My friends, co-workers, and I have celebrated St. Paddy's day together (and attended parades and other functions). By the by, I have always had a great time during Octoberfest back in my single days. Life partner and estates rights issues can and will be eventually ironed out in court or through policies. The ends just doesn't justify the means IMO. I understand your point, but we'll still agree to politely disagree.

[Sassy1natl 0]

SAN FRANCISCO (June 29) - A lesbian motorcycle group dressed in wedding gowns and wearing bridal veils lent a matrimonial touch to San Francisco's gay pride parade Sunday as revelers celebrated their newfound freedom to marry.

The riders tossed bouquets as they led the city's 38th annual gay pride parade down Market Street. Some of the motorcycles were adorned with signs that read "Just Married."

Huge crowds lined the route as city tourism officials predicted the largest turnout yet for the parade, which typically draws tens of thousands.

The county clerk's office was busy Friday handing out marriage licenses and handling wedding ceremonies. Same-sex marriage has been legal in California since June 16, after a state Supreme Court decision.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom received ovations along the parade route for his role in working to overturn the state's gay marriage ban.

Though City Hall was closed Sunday, parade organizers put up a wedding pavilion across the street where couples could get information about tying the knot or celebrate newly sanctioned unions.

Wade French, 61, and his partner, Brent Lock, 54, wed in San Francisco the day after the court's decision took effect. At the parade, Lock wore a T-shirt reading "Finally married..." while French's shirt read "...after 30 years together."

"We always come to the parade, but this year is a different feeling because we're celebrating something that's personal to us," Lock said.

The couple said they were asking friends and family not to send wedding gifts and instead make donations to a nonprofit group working to fight a ballot measure that would once again ban gay marriage in the state.

In a taped interview Sunday morning on NBC's "Meet the Press," Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called the measure "a waste of time."

"I personally believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman," Schwarzenegger said. "But at the same time I think that my, you know, belief, I don't want to force on anyone else."

The initiative set to go before voters in November would provide that "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California." Its language was taken directly from a gay marriage ban enacted by voters in 2000, one of two the state Supreme Court found unconstitutional and struck down on May 15.

In New York, Gov. David Paterson was cheered during the gay pride parade, one month after he directed state agencies to provide full marriage benefits to same-sex couples who were legally married elsewhere.

Jim Saslow carried a bouquet to the march down Manhattan's Fifth Avenue and wore a wedding gown stamped with the words, "Coming Here Soon?"

"Everyone here is thinking if California can do it, then we should be able to do it here soon," he said.

Overseas, gay pride marches in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia and the Czech Republic city of Brno came under attack Saturday by extremists who threw rocks and eggs. No serious injuries were reported.

In Paris, more than half a million people danced through the streets beneath a river of rainbow flags.

In India, hundreds chanted for gay rights in Calcutta, Bangalore and New Delhi in the largest display of gay pride in the deeply conservative country, where homosexual acts are illegal. The marches came days before the Delhi High Court is expected to hear arguments on overturning a law against homosexual sex that dates to the British colonial era.

Kudos!! Rabid conservatives must have been foaming at the mouth. Bottom line is... we are all human. How can you deprive anyone of rights just because they are in a same sex relationship?! No. I am not gay. But I'm not scared either.

[VisaJourneyLady 33]

So I shouldn't celebrate St. Paddy's day, cos it's "flamboyantly alienating everyone else"? No it's not, join in the fun, you don't have to be irish to enjoy the parade, you don't have to be gay to enjoy a pride parade. It celebrates the freedoms that America congratulates itself for every day.

How would you like it if you could not have petitioned for your spouse to come to america, that if you have a hospital stay, she was not allowed in as not considered 'family' and upon your death, your estate was divided amoung your nieces and nephews as opposed to your life partner? There are rights at stake.

My friends, co-workers, and I have celebrated St. Paddy's day together (and attended parades and other functions). By the by, I have always had a great time during Octoberfest back in my single days. Life partner and estates rights issues can and will be eventually ironed out in court or through policies. The ends just doesn't justify the means IMO. I understand your point, but we'll still agree to politely disagree.

But if you died tomorrow your wife (god forbid!) wouldn't have to take the matter to court to get what you would have wanted her to have, if you don't have a will. She wouldn't have to fight in court to decide the manner of your funeral. Others at this moment would have a fight on their hands. It's not acceptable that some relationships are valued above others just based on gender.

[Sheriff Uling 3]

So I shouldn't celebrate St. Paddy's day, cos it's "flamboyantly alienating everyone else"? No it's not, join in the fun, you don't have to be irish to enjoy the parade, you don't have to be gay to enjoy a pride parade. It celebrates the freedoms that America congratulates itself for every day.

How would you like it if you could not have petitioned for your spouse to come to america, that if you have a hospital stay, she was not allowed in as not considered 'family' and upon your death, your estate was divided amoung your nieces and nephews as opposed to your life partner? There are rights at stake.

My friends, co-workers, and I have celebrated St. Paddy's day together (and attended parades and other functions). By the by, I have always had a great time during Octoberfest back in my single days. Life partner and estates rights issues can and will be eventually ironed out in court or through policies. The ends just doesn't justify the means IMO. I understand your point, but we'll still agree to politely disagree.

But if you died tomorrow your wife (god forbid!) wouldn't have to take the matter to court to get what you would have wanted her to have, if you don't have a will. She wouldn't have to fight in court to decide the manner of your funeral. Others at this moment would have a fight on their hands. It's not acceptable that some relationships are valued above others just based on gender.

If someone has a life partner/domestic partner and they have worked out it out legally beforehand (since the current laws and policies omit them from having any legal standing without something formal), then they should be entitled to the estate of their lost love. However, the ethics/morality of that union is where I have the most concern. Who determines who's right and wrong? It should be the will of the people as long as the will of the people does not destroy the social, political, and economic balance that we have come to enjoy. Nobody is persecuting gays and lesbians or preventing them from carrying out whatever lifestyle they choose (now that would be absolutely wrong and I would be the first person defending their rights to live free). However, it is obvious, since the laws that marriage is between a man and a women cannot really be substantiate at face value, then this is a ethical/moral consensus propelled into law. How far to the left should we go? How liberal are we going to become before someone makes a stand about what we as a nation are going to be about. Somebody needs to stand up and say, "that's enough!" We are going to end up being the land of everything and anything until we are nothing. America is the parent and we are the children. I know that in my parent's house, I wasn't allowed to do whatever I wanted. I know that is simplistic, but it is true. What gets me is that because something isn't explicitly spelled out in the constitution doesn't necessarily mean folks are free to exercise a perceived right or perceived privilege.

Edited July 1, 2008 by Sheriff Uling

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I think every group should have a parade.

Its an interesting idea - but I'm willing to bet that a lot of people from the majority groups wouldn't turn up.

Well, then they can't complain about the minority groups showing up. If they didn't show up then they can't complain

But they do complain... The "what if a straight/white person did/said..." arguments are just examples of applying a simplistic form of reversed political correctness to what we all know are rather complex issues.

All it really is a way to score cheap points by suggesting that marginalised groups shouldn't be given any special considerations and that these things are a significant reason why we don't have a purely egalitarian society. Its not all that hard to see how flawed the reasoning here.

Is a "pride" day a special consideration (or some sort of privilege that minority groups are exclusively being granted)? I don't think so - because that begs the question of who is actually pushing for this, and how are they promoting it to the exclusion of everyone else.

The fact is that everyone is free to start their own black, white, yellow, gay, bi, hermaphrodite parade - and in a lot of cases this sort of thing already exists. We have "national pride" days in this country not just the obvious (4th July) type stuff but we have "pride" celebrations in this country for pretty much every cultural or subcultural group you can think of (here in NYC we had Puerto Rican day a week or two ago, a couple weeks before that there was an "Immigrant" street festival all the way down 6th Avenue.

Its not really any different when it comes to things like sexuality and race - there is a certain sub-cultural dynamic to these things that doesn't really apply to the majority. Is the experience of being heterosexual really very meaningful to a person who's always taken their sexuality for granted and not had to fight for recognition or to feel the need to conceal who they are?

When people suggest "why don't we celebrate heterosexual pride or 'white pride' etc..." they don't tend to consider the political dimensions of what these ideas represent. "White pride" for example, can only be interpreted as racist because there is no uniform solidarity among whites or a specific cultural context with which white people can all identify. From my point of view the concept is smiply meaningless because I can't really understand what I would specifically have in common with another white or hetereosexual person to want (or rather need) to celebrate my "whiteness" or "heterosexuality".

In short - if you've never had to fight for your identity, why would you feel a need to promote it?

Interesting!

The older that I become, the more asinine and polarizing the whole black, white, yellow, gay, bi, and/or hermaphrodite parade thing seems to me. We're so focused on self righteously accenting and celebrating our differences, in some cases flamboyantly alienating everyone else. I just don’t and can’t see the world in such a narrow glass. Maybe some people need that in order to somehow feel better about themselves (or their heritage) instead of being proud to be what we have all become. Americans! However, this is all my opinion...

Cheers!!!

Sheriff Uling

In general I think people are too self absorbed. There's something to be said for not drawing undue attention to ourselves. Nothing wrong with a little humility rather than the sort of rampant egotism that's exemplified and promoted by TV talk shows and the like.