Gay Pride in Iceland

[gisli]

http://www.Gaypride.is/Index/English/

Thought you would like to know. It is this weekend and expected to have 50.000 people taking part in it. When it started 30 years ago, 30 people came. Gay Pride has become one of the biggest event here in Iceland... a happy, happy, happy time for all that attend.
Oh.... and I do stem.....everyday....three stems a day from my house:)

[Gummi]

I've never liked gay pride it just looks like a bunch of people walking own a street.

[Rkitko]

Yeah, I suppose it is just a bunch of people walking down the street. But then every parade and protest I've been to is just a bunch of people in the street.

The importance of such events lies in the history, intent, and community behind the parade. We protest because we dislike a governmental policy or action, and in doing so we build a community of opposition. It may be just some people in the street with homemade signs (and the odd person out screaming "Free Tibet!"--they seem to be ubiquitous), but the historicism of such events is of the utmost importance.

Specifically on gay pride parades... I don't care very much for the modern, big city ones. They're typically just a big party, which is cool if you like that sort of thing. The groundbreaking pride parades are the ones that don't occur in gay meccas. The places where these events are the most needed (and most interesting) are not the big cities. The essence of the smaller city and town events is fascinating. It's the 17-year-old in Pueblo, Colorado, US that organized that town's first gay pride event. It's the feeling of community and harmony in an often unharmonious environment. Its an expression of diversity and a demand for equal rights in places where gay people (and their rights) may go ignored and forgotten. And often times, it's a way to remind ourselves of how we got here--the "gay pioneers (http://www.gaypioneers.com/)" that have gone before us and laid the groundwork for what we have today. Other times, it can be a celebration and declaration--we're here, we're not going to be ignored, we demand our rights, and we're going to have fun while we do it!

Ah yes, the history of the gay rights movement. Take a look at the picture at that link above (here it is again (http://www.gaypioneers.com/)--fantastic movie, by the way). "On July 4, 1965, forty people carried signs in front of Independence Hall supporting gay emancipation. Each year in NY, DC and Philadelphia their numbers grew. By July 4, 1969, one month after Stonewall one hundred and fifty people demonstrated at Independence Hall. The annual demonstrations were consolidated in 1970 to mark the first anniversary of the Stonewall Riots (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonewall_riots)." We've come so far, and that's why a gay pride event is so important (to me, at least). The media's depiction of such events doesn't do them justice. They videotape a stereotype and plop that on the television screen because that's what viewers want to see. They don't want to see the association of LGBT businessmen and women marching in the parades--no, that would confuse them. Afterall, without that rainbow pin on his lapel, how would we know he's gay? I suppose that's more often the point of my past participation in gay pride events: I'm no different than you; I have a job, a home, pets, and a life just like you; removed from this context, you couldn't tell that I'm gay; shift your paradigm.

So yeah, they may be just a bunch of people walkin' down the street, but they're mission is important, their intent pure, and their work (hopefully) productive in shattering stereotypes.

My (long-winded) two cents.

[Eva]

And besides that: if you don't show the world that you exist, then you give individuals, governments, etc an excuse to ignore you (and your rights) So it doesn't really matter what a Gay Pride looks like. A stream of people walking down a street, a parade of people dressed up wildly, an informationmarket, etc. It's saying "See us. We exist."

Eva

[gisli]

Thank you Eva and Rkitko for your great answers, I hope they will activate some brainsells. The life of today young people often is they don´t realise what many have sacrificed to what they concider "a normal thing"-just a bunsh of people walking down the street. Of course, that in it self says a lot.

I have also noticed that young people (mostly) don´t concider our indipendance day anything else then just a holiday where you can get drunk the day before and have hangovers. JUST A HOLIDAY.

Maybe it is us, older ones to blame, but life as they know it....just is. I often wonder why there are so many young people here in Iceland with money problems. They buy many things and all of them over a very short period of time, house all filled with new furniture, new car new this new that and so on... and everybody are ready to lend them money, the bank, the stores just name it. Part of it I think is because when they look at us the parents they see what we have, our house, filled with all kinds of stuff, car etc. But what they do not see is how much struggle and sacrifice we had to make to get to where we are today.

Rkitgo and Eva, thanks for your responses, let us keep the "Why of things" alive and let us never forget or loose respect for those who took the first steps for us, often by sacrificing theyre life.

[Eva]

Gisli, sometimes I see young lesbians and gays taking gay rights for granted. Or young women taking women's rights for granted. It's like they don't see that a change in government or the peoples attitude can take it all away again.

Maybe it's just the optimism and lack of experience of youth, Gisli. If you live longer, you see more. We can not blame young people for being young. That would be silly. And optimism is in itself a good thing.

Eva