Why Does It Have To Be So Flamboyant?

It would be careless of me to neglect to mention that this week is Belfast Pride week. I can only hope for kind weather on Saturday, and that all the events this week go well and reflect positively on the LGBT community here in Northern Ireland.

The youth dialogue event I have previously mentioned happened last night, amidst worries members of the Stop the Parade Coalition would picket it. I’m not sure if we should be glad that the Stop the Parade bats stayed at home. I’m inclined to think that the sporadic torrential rain may have been a deciding factor in their notable absence.

While it was certainly interesting to sit down with representatives of the many Christian churches here, it was again disappointing. True, almost everyone there agreed that the church does need to do more to be more accepting to young gay people, but what they do when they return to their churches is another matter.

It did feel a little bit like a talking shop, because to be fair, the Christians (represented predominantly by grey men in grey suits) agreed with most everything. Some of their views nearly surfaced when one showed his discontent with the Pride parade, ‘Why does it have to be so flamboyant?’

Perhaps if he had any idea of gay culture and history, he might have a better idea of the reason behind Pride. I did feel the need to point out that the parade was one of many events taking place, which represent the diversity of the community. I gave him a copy of the ‘Pride Guide’, which he promptly left behind.

Indeed, the Christian’s again showed their true feelings when I told them I expected to see them all on the streets to support us.

One step at a time?