Dispatches from the Culture Wars

"Past experience shows that the parade greatly offends, deliberately and unnecessarily, the feelings of Jews, Muslims and Christians, who view its sheer existence, and the blatant manner in which it takes place, as a desecration of the holy city and of the values with which they were raised."

Imagine the Earth-shattering outcry if Richard Dawkins' argument had instead been that the sheer existence of Christian, Muslim and Jewish expression offended atheist feelings, and for that very reason the government should ban them from expressing their views. While merely denying the existence of God and calling religion delusional and a threat to reason is enough to get labeled "militant" for an unbeliever, the "other side" is protesting the very existence of people who disagree with them. The imbalance of the equation is itself probably the result of the this opposition to even the existence of opposing views: religious fundamentalists can't (or won't) comprehend the notion that other people might think or feel differently than they do and yet be deserving of respect.

Posted by: Wes | June 25, 2008 10:09 AM

What the gay pride folks need to do is wear pink triangles.

(If you don't know this one: the Nazis made gay people wear pink triangles and in the concentration camps that was a whole lot worse than wearing a yellow star. Medical experiment, vivisection, go look it up and keep a box of kleenex and a puke bucket nearby while you read...)

In a way it's comforting to know that extremist religious nutters are the same around the world.

What I would do if I were there: have a gay activist contingent chanting "You're just jealous!" at the nutters, to the tune of a "neener-neener-neener" melody. Yes, and we'd be wearing bullet proof vests for that one. Make the haters' heads explode.

Meanwhile, "no protests" = DANGER SIGN: LOOK OUT FOR BOMBS. Seriously.

Posted by: g347 | June 25, 2008 10:30 AM

@dogmeatgib

Well, from what i've heard about the last jerusalem pride, there actually was some cooperation between muslims and jews who didn't like the parade.
If that's true, i guess that the more gay pride events you have, the less hostility between the more fanatical zealots.

Essentially: More gay pride = less religious conflict = peace.

But ofcourse you have to sacrifice the gays first *rolls eyes*

Posted by: Casper | June 25, 2008 12:15 PM

I remember when my town had it's first ever pride parade. I was in High School at the time and so deep in the closet even I thought I was straight. So while in my heart I wanted to support the marchers, I was too scared someone might get the wrong idea (er, right idea) about me. Instead I did my best to be invisible and observed.

The community outrage shocked me. There was never much threat of bombs. But in the weeks leading up to the event there was no shortage of red faces shouting, literally spitting, on both sides of the issue. Violence increased in my school, with perceived homosexuals and gay pride supporters being attacked on a daily basis. The anger and fear was palpable.

Yet there was also an undercurrent of courage and hope. I saw students sporting rainbows who walked the halls with their heads high, daring anyone to try and stop them, refusing to let the threat of violence cow them. I saw kids taking a stand, who individually or in groups, stood up to the bullies. Their weapons were words and art instead of intimidation and they were all the more effective because of it.

When the day of the parade came I was in the crowd, still observing. The marchers came by dancing or waving ribbons or smiling and waving to the crowd. Hundreds of people came together and said enough is enough. Then there were the spectators, like me. There were some folks cheering them on and most just watched looking either amused by the spectacle or with their faces unreadable.

But then there were the anti-gays, and no shortage of them. A few carried signs, most often with Bible quotes. The majority just shouted their hate at the parade. Fag, Hell, pervert, sick, evil, and more and worse were screamed at the marchers. I remember one man in particular who was standing just in front of me.

He was such stereotypical redneck cliché I could hardly believe he was real, plaid flannel shirt and swilling beer. About half way through the parade he got tired of the insults he was hurling having no effect. So he decided to hurl his beer bottle instead. He raised his hand over his holder, gripping the bottle by the neck.

I knew in that moment I could no longer be just an observer. I knocked the bottle from his hand and it shattered harmlessly on the concrete. He turned to me still red faced, but shocked. "You ignorant fuck," I screamed! We locked eyes for an eternal second. Then I stepped into the parade, my voice joining the chorus, "We're here. We're queer. Get used to it!"

That moment, standing up to that man, was a transformative experience for me. It started me down the road to self-acceptance, pride, and activism that I still travel to this day. And to quote Frost, that has made all the difference. I am forever grateful to the organizers of that parade, the community that made it happen and the ignorant fuck that gave me the opportunity to find my strength. May the parade in Jerusalem do the same for another.

Posted by: Abby Normal | June 25, 2008 12:43 PM

Abby Normal-I recall my first witnessing of a gay pride parade. It was 21 years ago-I remember because it was the summer before I started college. My parents own a moving and storage company; so you can guess what my summer job was. We were moving a very liberal college professor couple (mind you I was Reagan conservative at this time) from Lawrence, KS to Columbus, OH. (For some reason it's always stuck in my head that this was the first couple I ever met who had a futon instead of a conventional bed-oh the useless trivia that stays stuck in our brains!) They bought a house in the Germantown section of Columbus. As we were delivering their household items that June Saturday, the parade went by a block away. I remember the rainbow floats and the chants. And I remember the rednecks I worked with saying their opinions under their breath. I think it was on that day-listening to both sides at once-that I started my long journey to where I am today-as a straight, ordained man of God who believes gays have rights, values, and a voice.

Although I'm not brave enough yet to march in the parade, I have joined friends when they were afraid to go to gay support group meetings alone. But if the eighteen year old me had seen the 39 year-old me; he wouldn't recognize who I am.

Last year, at our churchwide assembly, I singled out a guy from Oregon, who was brave enough to stand up in our midst and share a story very similar to yours. I told him his message did not fall on deaf ears. Neither did yours...thanks for sharing!

Posted by: Rev. AJB | June 25, 2008 1:38 PM

Yeah, and the Episcopals "got" one of my closest friends in ministry; who could no longer live under the rules that gay clergy are to remain chaste. So he left the ELCA in 2005. It was definitely our loss-he is a great pastor, and the Episcopals gain.

Posted by: Rev. AJB | June 25, 2008 3:19 PM

I marched in the first gay pride parades in Chicago. In the first parade in 1970 I think we were more afraid of the police than anyone else. This was just two years after the Democratic Convention of 1968. We saw then what they did to people they didn't like. I was carrying a banner in front of one of the largest groups. I felt like I had a target painted on my chest. The parades got better and the police got friendlier over the years.

Posted by: wrpd | June 26, 2008 2:48 AM