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Culture_Voyeur
Culture_VoyeurWednesday, June 24, 2009 at 1:50:00 PM EDT
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Will & Grace co-creator, Max Mutchnick wrote an op-ed for “The Huffington Post” last week lamenting the current state of gay Pride. Actually, the point of the article was to wonder why the LGBTQ rights movement has yet to see a strong visible leader rise to the top of our ranks, a la Martin Luther King, Jr. or Gloria Steinem. But before arguing that Barack Obama should be the gays’ lord and savior, Mutchnick took some time to decry those members of the LGBTQ community that he deems unfit to participate in Pride.
“Dykes on bikes, Tarzana Trannies, Jewish Leather Daddies and Kathy Griffin's mom. Don't get me wrong. I love these people… [b]ut they should no longer be representing ‘the pride.’ It's a different time.”
I hardly find it surprising that the man who, along with David Kohan, convinced America that the LGBTQ community looked like Will Truman and Jack McFarland would be more than a little annoyed that “Dykes on Bikes” and “Tarzana Trannies” are still allowed to march along side the dozens of marriage equality floats that have overtaken at least Washington, DC’s Pride parade. After all, the “Jewish Leather Daddies” might not spend their nights tucking in their daughters like Mutchnick and his husband, but they are still valid members of the community.
Mutchnick’s concerns are ones I have been hearing for years – long before I even started attending Pride. As same-sex marriage took the reins of the LGBTQ rights movement, many in our ranks began questioning whether or not the annual Pride events should be done away with altogether. Or perhaps simply turned into an annual family picnic. You know, like the one held by your church or temple every summer. Coupled with a surprisingly high number of young queers who spend their formative years searching for a lifelong monogamous relationship rather than dressing in drag, I always attend Pride wondering if this year will be the last.
What I find particularly troubling about Mutchnick’s biases and sex negative attitudes is that he masks them behind a facade of civil rights activism: If we keep letting them into the parade, no one will ever take us seriously. I’m sorry, but if my recent experience at DC’s Pride is any indication, a few scantily-clad twinks and bare-breasted women aren’t hurting our cause – because alongside the half-naked revelers were members of every religious denomination one could think of, dozens of marriage equality marchers, and numerous elected officials. These people don’t seem to have a problem, so why should Mutchnick or anyone else?
Every time I read an anti-Pride article like this coming from within the LGBTQ community, I want to scream, “No! You’re missing the point!” The point of Pride isn’t to assimilate and blend in with the white, upper-class suburbanites – it’s to speak out and celebrate our differences. And even if your goal in life is to have a white-picket fence, then that’s great! But your Pride isn’t any better than my Pride and you shouldn’t force me to conform to your ideals simply because you are afraid of what some of the heterosexuals might think. Last time I checked, that attitude was called Shame.
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by AFY_Abby
Will and Grace was and is the most homophobic show I have ever seen. I see it in reruns and cringe. That dude is not qualified to discuss pride AT ALL.
it's just ridiculous, and the HRC epitomizes this.
What about those genderqueers, or queers of color, trans people, drag queens, S&Mers, and polyamourus queers. They dont fit into that cookie cutter mold of what America wants its citizens to look like.
All this focus on gay marriage and all the stuff about prop8, how about the fact that it is still legal to fire someone because they are queer, or not rent them an apartment or give them medical care. You'd think that might be a bit more important than marriage.