Commercialism? Who Cares?
A Gay Opinion 6/30/02
by R. A. Melos
Whether you call them the Gay High Holy Days, Pride, Pride Month, or Gay Pride
Month, their acknowledgment is still of great importance to the gay community.
Recently I've read a lot about the growing feeling Pride has become too commercial
and lost that feeling of protest originally associated with it 30 years ago.
Well, I can see why it has lost a feeling of protest and become more of a celebration.
I was only 9 years old when the first gay pride march happened, and I didn't
hear about it until I was in my late 20s. I was closeted and sheltered, and
most certainly not going to go about proclaiming my right to be the person I
was by birth. After all, I didn't even know about DNA, and I wasn't sure of
my own feelings, only to know I liked guys and according to society I should
feel shame for not being like "everyone else."
Okay, I've grown up and now I know I am like everyone else. I'm like everyone
else in the sense I matter as a person. I denied myself and my desires for as
long as I could, hating myself whenever I had a thought which I felt wasn't
something everyone in society would have. I allowed myself to be put down, and
shoved around as a child because I was different from all the other kids. I
was weak, and I liked music and enjoyed reading, and was terrible at most sports.
Essentially what happened to me as I grew up was a sense of self worth, which
some in society today would like to take from me simply because they feel anyone
who is not like them is inferior to them and should be hurt or even killed.
Religious leaders around the world still condemn homosexuality, claiming their
God is only for heterosexuals. In some countries we are imprisoned or killed.
Some cultures consider murdering a homosexual a way of honoring your family.
So why is Pride, commercial or otherwise, so important to acknowledge and celebrate?
Because as long as we refuse to hide ourselves, we also bring into the light
the mistreatment of homosexuals throughout the world. By being public about
who we are as individuals, we are shining a light of truth on those who would
condemn us, or even kill us in the name of hate and ignorance.
We are also showing the world we will not just allow those who would harm us
to continue their hateful and hurtful ways. We will not be closeted in silence,
and if we have to accept some commercialism in our celebrations of Pride it
is just one more sign we are becoming more mainstream and being accepted as
a financial force in society, and that may not be a terrible thing.
Money makes the world go around, whether the human races wishes to admit it
or not, and by being recognized as a financial force who can spend money to
support politicians or buy cars, we are moving forward in the advancement of
gay rights. Thirty years ago Volkswagen or Miller Beer, or Wendy's or any other
corporation would not have had the courage to stand up and sponsor a homosexual
event without fearing the loss of heterosexual dollars.
Today's businessman not only recognizes a market niche, but are willing to pursue
a special interest group which may not be considered mainstream. If Pride has
become too commercial for some who long for the days of protest, we have to
stop and remind them of how far homosexuals still have to go in order to be
fully integrated as an accepted part of society.
When we have the rights, throughout the world, to have our relationships recognized
as marriages in every sense of the word, when we can live lives openly and free
of harassment, when we can all stand together side by side with heterosexuals
as one collective voice instead of having to fight to be heard, then maybe we
will have outgrown a need for Pride. But until that day comes, whether Pride
has Tommy Hilfiger or Miller High Life stamped on it, we owe it to those who
stood up and began this movement to stand up for ourselves and proudly proclaim
"We're Queer, And We're Here!"