Did you go to PrideFest or attend the Pride Parade on Second Street? Both? Excellent. It’s Pride Month, after all, so you should be reveling in all things LGBT. PrideFest, of course, was amazing. It’s just so reassuring to see the entire community in one place at one time. Even the protestors, the sad sack Nazis and Christians at the front gate, add a certain something. Maybe it’s just the realization that some of them would really prefer to be among all those LGBT people having fun on the inside instead of milling around with such a pathetic lot on the outside. Besides, holding up a big sign on a stick for hours on end can give you a cramp. There’s some satisfaction in knowing that.
There are a few alternative-type gay protesters, too. They complain that Pride celebrations have sold out and become “corporate.” We’ve all heard that aria before. And, to an extent, it’s true. Corporate logos are everywhere in LGBT life, just like everywhere else. I’ll be the first to pine away for the good old days of gays being different and distinguishable from the masses. But, there was a downside as well. Those were the days when corporations were wary of any affiliation with LGBT people or their causes. People were fired for being gay. But then, their collective corporate lights went on. They saw markets and profits among all those gays. It’s all about the bottom line, right? Businesses began to cater to LGBT tastes (everyone knows gays have a taste for the finer things of life). At first, it was the stuff that made Milwaukee famous. I mean, the city’s gay softball league is the Saturday Softball Beer League. One might call that a no-brainer. Other corporations followed suit. It simply made sense to tap this resource of consumers that also provided a pool of savvy, educated and dedicated employees. States with LGBT-welcoming companies attract new populations, too. That means states have to compete to get those companies to open offices and factories, which means they have to offer an LGBT friendly environment. That means non-discrimination laws and essential rights. Ultimately, as the corporations go, so go the states and so go gay rights.
Did you see this year’s TV and print coverage of PrideFest? We were everywhere. And finally, the coverage is serious and not just snide snippets making fun of LGBT people. Speaking of taping, I saw a photo of GAMMA (Gay Athletic Milwaukee Men’s Association) president Bim Florek at the Pride Parade. He wore a gayed up Soviet general’s parade uniform I loaned him. (I happened to have it hanging in my closet—don’t ask me why). Needless to say, he got lots of attention. A straight friend said he looked like the “leader of Gaybakistan.” In a press interview, he described his getup as his “Puttin’ it to Putin” mission, a protest again homophobia in Russia. So, thanks to corporate media, his message got out. Besides, he looked marvelous.
