I would hardly consider this gathering to be an LGBT Pride event. Hiding behind masks at an event whose proceeds benefit the primary sponsor’s own personal business is as far from showing pride as one can get. I was born and raised in Abilene and know full well how desperately Abilene needs to see its own real gay community. I also take exception to the article’s author, Scott Kirk, needing to point out in implied surprise that “not a feather boa was to be found.” Does the absence of feather boas somehow make this event more palatable to the good folks of Abilene? The real challenges faced by LGBT people (teen homelessness, uncaring communities, bigotry, bullying) are not helped by putting on our Sunday best and pretending that we’re just like everyone else. This is what the Mattachine Society tried to do in the 1950s and 60s to gain broader cultural acceptance. That strategy failed. It took the Stonewall Riots (complete with drag queens and plenty of feather boas) for the gay rights movement to really gain steam. Nothing will change until the LGBT community stops hiding and forces Abilene to take notice of who they really are. Some of us are “young professionals,” but many of us are not. We are your neighbors, your sons, your daughters, and we come from every conceivable walk of life. We don’t fit a single mold and we certainly don’t all fit into the neat little box that this event tried to construct for us.
Posted on: Sat, 28 Jun 2014 20:20:26 +0000
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