Pride Again

This is a formal reply to those readers who don't get the Gay Pride moteif of yesterday's blog

I get what you say and why you say it..but your comments, to me were ill judged and rather offensive

I will endeavour to explain just why

The excesses of some gay flag wavers , to many seem irrelative. I know that

I am not particularly a fan of the sight of a sequinned budgie smuggler snake hipped twink flouncing atop a float myself but as a gay middle aged man whose sexuality is probably the least interesting thing about me, I will always fight for the right for that twink to wave his tush and raise his rainbow flag in anyone's face 

Straight people will never understand how it feels to be gay

Christ it was only 50 years or so ago since homosexuality was made legal for men over 21in this country . 

Legal !!!! 

Illegal meant  wrong, against the law, dirty, bad, terrible ............deviant ......

All the building bricks for negativity and prejudice and being hated

All the building bricks for guilt and shame and self loathing too

I grew up in the 1980s 

Gays were hated then. AIDS was a monster avenger 

And still over the 60s, 70s , and 80s men and women fought for equality and a chance to be viewed to be as normal as you straights 

They fought long and hard 

Straights , as I recall were never spat at in the street for holding the hand of a person they loved ( or even just liked) 

Straights could marry the person they loved

And as many did so, the World  and his wife would applaud 

You straights will never know the trauma of comming out

The constant fear of rejection a gay child experiences when he knows he is different

The low level abuse , snide comments , put downs and stupidity of people fearful of something so alien they have to attack it

You will never know, like I don't, the true struggles of those brave souls that fought the system only a generation ago now

Souls that helped to eventually turn the tide on bigotry and hatred even though it's never really been totally eradicated 

So dearhearts , please take it from me that it's fine for that sequinned arsed twink to have his excessive gay pride dances!!! 

And it's fine for me to wear my occasional gay pride t shirt and post a blog about feeling all gay 

I am proud to be gay , I'm proud to now have those rights straights have have enjoyed for ever !!!

I don't do it often 

Like I said , being gay is not one of my most interesting facets 

But when I do, it is the RIGHT thing for me as a gay man to do

Please instead of pouting with a narrow minded "We straights never hold straight pride tight arsed pout!" 

Just try seeing things from another's perspective  

If you can't , well then I would prefer that you didn't follow Going Gently

with its rainbow warts and all