The Mardi Gras is gay…
…And not in a good way.
As The Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Sydney 2009 looms upon us, I can’t help but wonder why anyone still bothers to take part. Once upon a time, the Mardi Gras was a means of aggressive social protest against intolerance. But in 2009, with homosexuality failing to raise eyebrows in even the most conservative of circles anymore, one wonders why these gays and lesbians even bother.
Oh, that’s right. It’s supposed to be a celebration of difference. Right? What a joke.
How can you spend decades campaigning for equal treatment only to make an exhibition of your difference and highlight your “otherness” for the condescending amusement of the straights? You can’t have your cake and eat it too. Or, in this case, you can’t be in and out at the same time. If gays want to be treated equally, as they have every right to be, they should stop violently thrusting the “alternative” nature of their lifestyle in people’s faces.
But, of-course, I realise that I am preaching to the choir – for the most part. Any self-respecting gay wouldn’t be caught dead anywhere near the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. An event like this only attracts self-loathing and recently outed/overzealous converts to participate – and pseudo-liberal heteros (mostly high-school and uni kids from conservative households looking to prove to the world how tolerate, liberal and permissive they are) to spectate. Self-respecting gays, just like self-respecting straights, knows that what they do behind closed doors is their own business and does not have to singularly define who they are as a person. Only insecure attention-seeker, gay or straight, insist on subjecting everyone else to the sordid details of their sex life or parading their sexual proclivities for all and sundry.
Thankfully, the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras is dying a slow death due to its diminishing turn-out and commensurate inability to attract sponsors. The objective that initially motivated such a pride parade has been largely achieved – so isn’t it time that these Mardi Gras gay and lesbian types jumped off the float and into the crowd at a more mainstream and socially acceptable freak-show? Like the studio-audience at The Biggest Loser, perhaps.
I mean, if you want to be accepted as “normal” – then maybe you should stop acting like a freak.
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This entry was posted on March 2, 2009 at 6:56 am and is filed under Life, News, Politics, Pop culture, Religion, Social behaviour with tags Compliance, conservative, Gay and Lesbian, Gay marriage, Homosexual, liberal, Politics, Protest, Social behaviour. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
March 2, 2009 at 10:38 pm
Bosco, you’re turning into Miranda Devine…
Homosexuals have had to endure much ridicule and persecution over the years and I believe still to this day. Even though homosexuals may not be openly persecuted as much, gay marriage is still not even recognised or legalised in Australia. That’s ridiculous. Homosexuals have fought hard for equality but it is still a long way off. Penny Wong is a frontline MP and a lesbian but legalising gay marriage is still not on the agenda. Prime Minister Rudd doesn’t care.
The Mardi Gras is a reminder that these sorts of inequalities still exist. Homosexuals are a minority. Should we ban all minority celebrations? Should we ban the Brazilian festival in Sydney or Chinese New Year?
As for subjecting other people to their sexuality, is there any difference to a bunch of blokes partying at Mardi Gras or a bunch of blokes hanging out at a strip club, paying women to take their clothes off. Each group is “parading their sexual proclivities for all and sundry” it seems.
Mardi Gras to me is a bit cheesey and it may not be to my taste but it is still relevant in society today. Words like gay or poof are still used in a derogatory manner all the time. If people don’t like the message shoved in their face, well remember, it’s only one day a year and nobody forces anyone else to go. It’s completely optional for gay people, straight people and anyone in between. Now where are my butt-less chaps?
March 3, 2009 at 12:55 pm
Miranda Devine? Hardly.
Glenn, I have no problem with gays or their desire to marry. As far as I am concerned they have as much right as anyone else to engage in a marital contract which binds them legally. From a legal standard – that’s all a marriage is. And preventing gays from doing so is pointless. A legal marriage and one recognised by the Church as two distinct things. And as for K. Rudd not caring – that’s unfair. How do you know he doesn’t care? He may care deeply. He may, in fact, be a gay himself. With a chin like his and a wife like that – I wouldn’t be surprised. But as for not doing anything, that’s to be expected. Australia is a painfully middle-class country that prides itself on its prudency in all things, including social morality. So what is there to be gained by Rudd proposing a Bill to change the definition of marriage? A handful of votes? Probably not even that, because those people who support gay marriage would vote for him – rather than the alternative – anyway. So, the only outcome would be lost votes.
As for Penny Wong – I seriously doubt that she’d be participating in the Mardi Gras or wish to be seen anywhere near it. Wong is a force for conservatism – and bringing those previously excluded minority groups into the fold – not a force of liberalism or change.
Also, some of your comparisons trouble me, in that they are deeply flawed. A cultural festival, such as Brazilian one, is not analogous to the Mardi Gras. Saying that the Mardi Gras is indicative of gays and lesbians is like saying that Jihadi terrorists are indicative of all Muslims. The gays and lesbians that parade at the Mardi Gras are not an accurate indication of how, I’m pretty sure, gays and lesbians want to be perceived in general. A cultural festival is a showcase of what an ethnic or cultural group has to offer a multicultural nation. The Mardi Gras is a showcase of nothing more than then extremities to which some gays will go to debase themselves for the amusement of others.
And a strip club? Well, given that such a club can only be accessed by adults who wish to chose to and that the whole purpose of them is for men to torture themselves by exercising restraint – I don’t see the comparison. Plus, I don’t know of any strip clubs that are funded with taxpayers money or shut down roads on a Saturday evening or that get broadcast on TV.
Mardi Gras is about gays proving their lack of inhibition – by making cartoonish characters of themselves? Right. That’s like women proving to the world how much self-esteem they are by walking around in something approximating their underwear.
Yes, the word “gay” is still used as a derogatory term. And will most likely continue to be until such time that some gays, which are by now means exemplars of their sexual orientation as a whole, stop acting like freaks and weirdos. I not against gays, Glenn – I’m against some gays demeaning themselves in the name of “freedom” and “liberation” and in the process giving all gays a bad name. You’re right, though, gays and lesbians have fought hard for something close to equality – and the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras is a step backwards NOT forwards.
March 3, 2009 at 10:26 pm
Let me clear my throat… heh heh…
Anthony, I’m not saying that Rudd should legalise gay marriage ‘for a handful of votes’ but rather because it is the right thing to do. As you have said, gays have a right to be treated equally too.
As for Penny Wong, I brought her up not for her political views but because she is still the only high profile gay politician that I am aware of in Australia. I’m sure she is a disapointment to many gay people for being in her position of power yet not pushing Rudd for change.
Where did I say that the Mardi Gras is indicative of all gay people? I’m pretty sure I said that it was optional for everyone. My point about gay poeple being a minority is just that. I’m not saying the Mardi Gras should be the only outlet for gays to define themselves, rather that it should be purely optional for anyone that gets whatever it is they get out of it. For some parts of the gay community it is an important day. For anyone to say that if you attend the Mardi Gras is akin to demeaning or debasing yourself is pretty judgemental. It’s always been over the top to make a point, a point that still needs to be made. Everyone deserves equality, whether their sexual proclivities (within reason as consenting adults) suit your taste or not.
If people ‘debasing themselves for the amusement of others’ concerns you then blokes going to strip clubs must register on the radar too. The whole idea of a strip club is for blokes to say “look at me. I like girls. I’m normal’ and carry on in a pretty demeaning way towards women. Mardi Gras is similar in that a bunch of blokes get together and say “look at me. I like other blokes. I’m normal” I was making a comparison between the two situations to point out their similarities. People can choose to go to strip clubs, or choose not to. Same as the Mardi Gras. As for blokes ‘exercising restraint’ in a a strip club, that’s not been my experience. The act of sexual restraint maybe, but not much else.
In the opening of your last paragraph, you’re basically justifying using the word gay as a derogatory word because of the way some people behave at the Mardi Gras. That’s pretty out there. Should all people conform to some sort of ill-defined common sense of decency? That’s never going to happen, nor should it. Who is to say what is freaky or wierd? So what if people like to dress up and carry on? As consenting adults they can do that. It doesn’t mean that they should be called gay in a demeaning way.
Nobody with any brains seriously pigeonholes all gay people into that type of character. Obviously some gay people want nothing to do with the Mardi Gras, but some gay people still do. The gay community is a very diverse community and if the Mardi Gras represents a portion of it then it is valid. The parade is only one part of the Mardi Gras. It is a wide-ranging festival offering music, theatre and other social events.
Maybe we’ll have to disagree on this one as I don’t want to keep babbling on about Mardi Gras all night. I should be good for Friday. I’m looking forward to The Watchmen. over and out–
March 4, 2009 at 8:52 am
Glenn, I don’t know who you think you are but you are a condescending prick. What the hell makes you think you know what’s best for gays and lesbians. Are you one? Well, I am. And I know that mardi gras is not an important day for some gays and lesbians – it’s a fucking embarrassment. Anthony bosco might sound like a bit of a prick, but at least he understands that mardi gras represents gay people about as well as al qaeda represents muslims.
And as for Penny Wong – she’s a role model for women like me, not a “disappointment”. How could she be a disappointment? She’s achieved a high public position and not allowed her sexuality to be a hinderance to that.
Get a clue, Glenn. I’m proud of being gay but I don’t feel the need to advertise it. The only gays who do are those that are attention-seekers looking to make tits of themselves for a cheap laugh. The rest of us are happy to go about our daily lives, being accepted for who we are, not making a big issue of who we choose as our partner.
“Free speech doesn’t give you the right to say whatever you want – it impresses upon you the need to take responsibility for what you say”.
March 4, 2009 at 1:25 pm
Yeh, fuck you very much Glen. Your probly one of those guys who thinks the stolen generation was for their own good. Thats good mate – tell all us gays what we should and shouldn’t be proud of. I hate those queers at the mardi gra that gives us all a bad name. Nothing wrong with being gay but theres plenty wrong with acting like a fairy. Nobody with brains pigeon-holes all gays when the see the mardi gra, huh? So why do they call it a celebration of gay and lesbian lifestyle on the telly. Thats not my lifestyle. Thats a bad joke. Plenty of Aussies see the idiots at mardi gra and tar us all with the same brush. Same with any minority group – just like when an Aborigine or an arab does something wrong, they all get labelled.
Pull your head out of your ass, Glenn. Love the quote, Sarah – who said that? Bosco, keep up the good work mate love your work.
March 4, 2009 at 6:34 pm
For fucks sake. Where did I say that I know what is best for gays and lesbians? My only point is that the Mardi Gras should be OPTIONAL for people who want to celebrate that way. That is all. I don’t mean to offend anyone and I’m certainly NOT saying that the Mardi Gras is an accurate picture of all gay and lesbian people. Whether you’re into it, or I’m into it or anybody else that you or I know is beside the point. For a portion of the gay community it is a celebration. I have friends who used to go and have stopped and others that still attend, it doesn’t matter. Some people obviously still enjoy going. I find the whole idea of a heterosexual speed dating night quite degrading and it is certainly something that I would never attend but if other people want to go then that is their business. I wouldn’t make judgements on them. Live and let live.
Sarah you may be happy to quietly go about your life and ignore what I see (in my opinion anyway) as discrimination and that’s fine. Best wishes. You may never want to get married or maybe one day you might. I don’t really care. I’m heterosexual and in a relationship but I have the option to get married if I so choose. I’m not sure if I ever will but the option is there for me. Wouldn’t you like that option too? If it was the other way around and only gay and lesbian marriage was legal and there was a prominent straight MP then I would want that person to try and do something about it. That is just me I guess.
I’m actually not happy with the current legal system dictating who I can and cannot marry. I may not be gay but if I wanted to marry a man, shouldn’t I have the option? Whether it is Penny Wong or any other politician who brings about change, I would say that it is a good thing.
Dylan, to say that there’s “nothing wrong with being gay but theres plenty wrong with acting like a fairy” is something that I find offensive. Should everyone conform to your idea of being gay? I’m not sure that I understand the stolen generation analogy either. You also say that “plenty of Aussies see the idiots at mardi gra and tar us all with the same brush. Same with any minority group”. So because of some stupid Aussie dickheads, some members of the gay community need to stop celebrating because it gives you a bad name. Should any minority group shed some of their customs and assimilate because Aussie dickheads tar them all with the same brush? I have worn glasses since I was a small kid and was teased about it in primary school. Should I have stopped wearing them because people were teasing me? Does anyone with any brains really care what a bunch of Aussie dickheads really think?
People need to choose what is best for them and not worry about what other people think.
March 7, 2009 at 8:14 am
[...] Bosco has a message to GLBT people: “if you want to be accepted as “normal” – then maybe you should stop [...]
March 10, 2009 at 11:20 am
Hilarious.
Anthony’s opinionated rant about Mardi Gras participants being “freaks,” get support from gay and lesbian commentators.
Meanwhile, Glenn’s middle-of-the-road exaltations to give people the option to celebrate the way they want; and to ‘live and let live’ is met with ire. I’m sure he didn’t expect to be told he was a “condescending prick” or to fuck himself.
Maybe the tide of liberal and tolerant ‘political correctness’ hasn’t engulfed us entirely.
It should probably be noted that Glenn, Anthony and I have all been friends since university.
November 8, 2009 at 2:16 pm
Yeah, Glenn, get fucked, you ‘pseudo-liberal hetero’.
Meanwhile, I agree with you, Bosco. Any demonstration that can’t plausibly end in revolution has lost its meaning. That goes for political protests, too.
Roland Barthes said that any conservative society inoculates itself against dissent by encouraging displays of rebellion. Am I right, Adam?
Fuck society!