As an openly gay man, I feel compelled to express my views on gay pride parades specifically after attending the Washington DC Capital Pride Parade last Saturday with a few friends. You may hear a lot of criticism from older LGBT people of these events but its rare to find it coming from a young, politically active college student. Before I proceed, dont get me wrong, I will point out the faults of gay pride parades but the actual presence of a parade is necessary for visibility and eventual absorbance into the mainstream of society, which I for one believe the gay community has pretty much reached more or less (as Time magazine famously stated recently with their title "Yup, She's Mainstream" in reference to Ellen DeGeneres.)

I will also point out that my sheer disappointment in DC Pride may have been related to the relatively underwhelming performance of the parade itself in comparison to New York City extravagent Pride which is where I am from. But this isnt the heart of the matter. The frustration and disgust that I feel as a person who constantly hopes for LGBT Equality and Marriage is perpetuated by these images within "the gay community."

Gay Pride Parades are probably the only time in your life that you will find on public display LGBT senior citizens walking in front of a Big Bear float with hairy and practically naked older men who are in front of a delegation of PFLAG members (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays), behind a cotingency of "marriage equality" holding 5 year olds with their two moms behind a transsexual with her large, fake, plastic breasts literally out in the open. I am a die-hard liberal with a little L, and a Progressive meaning I do believe in free expression, however, I just feel there is a line between freedom of expression and indecency. Call me conservative, but I just dont find it appropriate for transsexuals with their breasts hanging and men with their penises practically in the air next to small children holding sings that say " I love my two daddies." Its just revolting.

That isnt even that worst aspect of these events. Are we not trying to stop discrimination, prejudice, hatred, ignorance and bigotry? Arent we all on the same team? How is it that such events aimed at visibility are supposed to increase acceptance when stereotypes of gays being ultraeffeminate and sexual deviants are strongly perpetuated by such public displays? Yes, we can exhibit free expression of the variations of genders, sexes and sexual orientations. That is completely fine. But how is it OK to have children as young as toddlers in the same parade as such revolting images? I just dont see how a hairy, 50 year old man in his leather hat and strap ons is beneficial to the greater struggle of acceptance, awareness, and equality under the law.

I have no problem with drag queens and kings. It displays the open expression of femininity and masculinity. However, since when does being LGBT have anything to do with open expression of one's distorted overweight body? Since when does being LGBT have anything to do with women showing their bare breasts to hoardes of crowds some of which look on at the parade as if it were a circus act (one example being my moderately conservative Soviet immigrant parents.) Do you see Puerto Rican women showing their bare breasts during the Puerto Rican Day Parade? Or do you see Vietnam Veterans waving their penises in the air during Memorial Day celebrations? I just dont see the correlation between being part of the LGBT community and sexual perversion. That is exactly what our opponents attack us and label us as and we cannot move forward at a greater pace until gay pride becomes a celebration of our families, our friends, our neighbors, our accomplishments, our identity, and our culture.

If we continue to focus on the sexual aspects of sexual orientation, which I find to be irrelevant when it comes to LGBT Equality since Privacy Rights should be guaranteed and the government should have no role in your personal sex life, then we face the risk of creating a backlash against all the work that we have worked tirelessly to achieve.

Not all stereotypes are true. But some are perpetuated and directly influenced by the afflicted community and it is our duty as LGBT individuals to stand up and demand decency in celebration of who we are as a people. We dont need to have these gut-wrenching images of obese men and women running naked in the streets to show our pride in ourselves. Im not saying we need to conform to "mainstream heterosexual society" and lose a lot of the features that make LGBT individuals different. All I hope for is that we showcase our determination and will to move forward with pride in a universally clean and beneficial way not through bare breasts but through words, actions, and love.

I would love for some input.