While I am not always a rainbow flag waving gay (although I might be if the flag wasn’t so tacky) I am proud to celebrate Pride in Chicago this week. I was reminded by Anna Pulley’s article, “New Year, New Queer, Can Pride Redeem Itself,” we are celebrating for a reason.

“Increasingly, Pride means donning sequined pasties, getting trashed, f*cking a stranger, then pissing in the alley behind the Chicago Diner. The meaning of Pride has devolved into a hyper-sexed sloshpit. We seem to be increasingly at odds with each other - the dykes got so frustrated that they created their own parade, the gay men are accused of just wanting to party, the blacks are doing a Pride of their own next week, the bisexuals are either ignored or still fighting to prove they exist, the trans folk are pissed that all anyone cares about is marriage.” - Anna Pulley

DID YOU KNOW:

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and police departments kept lists of known homosexuals, their favored establishments, and friends; the U.S. Postal Service kept track of addresses where material pertaining to homosexuality was mailed. State and local governments followed suit: bars catering to homosexuals were shut down, and their customers were arrested and exposed in newspapers. Cities performed “sweeps” to rid neighborhoods, parks, bars, and beaches of gays. They outlawed the wearing of opposite gender clothes and universities expelled instructors suspected of being homosexual. Thousands of gay men and lesbians were jailed, fired, or institutionalized in mental hospitals. Many lived double lives, keeping their private lives secret from their professional ones. (Wikipedia)

;(

If you aren’t familiar with the history of discrimination that gays and lesbians received in this country, a good place to start is the Stonewall Riots.

I’ll be live tweeting the festivities all weekend. If you want to join us, www.facebook.com/OnlyTony