It Was Gay Pride Week coast to coast.......

[Stoner4Life]

NYC Empire State Building

GAY PRIDE WEEK​

from NYC to Chicago, then onto Salt Lake City and on out to San Francisco; the nations streets are alive with parades. Here's a little blurb from SLC's USA Today.

SALT LAKE CITY — In between muscular men in speedos gyrating to thumping dance music and drag queens decked out in formal gowns, Salt Lake City's gay pride parade also featured a few, more conventional participants: Some of America's most well-known companies.

From Starbucks to eBay to Macy's, the increasing visibility of corporations at the parade in Utah and at others across the country in recent years comes as same-sex marriage bans fall in the courts and polls show greater public acceptance of gay marriage.

In that climate, companies are finding that the benefits of sponsorship outweigh the risks of staying away, giving them a chance to make a statement in support of diversity and use it to help recruit and retain top talent who want to work for a business that supports LGBT rights.



"We understand there are people who might have different points of view on that," said spokesman Michael Palese at Chrysler, which has been a sponsor of the Motor City Pride Festival and Parade in Detroit, Michigan, for years and became a primary backer this spring.

"We respect their point of view as long as they respect ours," Palese said.

This weekend, some of the largest gay pride events are scheduled, including ones in New York, San Francisco and Chicago. They come just days after a federal appeals court ruled for the first time that gay couples have a constitutional right to marry.

At many companies, support for pride parades and festivals is being fueled by internal Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender councils who are given small budgets and freedom to spend that money where they choose.

The continued transformation of the parades from small, defiant, sexually daring protests to family-friendly, mainstream celebrations has been on full display this summer as new companies join businesses that have been supporting the cause for years.







It's Gay Pride Week.......

 

[amannamedtruth]

total shit show up at north halsted by me.

 

[klondike_kid]

no comment on topic

just sayin hi s4l

 

[stoned-trout]

so are you proud?????? lol

 

[trichrider]

figures...

 

[stoned-trout]

they way i figure it is guys going gay lessens my competition for the women.. and the women that go gay generally I wouldn't fuck anyhow...90 percent of lesbos I wouldn't fuck drunk...so I got no problem with it ...I have had lots of gay friends over the years.still makes me sick sort of to see guys kiss tho...ewwwwwwwwwwwww

 

[Wiggs Dannyboy]

Our big human family has got lots and lots of twists and turns, who am I to judge what another person's reality turns out to be. In my life experience as a fairly normal run-of-the mill human, the challenges of life have been plenty enough for me without being saddled with the additional challenge of having been born with a sexuality that most people don't share. Glad as hell I'm straight, but... Seinfeld and crew absolutely had it right....THERE AIN'T NOTHIN WRONG WITH BEING GAY. It's just a different way of being.

I grew up in a small town in upstate NY, only had 2 black families and one family from the Philipines to shade the lily whiteness of the town. Gay folks were unknown to us as being part of the community fabric. When I got older and started moving to larger cities, although I had no prejudices toward gay folks, when I encountered them in public not hiding who they were, I found it very strange and foreign and it did bother me a little bit. I really didn't understand their desires to be intimate with the same sex. Lesbians were kinda strange, but gay guys were....whoa there nelly... I would basically just have to look away.

But, living in the larger cities where gay folks generally feel safe coming out of the closet, and have distinct communities where they can live and hang out without fear of being hated and attacked, changes the way one looks at gay culture, and how it makes you feel when you are forced to consider it face to face. Funny thing happens, gay culture begins to look more and more normal to you, less and less foreign, in a word it becomes much less scary and no where near the cultural threat that is painted by so many conservatives, most of whom have never had direct experience living in a community that has a significant segment of gay folks living in their midst.

So, I say.... GO AND LIVE WITH PRIDE MY GAY HUMAN BROTHERS AND SISTERS!! Shock the world with your outrageous pride parade shenanigans! At the end of the day, when the world is faced with the fact that you live your lives the same way as the rest of humanity lives (not the craziness seen in pride parades).... except what goes on in the bedroom... the rest of the world will be at ease with having gay neighbors living next door and having Lesbian politicians making laws and not look twice when they see 2 gay people holding hands at the town Bar-B-Que.

I've gotten to the point where when I see 2 guys or 2 girls who love each other walking down the street and displaying their attraction/affection for each other, I barely even notice it, and only for a quick second or two. Maybe 10 or 15 seconds if it's a lesbian couple where one or both are super HOT (I believe they are called "lipstick lesbians"). For some reason I have been born with an attraction to non-butch and very beautiful lesbians... a bunch of times have asked one out on a date and was told she doesn't do "my gender." Anyway, my growth in acceptance of our gay brothers and sisters has been a constant ever since I started having direct experience in seeing them and interacting with them in my life. I totally believe that my experience/growth would be the same for ANYBODY who actually comes to know gay folks through living, and not through the words of prejudice from others who have never interacted with gay people.

And gotta include the crazy conservative religious folks who interpret their guiding principles (words in a book written milenia ago) in such a negative way, obviously words that were written by fearful and controlling personalities that are found in the histories of so many religious institutions. Where's the love in those religious interpretations? It might be there, but it's hiding behind the ugly fear mongering that spews the hate. So many conservative religious folk are ruled by fear, and listen to sermons on Sundays being delivered by other people who are ruled by fear. It's a damn shame.

I am not bothered by same sex couples, and tell the truth, nowadays I welcome the sight, because to me it means our society is making another very significant jump in the area of civil rights. I feel good seeing progress being made. But, I must admit, seeing 2 guys kissing still is a bit of a shock, but the harmless peck on the cheek hardly gets noticed by me. Regarding the public lip-lock with drool and tongues peeking out for everybody to see, well....yeah, that still creeps me out. But to tell the truth, I've never liked seeing hetero couples having preludes to sex in front of me either... GO GET A HOTEL ROOM PEOPLE! So, I'm sure with some more time, and seeing gay folks acting the same way hetero folks do in public, it will all eventually blend together and just be another fact of life in the world.

That's my sermon on a Sunday.


.

 

[subrob]

Well said wiggs! I was just gonna say "yay queers" or something...but your post is tough to follow! Ha

 

[unregistered190]

Whatever makes people happy......no judging by me as I have my own issues to deal with

 

[WelderDan]

Who cares? It's always History week, or Or Earth day, or some day or week recognizing something. So gay people get some recognition. They are people too.

Again, who care?

 

[watts]

Some of America's most well-known companies.

From Starbucks to eBay to Macy's, the increasing visibility of corporations at the parade

Yeah that's what it's all about. Marketing and money.

 

[rives]

I find the whole concept of taking pride in your sexual preference pretty damn odd. I couldn't care less what people do as long as it's with a consenting adult, but I sure as hell don't expect a parade because I happen to really enjoy fit, attractive women. There are probably pretty equivalent portions of the population that enjoy very unusual ways of scratching their itch, but it seems that gays are invariably the ones that have a need for applause.

 

[subrob]

I think the gay pride parade is about a lot more than being proud of ones sexuality...don't think we need a full rehash here on a cannabis site but I don't think yours or my preference for fit attractive women has faced the same...shall we say..."scrutiny" as queers? And historically has not led to the tragedies and the crimes and the brutality that gays have faced...unless it was someone else's fit attractive woman we were attracted to...know what I'm saying...
Passive aggressive non hate bigotry is still bigotry...and hey...I don't dog people for believing what they believe...but shitting on gay pride week or whatever it is ain't gonna change shit...they ain't going nowhere

 

[HidingInTheHaze]

It's heterosexual pride day everyday at my house.

 

[HidingInTheHaze]

Sexuality is personal and is not parade worthy. I think everyone should just keep their bedroom preferences to themselves, gay, straight or other wise.

 

[rives]

I think the gay pride parade is about a lot more than being proud of ones sexuality...don't think we need a full rehash here on a cannabis site but I don't think yours or my preference for fit attractive women has faced the same...shall we say..."scrutiny" as queers? And historically has not led to the tragedies and the crimes and the brutality that gays have faced...unless it was someone else's fit attractive woman we were attracted to...know what I'm saying...

I've considered that, actually - it seems like a pretty rational extension, but I think that there is something else at work. For instance, if Germany was to start celebrating Jewish Pride Week, do you think that the Jews would feel as though they were finally being appreciated for their contributions? For whatever reason, some people need to be the center of attention in order to feel "validated", and others simply wish to be left alone.

 

[subrob]

If the above scenario were to happen would it not depend on who was putting the event on..who was participating and why?
I'm 45 and I have been putting my belief in cannabis and all that goes with it right in peoples faces since I was a teenager..sometimes politely but usually obnoxious and loud and proud and fuck anyone who didn't like it! I sold Harleys in so-cal for years and woe to any Leo who got put in my office cuz they were forced to deal w me shoving the topic of legalization down their throats when all they wanted to do was spend money and get the fuck away from me...
Drove me borderline insane for decades that people didn't see natures way right in front of them and refused to back off their beliefs for whichever reason..
Now that was all over a law that didn't allow me to peacefully smoke an herb...if muthrfukrs were telling me I didn't get the same RIGHTS as others just cuz of who I was? Or because people were afraid of what would happen to future generations who say me accepted?
I think gay pride is about how to fight back and we as cannabis users should take note...matter of fact..I'm sure canna activists HAVE learned quite a bit...fuck it
YAY QUEERS!

 

[subrob]

But I wont wear rainbows...that's gay

 

[woolybear]

good for them. i was dabbed out this afternoon. if nothing else its good excuse for a party.

 

[hup234]

I could just picture you in a gay pride parade subrob LEATHER ASSLESS CHAPS AND ALL not that there's anything wrong with that...