Wandering around as a hobby entails the endless search for new and unique venues. Some would describe me as a friendly hermit whose sighting could be most anywhere, except these days not too far from my lair. This past weekend I took the train to Chicago and the plan was to walk up Clark Street, observe the atmosphere at the Gay Pride Parade, have a good meal, and return to the suburbs.
I have never attended a Gay Pride Parade before except way back in the 60's when you didn't attend but happened to be in the area when one occurred. That such an event could even happen back then was the end of bitter court battles and the resulting parade more a battlefield than a parade. The participants, as I vividly remember, back then were outrageously dressed drag queens, scantily dressed go-go dancers, leather dressed sadists and masochists of some sort, and limp wristed wimp bodied spectators. The parade was unruly, participants and spectators mixing in the street and the massive police presence was divided between those police arresting participants for indecency, aggravated public behavior, and disturbing the peace vs those policemen protecting the participants from being assaulted by the general public. Such parades were seldom, short lasting, and the only sponsors were the gay bars.
The history of any group to gain rights others have is always interesting and usually quite drawn out. Look how many years it took for women to get the right to vote, blacks to not have to sit in the back of the bus, children to be protected from child labor abuses, the handicapped to gain access to public places, etc. The dire consequences predicted if other groups are allowed this or that right never really seem to happen after they gain such rights, but the feelings at the time are always intense.
This particular wandering for the day was kind of startling to me from beginning to end. On Sundays, the suburban train to Chicago only runs every two hours. When I arrived at the train station an express train had been added for every four suburban stations. This was the first surprise. It was a relatively young crowd and plain looking drab dressed me was kind of out of place. That rarely stops me. The express train made the trip to Chicago fast, only a half hour. Good start.
I tend to be supportive of the ACLU because they enable groups to get access to our legal system who could otherwise never have the means to gain access. My own lawyer is active with the ACLU on behalf of kids who are wards of the state.
Without the ACLU these kids would have no means of addressing bad situations in which they find themselves. I sometimes disagree with court rulings on some ACLU sponsored cases, but my anger is properly addressed at the court ruling, not that the case was heard. The ACLU does not set laws. The ACLU participates in these Gay Pride parades and a couple of time I agreed to march but the temperature was too hot and I resist wearing some silly green contraption on my head which has various spikes on it. I don't need to wear something like that to look a little silly or odd. Besides, I have zero interest in being in a parade. In fact I only marched in one graduation ceremony and only because it was required to get the diploma.
Anyway, I quickly realized this parade had become a huge event. The buses were all screwed up and as I neared the parade route the sidewalks were filled with huge streams of people. The Parade started at noon, the hottest part of the day and it took me a while to find a shady spot back away from the street and elevated enough for me to see the parade. I don't go to parades hardly ever, they do not particularly interest me. Well, the parade started with the Mayor of Chicago. He is certainly a fit sort of guy, virtually running from one side of the street to the other high five-ing spectators. And I was sort of near the end of the parade route which was quite long. The came the Governor of Illinois, an older portly cerebral sort who gamely was keeping up the brisk pace of the Mayor's contingent ahead of him. No dashing from side to side for the Governor, just this forced smile and a strong determination to finish the route. There were alderman, state this or that elected officials, and this aspect was really boring to me. It was a lively crowd and the cheering never ceased. I tend to enjoy seeing all sorts of people, of most any ilk, having a good time, all happy, and bubbly, and being themselves in ways which are not disturbing others. I was not the only plainly dressed drab looking spectator, albeit not too many my age were in attendance. Father Time every day more so.
For the most part gone these days from the parade are the outrageously dressed drag queens, the unruliness of the parade, and the police busy arresting and protecting. The cheering never stopped, and when three o'clock came with the parade still going on, my interest was exhausted. Enough is enough. I was told the parade would probably end around 5. Huh? Five hours of parading? Keep in mind the parade participants were not doing much of anything except marching down the street. There were no bands, no performers to speak of, just group after group expressing support for gay rights I guess. It wasn't just the politicians who were there in force but airlines, the police department, military retirees, military personnel, airlines, network TV, churches, parents of gays, universities and colleges, gay bars, children of gay parents, gay chorus groups, hospitals, gay hockey players, ACLU, and on and on it went. There was even a church from Naperville, the community near me, in the parade.
So what to make of all this? There was nothing about the marchers themselves which would make anyone cheer for 5 hours or 15 seconds. The street was as crowded when I left as it was when the parade started. The sidewalks were virtually impassable. The shift in public tolerance to gays is unexpected and historically unprecedented for the speed with which it is occurring. The train I took in and back to Chicago actually had policemen on it. It was a carry over from times when this sort of event meant nothing but trouble and violence and anger. Now it is simply festive. The trains were noisy, the crowds were noisy, the restaurants were jammed, the police were in a good mood, the bus drivers were in a good mood, and the mood spread to me.
Some contingents in the parade got more noisy cheers than others. I would say the Obama contingency, the Churches, the Parents of gays, and the lesbians on motorcycles all tied. The winner was clearly the kids of a gay parent or parents. Not little kids but teenage kids. When I was a teenager the object was to distance yourself as much as possible from your parents---an effort to show you were an adult. Whether it was a track meet, a softball league game, whatever, few of us wanted our parents around. A parent cheering for you was an embarrassment. But then again, my parents were not under any social stigma. Most of us, if our parents were so, would become protective and outwardly supportive. That is just the way life is. One thing is for sure---15 years ago these kids would not have been out there marching or observing but simply hiding as best they could. It would have been social suicide to do so. It still is in some quarters.
The enthusiasm for this kind of parade will be unsustainable. Once their rights are secured, the reason to march will be gone. The whole concept of pride based around sexual acts is preposterous. Most anything else we talk about which brings us pleasure we talk about in detail. Imagine anyone talking about their last great orgasm at all, let alone in detail. Perhaps one of you will try this and write a musing about the response you get and the avoidance phenomenon thereafter. We don't have Masturbation Pride parades, Oral Sex Pride parades, Vaginal Sex Pride parades, Anal Sex Pride parades, Foot Fetish Pride Parades, Sexual Abstinence Pride parades, Pornography Pride parades, French Kissing Pride parades, Breeding Pride parades, etc. Maybe there should be a Breathing Pride parade, one in which everyone everywhere could be proud of breathing.
Sadly, a lot of these late comers getting rights find themselves doing so at a time when more and more people are finding themselves slipping into economic peril----a sort of 'freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose, nothing ain't worth nothin' but it's free.'
At any rate, I am not going again. It was a good experience once. Getting a bus out of there was a nightmare. It took an hour for a bus to get through to the stop, the bus was packed liked sardines, every stop took minutes to find a way to get people off and on, many stops just got passed by, and while I like people---too many too much in my face is just over the top for me. I need space----me from them and they from me.
On the train back I sat in the upper deck. In front of me, facing her lesbian lover whose back was to me, was an unusually distinctively beautiful gal about twenty. It was kind of a noisy festive atmosphere on the train and I could not hear much of what these two lovers were saying to each other. But aside from gender, it seemed a typical mutually infatuated date. Maybe it's my age or a sign of the times, but it is hard for me to find fault with two people in an affectionate relationship. From their appearance I thought one is dom and the other more submissive. Is this true for most love relationships? I'll resist another musing.
