Disassemblance (original) (raw)

ironic (probably not, just serendipitous timing) that this was posted today, seeing as how i spent a couple hours at denver's pridefest sunday afternoon.

i'm not certain how i feel about it. partly, i feel like i've been called out on my own hipocrisy. partly, i think brian has really missed out on a key element of pride.

in a perfect world, things like pride would be a total anachronism, because we would all be valued for all our identities. unfortunately, in the real world, we each have identities which are liabilities. some of those identities (such as sexuality) can be hidden, while others (such as race) cannot. in the end, each of us is, to some degree, marginalized based either on the labels we've chosen for ourselves or labels that others have forced onto us.

pride, at least as far as i've experienced, is about taking those identies back and making them positive things. it's an opportunity to tell all the people who would persecute you for whatever identity that not only have you succeeded, you've succeeded in spite of all the obstacles that have been thrown in your path.

then again, i'll be the first person to admit that i'm rather sensitive on this subject. i hadn't realized just how much so until i explained how pride, for me, was like a giant family reunion in front of about 100 people, while trying not to tear up.

anyhoo, just my $0.02 worth -- it'd be good to see what other folks think.