Some go-getter guppies launched a war of words this weekend on Manchester Gay Pride, which charges an admission fee for their "gay village." Organizers were none-too-pleased:
A small group of gay youngsters incurred the wrath of Manchester Gay Pride Festival organisers with a number of placards and t-shirts that read Pride Before Profit and Pride Is a Protest.Minutes before the march moved off from Liverpool Street, Festival director Jackie Crozier went up to David Henry of the Queer Youth Network.
“What is on that,†she asked, pointing to a placard lying face down on the street.
Mr. Henry turned the placard over, revealing the message Pride Before Profit.
“Give me that sign,†she demanded. “We told you that we don’t want that kind of thing here.â€
What's that line about the oppressed becoming the oppressors?
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The chief sponsor of Manchester Pride is Gaydar.co.uk, Britain's leading gay dating website. Gaydar's attitude is that it's their party and they'll make the rules and screen the guests. Oh, and they're profitable.
That's pretty repugnant of the Village coordinators.
"Free to be… you and me…" (Some charges may apply.)
I was a little put out by the price myself, but I just saw it as my charitable contribution for the day.
There is a growing movement here in the UK called "queermutiny" which criticizes how commercial and expensive the gay scene tends to be. They are to the pricey nature of the scene what the bear scene is to the "pretty" nature of the scene.
It's a growing movement.
I understand where the youth is coming from, but who is going to pay for all the fees, permits, advertisement, etc. It's not cheap to throw a party.
@DairyQueen–there's paying for the cost of running the event, and then there's turning a profit. That means that someone, somewhere, is pocketing the money that they're asking from the community, in the name of "pride." If you're going to throw a big let's-make-money party, then do it. Just don't call it "Gay Pride" and then get huffy when people wonder why you're charging them to be proud.
Maybe admission should be by donation so that folks who can't afford it can join in the fun, too.
I protested the exclusion of Manchester's huge trans community from this one-time "community" event, the 12% of all the revenue going to charities and the self-appointed elite who profited by £22 million of revenue from Pride – the Deputy Manager of Pride is paid £25,000. Here's to Manchester's "GayBeerFest 2009" and our Community Pride events we will organise ourselves! See our demo videos viduk.com/v101