To be fair, it is undeniably delightful that major corporations are so nice to gays. (And it’s pretty lousy how companies like Exxon continue to be stuck in their anti-gay animus like a mammoth in a tarpit.)
But we can’t deny that there’s also something delightful about the old-timey scrappy activists of decades past. There was a time when Pride was chaotic and rebellious, rather than permitted six ways to Sunday. And although we certainly don’t long for the days when bathrooms were your best bet for finding a hookup, we do miss the fervor and the politics.
These days, it seems like Pride’s more of a party than a picket. And while partying is nice, there’s still a whole lot of protest.
Come with us on a trip down gay memory lane (aka the Rainbow Brick Road) as we gaze at old-timey Prides and ruminate on these modern times.
Let’s start with this shot from Stonewall Uprising, which if you haven’t seen, what is wrong with you?
Here we have a young protestor under attack from a brigade of mustaches.
An early San Francisco Pride march. Somebody make this sign into a T-shirt RIGHT FREAKING NOW.
Ooh, British fags! Here’s London’s first Pride march, complete with a protective policeman barrier. Delightfully, that ozone layer of bobbies gives the illusion that it’s a parade consisting solely of police officers.
Favorite detail: the sign that says “Homosexuals are Revolting.” Good one, Nigel.
We found this image over on the ONE Archives site, with metadata indicating that it’s a Christopher Street West parade. The sign in the corner suggests it’s from 1980, as do the tucked-in tank tops and smashing short-shorts.
We wonder, when looking at photos from this era, what issues seemed the most pressing at the time; and how drastically the lives of everyone in the picture changed not long after it was taken.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Gay Pride in Baltimore, 1988. (Just a few months after the passing of Divine.)
There’s not a lot to be gleaned from this stunner of an image, other than that the trash receptacles were apparently insufficient. Good morning Baltimore!
Another bang-up slogan from the lesbians. This is Christopher Street Liberation Day, 1971.
Well, it doesn’t get any more political than that. Hi lady!
Looking forward to seeing this ensemble recreated on the next season of Drag Race.
Okay, that’s it, just put the lesbians in charge of all slogans from here on out.
Here’s Liz Highleyman’s photo of some citizens giving an earful to the Pride board in San Francisco, back when there was a kerfuffle about naming Bradley Manning as the Grand Marshal of the parade. What year was that again? Must’ve been back when people still cared about politics. Obviously, you could never get away with that today.
And here’s what a contemporary Pride parade looks like in Russia, so maybe we should just stop complaining.
Jim Hlavac
You do realize that Gay Pride marches all over the world are still political, yes? Why, even politicians join in nowadays — but surely there’s just as much political action as there was decades ago – however much it changed in verbiage. Having been to gay events in many cities since 1978 in San Francisco – I still haven’t seen a lessening of the politics — which is good — for we’re still a political issue.
And bathrooms were never the best place for a hookup — stop regurgitating hetero propaganda against us — there’s been gay bars for 100 years, and cafes, theater, and gaydar as well. And it was always the married men who were ever caught — and few of them.
Being one of the scrappy old timers I can never recall ever being approached by anyone in a public restroom — and certainly never went after anyone in one. Plus, the vast majority of these arrests were by police entrapment smiling at some guy who thought it was his lucky day. Egad. Mush.
Lothar
We are “old time scrappy ” activists and our parades are no longer political??? Since when? Oh wait, since we added “A” to GLBTQIIIIFSDGA community. Our allies who are there to make us feel better about our poor pathetic lives. I will admit, as long as I have a magazine page of Aubrey O’Day sitting by my nightstand, I know tomorrow will be a better day. Thank goodness our straight female overlords remind us of our higher purpose- to make them look and feel their best.
When did Kathy Griffin start writing for Queerty??