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can't really afford mardi gras 2001? then come along to... |
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La-Di Dah! |
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spend the day with us!
The people in '69, like many others before and since fought back that night in and outside the stonewall club, they took their space & physically defended it from the cops, they were the people who were used to taking the stick for their sexuality. They included drag queens, prostitutes, (passing) butch women... who paraded their visible difference on the streets every day and were regularly beaten by the police for it. They were also silenced/ outcast by the liberal homophile organisations of the day for refusing to assimilate to staight society's norms & expectations of seemly, patriotic, clean-living behaviour. After the Stonewall riots, the ideas of the Gay Liberation Front - including a Pride March on the anniversary each year - spread around the world. The founders of the GLF were radical & unapologetic. They condemned the exploitation of the gay community by bar-owners, the police, the Government, employers, capitalism itself. They recognised that while any are oppressed, none are free, and actively supported strikers, anti-war protests, food co-ops, immigrants, housing struggles etc. Were they striving to be assimilated at any cost?… Or
were they seeking a world more full of passion and
freedom!?
we want to “reclaim our pride” for these and many more
reasons, we want Mardi gras to be free and different from it current
banality. Mardi gras is now a sad reflection of the triumph of capitalism,
just look at the overt sponsorship and the comodification of sexuality as
an image. Why have we a
“privatised” enclosed and “branded” party space in the park,
ironically closing a free cruising area for the day? or
join the discussion group at LaDiDah@yahoogroups.com
more info @ Fighting for a free Pride event in London
What's the problem? Basically, Pride has been hijacked. What began as a free, community event has now become a commercial operation ("Mardi Gras") with a turnover of roughly £1,500,000. An expensive ticket system has been introduced, the political element has been dumbed down and the organisers have alienated the very people Pride was supposed to exist for. more info@ We're Here, We're Queer, We Drink Coors Beer Is the commercialization of PrideFest selling out gay and lesbian pride? by Christopher Fox . |
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http://www.rockymountainbullhorn.com/PrideFest.html
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