Why Gay Pride Matters?
Michel Foucault described, in his “Discipline and Punish,” article a docile body. He described a docile body to be someone who does not put up resistance, who is disciplined, runs like a machine, and is usually isolated or alone. That is how a lot of people who were gay use to be. A lot of people in the past would hide their sexuality and let themselves be pushed around. They were constantly alone and afraid to come out because they would be judged. That all started to change in the 1960’s.
On June 28, 1969, the police rated a gay club in New York called the Stonewall Inn. The police forced three drag queens and a lesbian into a police car. The crowd then began to fight the police back. This day lead to many days of protest in New York for gay rights. This day was considered the day that lead to the formation on Gay Liberation Movement. The Stonewall Inn riot became a symbolic day in history as one of the first protest for LGBT rights.
Marsha P. Johnson was an African American drag queen and was a human rights activist. She was considered one of the first to fight back against the police in the Stonewall riots. In the film, Pay it No Mind: Marsha P. Johnson, she is interviewed about her life. In the film, she talks about her early life to when she first moved to New York and was homeless. To when she realized that her body was worth something and can make a change in the LGBT rights.
Marsha P. Johnson represents a protesting body. A protesting body is a body that is resistant for the greater good, is willing to sacrifice commodities, is impulsive, acts without thinking, and remains together with a community. Johnson was exactly that. During the Stonewall riots she acted very impulsive and she knew that was sacrificing her life when she rioted against the police because it could have gone the wrong way. She is also a protesting body because she protested with a community and not alone. She was a generous person and good person which helped her build a community around her.
The gay pride parades represents a lot of protesting bodies. During gay pride parades people become one big community. It helps empower people who felt like they do not belong. It helps the community of the LGBT be visible. For a very long time people who belonged to the LGBT community had to hide their sexuality or gender. According to the Rolling Stone Magazine, in 2014, GLAAD commissioned a Harris Poll measuring attitudes about LGBT persons. GLAAD found that even those who said they supported marriage equality also said that they felt uncomfortable seeing same-sex couples kiss or hold hands. During the gay pride people are out in the open and can feel comfortable expressing their sexuality or gender without having people judging them.
Rolling Stone Magazine also mentions that gay pride helps us remember how far we have come along as a country for the LGBT community. On September 20, 2011, the “don’t ask don’t tell” was repealed and people who were lesbian, gay, or bisexual could join the military and be open about their sexuality. Also Laverne Cox became the first transgender woman on the cover of Time Magazine and she became the first transgender woman to be nominated for an Emmy. I think the biggest thing that gay pride does is that it reminds us that when a community comes together it can bring a lot of change into this world.
