Gay Holidays

[Shetland_boys]

True but if gay ppl want to celebrate how times have changed and how accepted they are becoming then i dont see a problem, if ppl dont want 2 celebrate then they dont need to watch.

[gayshetland]

I'm sorry but I just don't understand why they are held anywhere.

Those that attend are proud to be gay. Good for them.

I am proud to be straight but I don't feel the need to march up and down to proclaim that fact.

I am not homophobic whatsoever; I just can't understand these events.

 

I completely understand your point, however, I hope I can shed some light onto why Pride events are a big deal for the LGBT community.

 

Up until quite recently being gay was not socially acceptable and in many communities this is still the case (Shetland is getting better, but is still one of the worst places to be 'out' IMO). To be allowed to 'come out' and be yourself is a huge thing and it is nice to be able to openly celebrate this.

 

A pride event, in essence, is a group of LGBT folk getting together and saying "This is who I am - take it or leave it... I'm proud to be who I am."

 

On a side note, for those who don't think Lerwick has an open Gay community - you are very wrong. It is small, but thriving & growing.

[Guest CyprusPluto]

I'm not gay and so I speak from the experience of a viewer rather than recipient - my perceptions are just that, mine and therefore may not be a reality. I also can only base these views on folk in Lerwick

 

There is a statement above that being gay in Shetland is more difficult than elsewhere. I have lived here 18 months having come from a major city in England and have noticed no difference in attitudes towards gay people. There are those that are homophobic and those that are adamant they are not. However, the majority do not express any opinion, because they frankly don't care either way - "If you're gay, you're gay & if you're not, you're not. Who cares!"

[Guest posiedon]

gayshetland

Up until quite recently being gay was not socially acceptable and in many communities this is still the case

Indeed up until recently (if you're as old as me) it was a criminal offence (google Alan Turin)

 

(Shetland is getting better, but is still one of the worst places to be 'out'

And you have evidence for this? If so let's see it.

IMO). To be allowed to 'come out' and be yourself is a huge thing and it is nice to be able to openly celebrate this.

By "celebrating" it, you only give ammunition to the homophobes who accuse you of having a hidden agenda, why can't you just be who you are? I think the need for marches etc to put your point belong in the dark and distant past.

A pride event, in essence, is a group of LGBT folk getting together and saying "This is who I am - take it or leave it... I'm proud to be who I am."

But as I intimated above, you don't need a get together/mass rally, most intelligent folk accept you for what you are as individuals.

 

On a side note, one of my brothers is gay and lived with the same man for22 years until said man died of cancer last Summer.

[gayshetland]

By "celebrating" it, you only give ammunition to the homophobes who accuse you of having a hidden agenda, why can't you just be who you are? I think the need for marches etc to put your point belong in the dark and distant past.

 

I see your point, however, what I was trying to get at is that everybody who is gay (or LB or T) was to stand up and say "I'm gay" - all 1 in 10 (or 1 in 8 depending on the survey) of us it would be much harder to homophicaly bully someone (IMO).

 

My statement that Shetland is one of the worst places to be gay was based on my personal experiences. Shetland (out of all 4 places where I have lived) is the only place I have been subject to homophobia. I won't go into the case but it was very vindictive.

[Marooned in Maywick]

gayshetland

Up until quite recently being gay was not socially acceptable and in many communities this is still the case

Indeed up until recently (if you're as old as me) it was a criminal offence (google Alan Turin)

 

 

Surely it can't have been illegal just to be gay...there must have been some homosexual act that he had engaged in that was unlawful at that time.

[Peerie Trow]

I hear der hayin dim on a remote Island in da Ooter Hebridees dat washes ower we da saat spray ida winter fur da mont oh December only. Seriously tho, I had an uncle whas bridder's sister's midder's bridder wis so afflicted n she wis a lovely lass so each tae dir ain I say, PT

[Evil Inky]

Surely it can't have been illegal just to be gay...there must have been some homosexual act that he had engaged in that was unlawful at that time.

I don't think that excuses hounding to death a brilliant mathematican and computer scientist who was key to the breaking of the Engima code.

[Guest posiedon]

shetlandgay

My statement that Shetland is one of the worst places to be gay was based on my personal experiences. Shetland (out of all 4 places where I have lived) is the only place I have been subject to homophobia. I won't go into the case but it was very vindictive.

I'm sorry if you've experienced prejudice here regarding you're sexuality (over which you have no control)

Most folk here don't give a flying **** about your sexual orientation except maybe the godbotherers and fortunately there aren't many of them around these parts.

 

If you've had a bad experience here ; try and forget it and just get on with life, I think you'll find most folk in Shetland are not homophobic.

[viblir]

Gay holidays?....... I'm all for happy holidays!

[Marooned in Maywick]

I don't think that excuses hounding to death a brilliant mathematican and computer scientist who was key to the breaking of the Engima code.

 

I don't believe I did try to make any excuses. All I sought to do was attempt to clarify a minor inaccuracy in posiedon's statement.

 

If you wish to hear my opinion it is that I believe it is an absolute disgrace that such an event should have been allowed to happen.

[Marooned in Maywick]

Seriously tho, I had an uncle whas bridder's sister's midder's bridder wis so afflicted n she wis a lovely lass so each tae dir ain I say, PT

 

This makes no sense at all and the use of 'afflicted'...words fail me.

[tins]

True but if gay ppl want to celebrate how times have changed and how accepted they are becoming then i dont see a problem...

Gay people will never be 'accepted'.

 

Up until quite recently being gay was not socially acceptable and in many communities this is still the case

It is still not and should not be 'socially acceptable'.

[Mag]

With attitudes like these ^ no wonder some gay Shetlanders are reluctant to come out. I guess I see the point of the march after all then.

[EM]

I'm sorry but I just don't understand why they are held anywhere...

... A pride event, in essence, is a group of LGBT folk getting together and saying "This is who I am - take it or leave it... I'm proud to be who I am."

 

I think it is also worth pointing out that they tend to be highly entertaining and happy events. I'm not gay, but I would usually go and view the Christopher Street Day parade when I lived in Berlin. This was quite a popular thing for straight people and whole families to do.

 

Sure there is the pride message underlying such parades, but it would also be fair to say that they are a happy and exuberant contribution from the LGBT community to society in general.

 

Mind you, I always thought Christopher Street Day could have benefited from a few torches and a galley .