Gay Culture

I have a lot of gay friends but only a few that I’m actually close to. I have friends who are closeted, in denial, out and proud. I also have friends who call themselves ‘bisexual’ but have never been with a woman nor do they seem to have any plans of being with one.

You might be wondering what my point is. You see, and this is not limited to my friends which is something that I wanna stress out, the gays I've met over the years aren't very well versed with gay culture and history. With the gays that I've met through common friends, socialized with, worked with, performed with, even dated, there are only a handful of them who are aware of our history. This actually saddens me.

Behind the glitz and glam and fabulousness of being gay, we have our own history. People who did their part so we could live freely, people who went through a lot to help lessen the discrimination and prejudice that befalls our society.

We have our gay icons, celebrities and performers who used the power and influence they have to open the minds of those who have it closed shut. These people helped usher the LGBT community into the future and though there is still hatred and prejudice in this world, the level of acceptance and understanding grows by the day.

I, however, have noticed that some of the younger gays don’t seem to have this sense of pride. Based on what I've observed, for some being gay means dressing well, religiously going to the gym as if it were church, knowing anything and everything about fashion, cruising guys at the mall or the gym, etc.

There is so much more to being gay than that.

I personally know some people who have no idea who is Patti LuPone.

Or Bernadette Peters.

Or Judy Garland.

And I’ve been asked by several people if Cher is a transsexual woman.

Pride month is celebrated  around the world.

And for some, this is what they think the Pride Parade is all about.

But do they know that this person is one the reasons why we have the Pride Parade.

For those of you who don’t know, this is Marsha P. Johnson. He was a drag queen who threw the first rock at the police who were harassing several gay men inside a bar which ignited the Stonewall Riot in New York. The Pride Parade was celebrated after that to commemorate the first time that the LGBT community fought back against their oppressors. This is also why drag queens are important attendees during Pride Fest. It was a drag queen who sparked the proverbial fire.

This is the rainbow flag used by the LGBT community.

But this was the original rainbow flag and every color had a meaning.

Pink was for sexuality, Red for life, Orange for healing, Yellow for sunlight, Green for nature, Turquoise for magic/art, Indigo for serenity/harmony and Violet for spirit.

These are random things, trivial things. But these are part of our history, our culture.

We should at least be aware that they exist.

By the way dear readers, I am in no way bashing anyone nor am I generalizing that all gays are not aware of gay culture. This is meant for those who don’t know our history and would probably want a crash course.

In the tone of Miranda Priestly, I bid you all with a, ‘That’s all.’