sorry havnt posted for a while but i went away for a couple of days .
so something interesting happened today, one of my brothers rang me and asked me if i want to go to mardi gras with him. im like, wtf? i panicked cuz i thought he must know about me and this was his way of maybe trying to show support. but then he said he met this girl and she invited him, so he was just askin me so i could meet her. i have plans that night so just told him the truth, that i already had a birthday party to attend, and that was the end of an awkward conversation.
for anyone who hasnt heard of, mardi gras is an annual gay pride in sydney, supposedly its the biggest in the world. it started in the 1970's as a gay rights protest, and on the first one it turned violent cuz the police tried to arrest them all. these days its a popularly supported event, and heaps of police even march in it, in uniform. they always get the loudest cheer now. its worth millions to the sydney economy, and depending on the weather has been known to attract millions into sydney to line the streets and watch. not just gay ppl, theres probly more straight ppl that go these days.
i dont really like to go, mostly because the city is a nightmare to travel in and out of that night, but i went once and it wasnt really for me. being gay i support all gay rights of course, but it seems to have become less about gay rights and more about really feminine guys prancing and dancing up the street, perpetuating the sterotype that all gays are girly.
i honestly dont have anything against feminine gay guys , whilst its not really for me, i do believe everyone should have the right to be themselves.. but it really irks me that so many ppl believe that all gay ppl must be like the sterotype, and i dont see that stereotype changing when ppl see what they see at this parade.
i do hope the event goes well every year tho, because it has done more for gay rights in australia in the past than any other event has. and every year a bunch of right wing religious wankers get together and pray for it to rain on the parade. fucking morons, i hate them. it has rained on the parade a couple of times over the years, but february is statistically sydneys wettest month, so i doubt its god doing it. usually the weather is good, so they dont get much to cheer about. p.s i hate religious extremists with a passion.
I totally agree with you about the religious extremists. We have many more here in the US. The joke is that the US got all the religious extremists from Europe and Australia got the prisoners, so of course Australia got the better deal. I'll trade our religious nuts for your prisoners any day.
ReplyDeleteThe issue of the image of gays that the large parades present to the straight public has been a big topic here for many years. The media always show the most outrageous drag queens or muscle boys simulating sex on a parade float, while ignoring the marching police and firemen, the supportive straight parents, the gay and lesbian parents, etc. The issue doesn't go away, but most people feel that everyone should be able to be themselves. I think that the S&M displays concern me more than the drag queens or the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a group of guys in nun drag.
I was really excited when I saw the beginning of this post. I thought you where finally going to get a chance to open up to your brother.
ReplyDeleteI have an uncle who is gay. He had a life partner some years back(same sex marriage wasn't yet legal). He never really shared that part of his life with us. My parents knew & grandparents. No one cared. But he still kept his 'gay' life separate. He lived 3 hours away from us. So it wasn't that difficult for him. He and his 'life partner' both had Aids. His partner got sick and died. At that point I was in my early teens. And how I hadn't figured out that his 'best friend', was more then a roommate is beyond me. I love my uncle very much, and trusted him. It just never occurred to me that he would be hiding something so important from me. I went to the memorial service. And thats how I learned that I had lost an uncle. The roommate I had met several times was so much more then a roommate to my uncle. He was more then a good friend who would join us for the occasional holiday.
Time has passed since that. And it always bothered me that I wasn't given the opportunity to get to know him as an uncle. After a few years. I got a chance to tell my uncle how much it bothered me that someone so important was introduced to me as a 'friend' or 'roommate'. I have very little memory of him. Cause when I did visit him, I was just visiting my ONE uncle. It was naive of me not to realize.
The point is...I missed out on getting to know my uncles life partner, my uncle even if it wasn't recognized by law. It was unintentional on my uncles part. But it was hurtful to learn that I had lost an uncle that I hardly even noticed. Much less, got to know what a great guy he was.
You know your family. And yourself. You knew it wasn't the time or the place for you to share it with your father...I just hope that you find the time and place to share it with your brother. Its pretty important.
I respect you keeping your personal stuff separate. But I just wanted to comment, and share from the other point of view. From a family member, who missed out of a pretty huge part of his family.
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ReplyDeletelol so i decided to read a few more and its past 4am and i have work in the morn! u sure make ureself sound like a stud hahaha. everyone u meet sounds like a hottie. im jealous! well u entertained me enough for tonite. btw if ure best friend from childhood will hopefully understand. he should always be there for u if he claims that title. ure awesome lol. i wanna read more but gotta sleep or look like a zombie. later john!
ReplyDeletethanx for the comments guys . g&p - im gunna have weird nun dreams now lol. and Will - you make an excellent point!. and sorry for keepin u up calvin lol
ReplyDeleteThanks John.
ReplyDeleteI surprised myself, with how emotional it made me to write about that. Thinking about all the times I met him and asked "How are you?". Mean while, not really caring much about getting an honest answer. Perfectly happy hearing the customary "good & you?".
My uncle has done well in his health. Has moved on and has a new partner & soon to be husband. I already think of his partner as my uncle also. And I fully appreciate that my uncle can share that part of his life with me now. I don't make it down to see my uncles nearly as much as I would like. But when I do I visit with both of them. I often spend more time visiting with my uncles partner then my actual uncle, because of his work schedule. Thats not a relationship I would have ever had, if I was only introduced to his 'friend'.
I respect whatever your choices in your personal matters are. But I do hope you take my story into consideration. Your brother after all think enough of you to want you to meet the girl he is interested in.