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“Straight Pride?” Ummm… What?

Douglas Giles, PhD
6 min readSep 1, 2019
A “straight pride” march. The “emperor” has no “clothes”

A news article today mentioned that there was some sort of march and rally called “Straight Pride” in Boston. It wasn’t published in The Onion, so it must be true, though some would still say it must be a joke. It’s not a joke, but the only seriousness about a “straight pride” event is the serious misunderstandings on the part of the participants in such an event.

Now, full disclosure, I am what people would consider “straight” in that I feel no sexual attraction for other men. Some would say I was born that way, others that I chose that, but regardless, I am on the heterosexual side of the sexuality spectrum. I’m okay with that. I am also okay with any other individual being whatever sexuality they are. But these “straight pride” people are not feeling okay with other people’s sexuality and are evidently confused about sexuality and social attitudes about sexuality. Also, the participants in the “straight pride” march don’t understand the meaning of “pride.”

What is this concept of “straight pride?” Obviously, it’s a reaction to and against the concept of “gay pride.” There are many gay pride parades, and these other people decided to hold a contrary “straight pride” parade. The idea of “straight pride” is not only unoriginal, it makes no sense, and for good and important reasons.

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Douglas Giles, PhD
Douglas Giles, PhD

Written by Douglas Giles, PhD

Philosopher by trade & temperament, professor for 21 years, bringing philosophy out of its ivory tower and into everyday life. https://dgilesauthor.com/

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