Cleveland's Gay Pride
by Jim Tamburro

Each generation hears about the struggles of the generations that preceded it. For example, my father always told me how spoiled my generation was. He would preface his stories with, "Back in my day. . ." – which is, I admit, how I preface my stories today.

But back in my day, in June 1986, I attended my first Gay Pride celebration. I was 21 years old and scared to death. I took the bus to Columbus, Ohio, alone, and marched with 3,000 gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgenders (LGBT) and their supporters. Along the way, fundamentalists waved their bibles and prayed for us. The march ended on the state capitol steps, where we were greeted by the Diana Ross song "I'm Coming Out." The day was a celebration in an era in which we were watching our friends die of AIDS and while there was talk that we would be put into internment camps to stop the spread of the disease.

The following year, in October 1987, I attended the March on Washington for Gay and Lesbian Rights. I and a couple of friends joined 250,000 LGBTs and their supporters. At the Washington Mall, I climbed on a park bench and to this day I can still remember the overwhelming feeling of empowerment I felt. I was no longer alone. I was in a sea of people who, in their own way, were just like me. I only wish I could have had that crowd around me each time I was harassed for my sexuality while I was growing up.

The lack of attention to AIDS brought us all together back then. During the weekend of the march, the Names Project Quilt was unveiled on the National Mall. This was the era when President Ronald Reagan had yet to make a public speech on AIDS – and when his communications director argued that AIDS was "nature's revenge on gay men."

In April 1993, I attended the next March on Washington for Gay and Lesbian Rights. By this time, I was 28 years old and living in DC. The march was a half million strong, and I can still hear Representative Pat Schroeder giving her plea for full equality and expressing the relief of leaving 12 years of Reagan-Bush behind. Finally, we had a gay-friendly President and hope for the future.

The next big march was in April 2000 – the Millennium March on Washington for Gay and Lesbian Rights. At the time I was 35 years old, older in fact than many of the several hundred thousand marchers who participated in the event. Many of the people there would not remember the previous two Marches, they would not remember the Reagan-Bush era and the early days of AIDS, and they would not remember when television and film portrayed homosexuals as only effeminate and weak characters. By this time, Americans were already experiencing "Ellen," "Oz," and "Will and Grace;" and "Queer As Folk" would premier to American audiences later that year. Pop culture had begun to take notice.

When I was 37 in July 2002, I attended the Gay Pride festival in London, England, with several hundred thousand LGBTs and their supporters. However, this time around, all of the years of feeling empowered were gone. Gay Pride was no longer a celebration of pride. It was now a commercial event! To make matters worse, the parade was short and floats uncreative. In fact, most of the floats consisted of commercial vendors, such as Ford Motor Company. In addition, the festival had an admission fee of £25, the US equivalent of $48. Gay Pride had now become an event only for those who could afford it. There were rides, food vendors, drinking and dancing – all for a fee above the admission price. What wasn't there was anything expressing LGBT equality or pride. For example, there were less than a handful of LGBT groups represented at vendor booths, which is remarkable at an event that attracted several hundred thousand people.

At a dinner party later that week, I discussed my disappointment. One of the dinner guests replied with, "It's no longer a political event because we have our rights." (Apparently he does not read a newspaper or keep up with current events on the Internet.)

This is our reality: We cannot get married; we cannot adopt children; we can be fired from our jobs and be discriminated against in housing. In fact, only since 2004 have all Americans been legally allowed to make love!

Twenty years after my first Gay Pride celebration, I am even more eager to celebrate gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender pride than before. But Celebrating Pride to me also means continuing the fight for tolerance and equality. My generation had it easier than the previous generation. The current generation is supposed to have it easier than my generation. Instead, we have an administration that would like to add bigotry to the US Constitution. Is this how the current generation views moving forward?

Those who forget (or don't know) history are doomed to repeat it. (:divend:)