On Aug. 31, 2019, a “Straight Pride Parade” was held in the streets of Boston. This parade was created because a certain group of heterosexuals felt as if they were “not accepted” and straight people need to take back their place as the most common or “normal” sexuality. This state of mind comes from ignorance, unwillingness to accept any opinion that is not their own and denial of society’s overall acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community. Now, you may be curious as to who in their right mind would think this is acceptable in the slightest.

With more protesters than actual participants, this parade was chaotic and extremely out of line. If you take a look at the photographs taken during the parade, and you see the people that attended, the attendees make it aware of who and what they support, along with their so-called “heterosexuality pride”. Although this entire situation seems laughable, there is a serious undertone that lies in the reasoning as to why it is disrespectful to hold this event, and why the original pride is deserving of such celebration. This parade is a slap in the face to the LGBTQ+ community and everything they have ever been through.

Seeing the pictures that were taken at this event makes it more evident what type of people were participating. Although who and what they support do not define who they are as a person, it is worth looking into and acknowledging because if they go through so much trouble to preach their inspirations, why don’t we just take a look? Glance at any Straight Pride Parade photo. Immediately, you are bombarded with Trump posters and American flags. So much so, that after going through feedback from others, it’s become apparent that people are dubbing this parade as just another Trump rally. Besides that, they also manage to litter the American flag all over this parade. From what has been portrayed on the media, the fact that they are practically using the American flag to represent heterosexuality infuriates people. They are using this flag that has nothing to do with sexuality, and associating it with this idea of “straight people need to be accepted too”. The fact that these participants felt as though the American flag was in some way associated with condemning LGBTQ+ or sexuality in general is absolutely absurd.

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In my opinion, there was never a need for a ‘straight’ parade, for people of such a category have never necessarily suffered or been outlawed specifically for that fact. However, I do believe that it’s some elaborate scheme to just evoke a reaction from those of the LGBTQ community, and that fact that we’re giving it attention is sad. The community of LGBTQ has fought too hard and too long for us to be entertaining this concept of a ‘straight’ parade.

— freshman Zarah Correa

This community has been degraded and discriminated against for so long, and only recently have most people learned to break out of the stigma that was held against them. To this day, there are still people in that community being harassed and shamed. One crucial milestone in the LGBTQ+ community were the Stonewall Riots of the 70’s that sparked the entire movement of acceptance and pride. They have fought for decades to get to where they are now, only recently being truly accepted and that is why they deserve the Pride festivities. The truth is, most of the members of the LGBTQ+ feel unwanted by society and that’s because for so many years, members of the community have been stereotyped as being completely unlike the average person. The original Pride is a celebration of what that community has gone through to get to today’s level of acceptance. Straight people will never know what it is like to be LGBTQ+ because they do not fully understand this, given the fact they will never have to undergo the discrimination and daily struggles of the LGBTQ+ community. They have an undeniable privilege that certain individuals try to ignore and use for sympathy or right to be apart of the LGBTQ+ celebration. 

Some might attempt to defend themselves by bringing up the fact that not all heterosexual people are like this or think in this manner. That is completely true, but you also cannot entirely separate yourself and try to ignore this group of uninformed people. They are unaware of the fact that they are a part of a privileged community  and even more unaware of what the LGBTQ+ has been through to deserve this sort of merit. This set of people, the participants, hold an advantage over the LGBTQ+ and that is the actuality of the matter. Any sort of notion that they are being “excluded” from festivities and that they have a right to create a “counter-parade” is absurd.

“The straight pride parades are unnecessary. Although they are not intended to offend or mock any other sexuality, they do cause tons of controversy and protests. These cause national problems that affect anyone,” freshman Jazzmin Chavez said.

This event was a disappointment not only to the United States, seeing as they chose the American flag to represent them, but to the heterosexual community as whole. It is important to understand exactly why this was so out of line and disrespectful. Many people are taking this as a joke- and yes, the whole situation is ridiculous and ignorant. This only shows that there are still people out there with that perspective of the LGBTQ+ and sexuality in general. It is not our job to change these people’s minds, but it is important to keep them and everyone else informed of what they are causing, why their motives are flawed and who they are affecting with this type of discrimination.