Expectations
Politics in Pride:
I am excited to attend the pride festival in San Francisco due to the politics that occur surrounding it. There are many factions within the LGBTQ+ community that believe different things about the community and how it should interact with cisgender/heterosexual people. Many feel the word “queer” has been reclaimed by the community and should be used for a more inclusive term in place of “LGBT”. However, there are also people within the community that still remember a time when queer was used predominantly by people with a prejudice against LGBTQ+ communities. This argument is just one of many different arguments within the queer communities. Based on what I have seen online, the sides become more outspoken the closer it gets to Pride. The two arguments that I am passionate about are whether corporations and cops should be allowed in Pride. I tend to view both as a hinderance to the festivities unless they have proven without a shadow of a doubt they support the communities through donations of their pride apparel, or inclusive companywide policies. Most of my friends tend to not entirely agree with me and take pride logos during June as support. I understand their point, but when I go to the pride festival on the 50th celebration of Stonewall, I am hoping to be surrounded by likeminded individuals.
For police, I tend to be against it if the police force of the city wants to march. I feel strongly against it because I do not see a point in cop’s need to walking. I understand they are needed around festivals to help enforce laws against stealing or other petty crimes, but their presence in the festival should not be a focal point. I would argue though that if a police officer wants to march as a person instead of as an officer, they have every right to do so. The people may be supportive of queer people, but police forces have historically been against the community; it’s still an issue. Until it’s fixed nationwide, there’s no purpose for them to march.
Mess of Mass Media:
Media in general is subjected to critic whenever released. However, art pieces such as movies or pictures tend to get boycotted for the sole reason of ignorance. I am looking forward to the trip because it is a place of compassion and understanding. The people that do not understand queer identities will be far away because it is an event for the people that are going out of their way to support queer artists and their creations. Recently in Arthur, the children’s television show, there was a same-sex marriage featured. That single episode created a huge uproar from the communities that are ignorant of queer lives, the issues that arise, and the detrimental effect they have on the affected people. However, unlike the nationwide show, these movies will stay within the community during the trip to San Francisco, so nobody will have to suffer through the hate speech that typically follows films featuring minorities, hopefully.
Dazzlingly Diverse:
What I am most excited for the trip is the diversity in San Francisco. With it being a major city within the United States, it is bound to be more diverse than my hometown of 14,000 people. In the town I grew up, there were significantly less people of color than white people, and the city worked hard to segregate legally. There was a whole subarea 3 miles out of town that most of the Latino population lives, and the rich people like “Craig Culver” live a mile outside of town the opposite direction. I am expecting that to be at least a little true in San Francisco due to the federal policies that created areas to keep disenfranchised groups out of power. However, I am still hoping that the populations have at least a little bit more of a presence than my hometown in the middle of Wisconsin. Although, I know it will not be as different from Wisconsin as it might have been in the past due to gentrification of area that were eventually deemed as profitable and a problem to be fixed.
