Public Outcry Grows Over Inappropriate Behavior at Pride Events

This article discusses explicit public behavior.

Ah, June. That beautiful month of the year now marred by parades of scantily clad individuals down countless American Main Streets.

It’s the month my inbox fills with concerned parents and other decent folks — including queer individuals — who find themselves avoiding public spaces such as swimming pools, ice cream shops, parks, fairgrounds, and libraries. This is because these spaces are often scenes of inappropriate displays, either directly or indirectly.

In the small town of Ashtabula, Ohio, this year’s pride parade will feature “family-friendly” drag queens with a history of exposing themselves and pole dancing. Their stage names include Kat Piss, Mona Lotz, and Robyn Hearts.

This pride event will be held on a public beach, visible from multiple middle-class family homes. These families can’t enjoy their backyards during the event without exposing their children to sexual performances. Moreover, families arriving at Lake Erie’s popular beach unaware might encounter inappropriate scenes.

But it’s marketed as family-friendly! Surely, performers who share content like this on Facebook have the purest intentions towards children on the beach. Their judgment on what is appropriate for kids must be trustworthy. After all, they simply adore children. Love is love!

This isn’t limited to a random small town in Ohio. This is now a common scenario across many towns. Public spaces are unsafe for children throughout June and even beyond.

If you doubt this, try visiting a Target or public library in June. You don’t have to be in Hollywood to be forced to explain complex issues to a preschooler. Imagine answering a 6-year-old who asks about the terms “queer” and “trans” after seeing them in library books.

Every parent wants to talk about complex adult issues with their kids! If they don’t, they’re branded as intolerant!

There is no way to explain any part of the queer identity without discussing adult themes. The distinguishing feature of queer individuals is their private life, and none of this is appropriate to explain to young children. Likewise, the private lives of heterosexuals aren’t appropriate topics for young children.

I don’t discuss adult themes with my 6-year-old. But if I take her to a store decorated with pride symbols, I either have to avoid the topic entirely or explain complex issues to her, which I wouldn’t want to do.

This should be universally understood: It’s inappropriate to discuss such themes with young children. Talking about basic anatomy is fine within a family context when necessary, but anything beyond that is inappropriate. Anyone who claims otherwise should be viewed with suspicion.

So why do queer individuals get a pass to be overtly sexual in ways that heterosexuals never would? If a group identified as “nakedsexuals” and wanted to parade naked annually, would society allow it? I doubt it, yet there is less resistance to such behavior during pride events.

Why is that? Why do some feel it’s acceptable for individuals to wear revealing clothing and act inappropriately in front of children under the guise of love and pride, while similar behavior by others would result in serious consequences? This isn’t equality; it’s a form of subjugation.