I went to my first Hamilton Pride this last weekend. Considering that the parade route was just a few steps from my front door it was hard to find an excuse not to attend.



I've been questioning the value of Pride parades the last couple of years. The Toronto Pride experience has gone from courageous to nauseating in just a few short years as it's become a victim of its own commercial success. Don't get me wrong, I like to see hot, almost-nude boys dancing on floats sponsored by breweries trying to attract my gay dollars. And the thought of almost a million supporters is heart warming. But when there's such acceptance by the mainstream that that everyone feels free treating the whole weekend like a fuckfest, it sort of looses its magic.

But Hamilton is different. This year, as the parade passed the sports bars on James St., some manly soccer fans shouted obscenities and tried to poke the participants with their Portuguese flags. I always thought that soccer fans look like fucking idiots driving up and down the street with flags. But that's nothing compared to how pathetic some drunken closet cases looked using flags as weapons against some harmless drag queens.

Of course they were the minority. Most people were supportive. And by now, most of us know that the biggest queer bashers are in fact the biggest closet homos. I felt no sympathy as they acted out their homophobia the only way they knew how. For them, I only felt embarrassment because they seemed to be the only ones who didn't know they were gay too. Did they not see the phallic irony as they assaulted the queens with those flag poles?



Anyhow, cretins aside, the rest of the day was great as everyone basked in the sun, ate, drank and listened to some good music. By nightfall, everyone retreated back to the clubs where gay life goes on the other 364 days of the year.

I'm convinced that Pride is still relevant and in many places, still needed. I’ll probably go to next year’s parade to offer my support. Maybe next year, we’ll see the Portuguese soccer fans marching in the parade with rainbow flags.