In this post:
We need Pride events. We need public Pride marches and rallies. We need sex-positive private Pride celebrations. Especially now when all we stand for is under attack.
For the longest time, those who are visible (don’t look a certain way), have both been the most vocal and the most attacked. A lot of them don’t have much choice. They could either “tone it down” (their clothes, their voice, their hairstyle) or fight back.
When I was younger, I was very visible. I was super gay, super flamboyant. Everywhere I went, people would stare and whisper sometimes even in front of me. Mind you, I grew up in Jakarta, Indonesia, back in the eighties. The country remains in a perpetual don’t-ask-don’t-tell situation, but as I aged and changed my haircut and grew facial hair, I became less conspicuous.
But my visibility taught me not to hide who I was. This is why I couldn’t agree more with Larry Kramer and Harvey Milk when they implored gay men to come out of the closet. They need to support their siblings who are just too queer to hide who they are.
Drag queens and trans people are especially vulnerable because they’re very visible and they won’t back down. For decades, they’ve led and participated in Pride marches. Shows like Drag Race and Dragula helped mainstreamed the drag culture.
Understand that the GOP and right-wing extremists have used this tactic for abortion. They lobbied for years, consistently. They started by negotiating small and they kept pushing the goalpost toward their direction. Meanwhile, a lot of us never thought there was a good time to start fighting back. There were always more pressing matters such as wars, the recession, and more wars.
Now we lost Roe v. Wade.
We can’t let this happen to the queer rights our elders have fought for us. Right now, these extremists may only be attacking those who are the most visible and vulnerable. But give them time and just like abortion issues, they will take our rights away.
And we can’t allow that to happen. Ever.
The boys participate in today’s LA Pride in defiance of the atrocities committed against our community.
Newly-minted couple Takeshi and Manuel wear white tees with black and red “Ban” wordings: “Ban Bigots, Not Books” and “Ban Guns, Not Drag Queens.”
Wade, our shock-jock, wants to remind people that unlike what the right-wing extremists want you to believe, religious leaders, not drag queens, are the actual pedophiles and child molesters.
Matt brings visibility to the trans community with the “Trans Lives Matter” tank top.
Chrissy never thinks highly of Florida (or its Cuban population). That’s why he chooses to “Say Gay.”
We changed “We’re Here, We’re Queer, Get Used to It” to “to Us” because we want to show them that there is an us – a collective, a community that we shall not be silenced.
Pride 2023 is the Year of Resistance.
Click here to see how you can help, plus a list of organizations and indie queer doll creators that deserve your support.
Dollsexposed showcases queer erotica, kink, fetish, and activism through twelve-inch doll photography. Their adventures in the doll world began in 2011 before establishing a home on dollsexposed.com eleven years later.
Dollsexposed's works have been displayed at Seattle Erotic Art Festival and Los Angeles Leather Getaway.