And as a straight man with gay friends who have more or less the same attitude as Jim does, I can say that Pride parades and festivals are nothing more than a good time for all of us. The drag queens and leather guys are just more scenery in a sea of diversity. what my friends usually revel in though is the fact that you have so many "cool people" all gathered together. It's a judgement free zone. You can be a sterotype or not.

What I like about it is that it's an inclusive event. Sure they're gay festivals but not everyone there has to be gay to enjoy themselves. I usually go to hang out with my buddies but also go for the music. usually i see bands as diverse as Camper Van Beethoven, X, and the Dandy Warhols. What's cool too is seeing all the diversity, both sexual, musical, culinary, and racial and most importantly seeing FAMILIES. Kids being raised by their families to not see gay people and homosexuality as somehow being bad and alien. If anything that makes these festivals/events worth the while.

And if floats of drag queens end up on the news or on some hate political ads or websites, ...... man they're going to hate whether the gay person is wearing a dress or just holding hands with their partner anyways. Why worry about them?

Everything is funny as long as it is happening to somebody else. --Will Rogers "I don't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees." - George W. Bush I don't think anybody could have predicted that these people would .. try to use an airplane as a missile, a hijacked airplane as a missile. - Condoleeza Rice Barbara Bush: It's Good Enough for the Poor To comfort the powerless and make the powerful uncomfortable.