It's good to remember what Gay Pride was originally all about: Reducing shame among Lesbians and Gay men, which was a huge problem back in the day, creating safe space when we were still routinely targeted by the police, blackmailers, etcetera, and urging people to come out in the sunshine and let a world that thought we were creepy see how normal we were. It was a good idea that helped normalize being a same-gender-loving person and showed closeted folks that they weren't alone. I can't overestimate the positive effect those parades had in the early years.

That said, Gay Pride has evolved into "Pride", a corporate-sponsored freak show, entertainment venue and bacchanal that has lost nearly all of its original meaning and increasingly isn't about Gay people at all. The parades and festivals no longer serve a useful purpose for us. I don't expect them to disappear anytime soon, but clearly the number of serious-minded Lesbians, Bi and Gay folk involved is going to diminish; and even if we want to continue being part of the festivities, we're getting pushed out!

Yet despite how much more open we've become, I think shame about one's sexual orientation is still a big problem, especially in religious and ethnic communities. Pride month, if it's understood to be Lesbian and Gay Pride month, can still be useful as an education and consciousness-raising tool. We need to somehow target those aforementioned religious communities and address the lethal forms of persecution that still exist outside the United States.