Caption of photo taken by John Michillo / AP: “Revelers celebrate the passage of a bill legalizing same-sex marriage in New York State outside the Stonewall Inn on Christopher St., Friday, June 24, 2011, in New York. The measure passed, 33-29, following weeks of tense delays and debate”
My comment on the Washington Post slideshow “New Yorkers and Same-Sex Marriage” ::
Journalists should do some interviews with their subjects before writing bad captions. The (very attractive) people workin’ it on the street (as seen in the photo above) were NOT outside the Stonewall Inn celebrating gay marriage. These were people dancing with the DRAG MARCH.
The Drag March started in 1984 after organizers of (the more mainstream) Pride March 25 decided to downplay drag and the drag community. So, a new march was started to welcome those who are more marginal and fringe within the already marginalized LGBT population. The march is a challenge to the idea that in order for the marginalized queer community to gain acceptance, less acceptable queers need to stay out of the parade.
To claim Drag March revelers as gay marriage revelers is just simply false. Many in the Drag March may support gay marriage but many of us (myself included) feel that gay marriage is not THE cause to (1) put all of our energy into and (2) that is going to gain acceptance for all queer people. I am glad it passed mainly because I have friends from other countries who may now have a way to stay in NYC. But really, who is going to gain acceptance with this? It is still about hetero-normativity and so many of us who were at the Drag March just do not fit this bill. The Drag March is a hedonistic march, celebrating ourselves when so many would like to shame us. Please don’t use our hedonism to support gay marriage. And journalists… you’re sloppy. Do your research! Thank you.
Keep us OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND.
More soon. For now, I’ve got to wash some of this glitter out of my hair.
way to go on this, love!