My husband and I live in a culture that is very relaxed about homosexuality. While homophobia still runs rampant in rural and conservative pockets of Canada, Vancouver is extremely liberal.
Gay marriage is legal in Canada, and in fact, some gay friends of ours (who both have the same name – it’s so cute it’s disgusting) just got married recently.
Even our conservative Prime Minister failed at getting the gay marriage laws overturned, and I think he has given up trying. Gay marriage is here to stay.
So when it comes time for the Vancouver Pride Parade, that just seemed to us like a great day out with the family.
The Pride Parade is older than I am, so it’s an established event in Vancouver. People take off their tops and march in pink outfits and put up balloons, and it’s a grand old-time.
We took our son down to see the show, and he enjoyed seeing all the people. I wore a tie, and we handed our Little Owl a rainbow noisemaker. He’s too little to understand, so I think he’ll have even more fun in the future, when he takes more interest in floats and crazy costumes.
Even with him being so young, it was a fun time out for him. And yet, on internet forums, I’ve seen people debate about whether it would be “appropriate” to take a child to a Pride Parade.
Why not?
Okay, sure, there are a lot of muscled men in pink speedos, but that’s nothing you wouldn’t see at the beach. Well, maybe the speedos wouldn’t be pink, but is that really the issue? And there are balloons and people in great outfits.
Sure, a lot of them are men dressed as women, but so what? A couple of my Little Owl’s “aunties” are genetically male, and he sees me in pants all the time so why shouldn’t he see a man in a skirt now and then?
Gay Pride Parade Vancouver
I love that I live in Canada, where Gay Pride is not so much a point of contention as it is a great excuse to get dressed up in crazy outfits and hoot at buff men doing the macarena on floats.
I’m totally going again next year.
Would you or have you taken your child to a Gay Pride event?
This is an original post to World Moms Blog by Carol from If By Yes of Vancouver, Canada. She can be found writing at her blog, If By Yes.
Photo credit to the author.
Carol (Canada)
Carol from If By Yes has lived in four different Canadian provinces as well as the Caribbean. Now she lives in Vancouver, working a full time job at a vet clinic, training dogs on the side, and raising her son and daughter to be good citizens of the world. Carol is known for wearing inside-out underwear, microwaving yoghurt, killing house plants, over-thinking the mundane, and pointing out grammatical errors in "Twilight". When not trying to wrestle her son down for a nap, Carol loves to read and write. Carol can also be found on her blog, If By Yes, and on Twitter @IfByYesTweets
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Would I take my child ABSOLUTELY! I believe that children need to be taught tolerance of all people, cultures and ways of life. Who cares if men walk around in skirts or men dress as women, they are all people. Having been to many pride parades, there is nothing there that I wouldn’t want my son to see. I’m lucky to live in Europe where people in general are more liberal. When my son wore his “I love my Gay Uncles” shirt in the States, I was AMAZED by how many people stopped me to tell me they thought it was inappropriate for a baby. I almost wanted to cry for people still being so ignorant.
Carol,
Thank you for sharing this story. I believe raising our children to understand that people have different beliefs and ways of living is one of the greatest gifts we can give them. I have always endeavoured to teach my children to be open, to accept others simply for who they are and not to be judgemental.
I have friends who are gay and it doesn’t make them any different to me. They still laugh and love and hurt and cry.
I love that you are allowing your child the joy of experiencing this parade, it’s teaching him acceptance from a young age. In truth the kids only see the colour, the action and the fun, it’s only the adults who see more and make judgements
I have never lived in a city where there is a pride parade, especially a long established tradition. If I lived in Vancouver, YES, I would. I’m glad you took your son, and I’m glad you had a great time!
I would take my son just to expose him that there are different ‘lifestyle’ – and I chose the term loosely here and choices out there and we should embrace it as part of living. One of my best friend lives in San Diego and they took their son to gay parade all the time and the boy is a happy very loving little man. It expands their world which is great.
Yes, yes, YES! We live in Toronto and the Pride Parade is an annual tradition for us. It is one of the ways we can show our young daughter that being gay is not only normal, but something to be celebrated as well. It’s a message that applies to all ways of being different.
One of the things I love most at WMB is how “thought provoking” it is! For me, the decision to take my girls to ANY type of parade where there is a unique expression of oneself would teeter between cultural exposure and overt sexual exposure. (I am not implying that your parade was inappropriate –I just know that some can be.)
I have been witness to some groups (not necessarily gay) where cultural expression is mixed with being way too provocative. So for me, I would question how much I would like them to see at such a young age.
If the parade was about being proud of who you were and sharing in the FACT that we are all created equal, then yes – bring it on! If there was a chance that they might see something questionable, I think I would wait.
I do think that teaching tolerance is extremely important and I want my children to grow-up accepting of other people.
Carol – I think it’s wonderful that your son is being exposed at such an early age. We actually live in midtown Manhattan, NYC, and the pride parade is literally right out my front door. We were not able to attend this year (because of other obligations), but my children do get full on exposure all the time. My son noticed that there was a man walking down the street in high heels, and did question it, and my answer to him was “because that’s what he wants to wear”, and he accepted that answer, no further questions asked.
Gay marriage just became legal in NY state this past summer, and my cousins got married that day (http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/queens/aidesthey_love_this_verdict_wtgWZfj4Qss8tPK4Kyf4rM), and my son goes to school with a boy who has 2 daddys.
One thing that I believe is that by talking gayness, as if it is something ‘abnormal’ almost makes it ‘abnormal’ (does that make sense?). My children just see that their cousin has 2 mommys or a friend has 2 daddys, and really don’t question it.
I came to US to be a nanny for twins with a gay parents. I lived with them for almost 2 years. Many times we’ve discussed those Gay Parades. Most of the time they show the wrong picture of gays and many gays do not participate in those parades just because looking like a clown or wearing g-string type of underwear is not what being gay is all about. Those people are lawyer, engineers, doctors, etc. In everyday life they wear suits, and ties. Many of them have their own kids, and I am not very sure if they themselfs would really want their kids to see all of that… . In my opinion there is nothing wrong with those kind of parades and I would take my kid without a hesitation to see it. These days we do not need to go to the parade to see a half nacked women or man. My concern would be that it’s not the best way of teaching kids about gays and introducing the issue of being a gay to them.
Hi Carol,
I would certainly take our boys too and we often speak about the fact that some people are attracted to those of the same sex, and that’s just the way they are…Any one of our boys might be gay and I want them to know that who they are as people is far more important to us than anything else. Great post. 🙂
Hi Carol!
I appreciate you raising this issue and writing about your experience. Although I have not yet created the opportunity to take my children to a Gay Pride Parade, I would take them. I love the idea of any event that celebrates people, culture and human rights.
Jen 🙂
Love this post! As the daughter of a gay parent, I grew up attending these parades – the joyous, celebratory and sometimes eye-popping San Francisco variety. It was quite a colorful event for a suburban kid, but I always loved the experience and took away lasting lessons about acceptance and diversity. Gay pride doesn’t exactly exist where I live now, but I look forward to sharing this great celebration with our kids one day.
Yes…I definitely would take my sons to Pride. In fact, we have it hear in Seattle and it is on the agenda for the future. My best friend in the world is queer. I have had queer friends, male and female, some who have been my roomates. My older son and I have alreay talked about marriage and how people choose a partner in life, and I always include a discussion about gay and straight relationships. I want my children to grow up not only embracing diversity and respecting other people’s sexual orientation, but I want them to know they will be 100% supported and loved by their parents whether they are gay, straight, or whatever. And even in the small farming town I live in today, people show their support. At the 4th of July parade down our maint street…in between the cowboy line dancers and high school football float….there was a small float made by the local PLAG chapter that showed a rainbow colored rack of clothes with a sign that said “Closets are for clothes, not our kids.” I cheered for them on as loud as I could with my sons at my side. This is a very important post. Thank you for writing it!
I do take my boy to Pride, and he loves it. It’s a blast! I will continue to take him, year after year.
That’s awesome!! So glad you had such a fun time! I bet it was more fun than most parades!
This is why I LOVE being Canadian!
yay to Gay Pride!
Yay to diversity!