Cornwall Pride 2008

If I'm honest, I've been avoiding writing in this blog for so long that I'd almost forgotten about it (almost...except that I can't deny my guilt when I flick through my blogger dashboard and see a list of three, not two, blogs to contend with). To be fair, there hasn't been any news-worthy news to discuss. Sure, there's the impending bank crisis (I've been waiting for that, held breath, for nearly six years, there was always going to be the build up to an eventual, and inevitable, crash; okay so it took longer than I was expecting but it's happening all the same), and the highs and lows of this star and that (and if you think I'm really interested in keeping up with that crap, you've not quite got there yet), and there's been many murders, accidents, and the usual bad news we're getting used to on a daily basis. But there has been nothing that's really stuck in my mind and made me think "whoah...that's going to change my way of thinking forever".
So, I hear you ask (or, at least, I imagine I hear you) why come out of what seems to be a very early retirement?
Cornwall Pride.
Yep, someone has actually kicked the "do it dreckly" attitude aside and decided it's high time that us Cornish people be proud of our gay community. (Saturday the 23rd August 2008, to be precise, marching through Truro like we're the next big thing to happen to this tourist-worshipping peninsular). But is Cornwall really ready for us?
Over all, I have to say that Cornwall is one of the more laidback places to be, so I'm sure that the people will barely turn a head or two in our direction before quietly carrying on as if the "normal" world is still revolving.(More on this another time)
There was a gay pride at the beach last year; apparently. As a lesbian (I still hate that word) who has, on occassion, actually visited the local gay nightclub (yes, there is only one), you'd have thought I would have heard about it. You'd be wrong. I've read about it since though, and it only brings up an image of bad taste and misrepresentation.
This "Cornwall Pride" is better organised, there's more inclusion with the local businesses, and there's more awareness in the gay community as a whole. And, who knows, it might actually work.
I have to admit that I still have problems envisioning the event: will it be just a handful of the nightclub regulars waltzing down the street to the sound of good ol' Dusty blaring out on old speakers that makes the bass sound more like wet farts than real noise...a slow half caterpillar pushing its way through the suncream-smelling, pasty-eating (and usually miserable) tourists?
There's always been something about Pride events that I've found "odd". It's not like you have Straight Prides (hey...we're straight and we're proud), after all. At the beginning, Prides existed as a protest against the laws put against us (yes, I know, when I say "us" I should be more properly referring to male gays who faced the brunt of prejudice). But now, especially the bigger events, seem to be saying "hey, we're gay, we're great and, look: we've got the pink pound. (probably because there's been so much success in equality, despite the best efforts of the last few biggotted conservatives. And, perhaps, there's defense in numbers?).
Somewhere along the line I can't help but feel like there's been something missed. It's not about "we're gay and you're not, so just shut up and let us be". It's surely about us all being human and that we want to have the freedom to live happily alongside each other in acceptance.
And I'm sorry to my non-gay readers. This isn't some kind of LGBT promotion. I just think that Cornwall should be proud of it's diversity, it's acceptance and tolerance. And that's why I, for one, am happy that we are having a Cornwall Pride. I will be there and not just because I'm gay, but because I'm proud to be Cornish.