me: here's a link to a thread about the historical relationship of kink culture and Pride. erasing acknowledgement of this intertwined relationship from Pride benefits capitalists & conservatives

a reactionary:

this is respectability politics: trying to make ourselves palatable to the people who hate us by conforming as much as we can to their cultural norms.

spoilers: we will never succeed in making ourselves palatable to bigots.

when marginalized ppl play this game, we always lose.

OP's reference to 'wearing a leash' nearly killed me b/c it was literally yesterday that I reblogged a thread by @rhodanum pointing out that almost all anti-kinky-LGBTQ-presence-at-Pride discourse is sparked by a radfem tumblr post complaining about ppl on leashes in public

this reaction is not only wildly out of proportion, but also based on an assumption that *I* must be kinky/into wearing leashes.

(in reality: not only am I *not* kinky: I'm uncomfortable w/displays of kink irl! but I'm able to recognize my discomfort =/= inherently bad.)

anyway.

reminder that REGs have spent 8+ yrs calling ace&aro ppl 'oppressors' b/c 1 ace person once said they didn't like sexual PDA in any context, including Pride

yet unironically argue kinky sexual PDA shouldn't be allowed at Pride b/c Respectability(tm) & The Children(tm)

ofc I don't want kids traumatized, & educating young ppl on queer culture & kink culture should be done w/care.

but Pride Parades aren't about making queer culture child-safe. there are sexual aspects to queerness! hiding them does us no favors! https://twitter.com/freetofic/status/1134170074443603976

as @errorbunny indicates:

Kids, especially queer/LGBT+ kids, 100% belong at Pride - but they also 100% belong in age-appropriate spaces, separated from any sexual aspects of Pride they're not ready for. https://twitter.com/errorbunny/status/1134208115023519744