As #Pride month is drawing to a close, I've been seeing some discourse resurfacing about the prominence of fetish gear... I just wanted to really quickly give my two cents on it. [1/?]

I totally get why people want to wear that stuff. It can serve as a big "fuck you" to the puritanical mindsets that homophobic people commonly have. [2]

But my whole problem with it boils down to two things: youth at Pride and people who don't have the capacity to deal with overtly sexual themes. Let me elaborate: [3]

I totally agree with the point that youth, especially LGBTQIA+ youth need education about their own bodies and about healthy sexual relationships. Shoving rainbow dildos and leather gear in their faces is NOT the way to do it, tho. [4]

There's nothing inherently wrong with being into fetish gear and whatnot, but there are way better ways to bring up the concept of sex to minors instead of whipping out leather gear and calling it a day. [5]

Basically speaking, we need to better educate them about sex in general before pushing them into the deep end of sexual identity/expression. [6]

Moving on, my other problem with the prominence of fetish gear, and what some people seem to forget, is that there are LGBTQIA+ people who just aren't comfortable with that stuff. [7]

Some of us may have a history of sexual abuse/assault, and the heightened presence of purposefully sexual gear may bring back up bad memories related to our experiences. [8]

Some of us may be sex-repulsed in general, but once again the amount of sexual gear may drive us away. Asexual and aromantic people deserve a place in Pride, too. [9]

I've seen some people say that, "If you don't like fetish gear, then don't go to Pride!" I feel like that's super unfair to the aforementioned people bc you're basically excluding them. They're not less LGBTQIA+ for not enjoying that stuff. [10]

My personal solution would be to have a daytime Pride event where LGBTQIA+ youth and others can go for a safe space, and a separate night-time event where people can wear whatever (basically the 18+ version). That way, we can have events that are inclusive of ALL people. [11]

Anyways, those were just my own thoughts. I'm def open to (civil) discussion on these points! [12]