Well...How about that!

Yes. It’s somewhat complex. Straight people are a majority and historically have been represented and allowed freedom to express and be themselves. Television and media cater primarily to heterosexuals. Now for LGBTQ+ people- they are in a minority that has been historically repressed and is still not equal in law or society. A person may not be able to express themselves in the ways a straight person can at work or in society in their daily life. How many executives or lawyers or teachers would be comfortable “cross dressing” at work? Things are getting better and now even those in business and politics can be openly LGBTQ+, but that’s still an exception.

So what makes “straights” or “gays” a “group?” What common core can they derive group identity from other than sexual preference? That’s not a great way to meet people you get along with is it? “Oh you’ll love Frank, you guys have a lot in common. He likes vaginas too...” you might not be inclined to spend a day hanging out talking to frank just based on the fact you both enjoy sex with women would you?

Well- by and large the LGBTQ+ community DOES have more in common. Common trends are that a some point in their life they felt or were made to feel ashamed or hide/deny who they are. Many have faced challenges BECAUSE of their sexuality. And more over- because of the historical suppression of those in the LGBTQ+ community- those groups developed sub cultures. Underground clubs and bars, methods to identify yourself or others as members of the community without revealing their sexuality and so on. A unique culture with its own slang and customs and even styles.

So gay pride isn’t necessarily a pride in the fact one happened to be born a certain way- it’s a celebration of being able to be who you are- to be around people like you, to enjoy your culture.

Straight people ARE around straight people most of the time. They live in a dominant straight culture. Straight sexuality isn’t something that is outlawed, forbidden, looked down on by society. There aren’t the social and other stigmas against expressing aspects or presence of straight sexuality. There aren’t many people who can say they’ve faced persecution or isolation or shame for being straight.

So it’s not that there’s anything “wrong with” a straight pride parade- it’s that having a straight pride parade just because there is a gay pride parade is like a boyfriend shoving a tampon inside himself because his girlfriend did it first and he wants things even. One has to ask what is there to be “proud” about? What is there that unites “straight people” as a group in culture or personality or history beyond liking the opposite sex? And: is there a legitimate reason for such a parade or is it being done simply to satisfy the negative impulses of certain people or as a “counter measure” in response to gay people becoming more visible and more equal in rights to the majority “straight” population?

There has been no history of straight people being discriminated against for their sexuality. There's no Stonewall or Matthew Shepherd for straight people. There's no "pray away the straight" programs, or parents disowning their kids for being straight. This is all just people who feel like they need to be the center attention because people have worked hard for decades to get their own rights.

Pretty much yeah. When was heterosexuality ever a mental illness? When has a candidate for a major office worried that if they get “outed” as heterosexual they will be ruined? We still have people seriously arguing that LGBTQ+ lives should be cataloged and treated as disorders. The law is STILL not equal in treatment or protection for LGBTQ+ not to mention acceptance of society. Most of the laws that made the largest leaps in equality have passed in the last decade. It’s barely “ok” to be gay and it’s only been that way for less than a single lifetime- less than the lifetime of a high school kid.

exactly, I think it’s pretty immature for these people to see the lgbt+ community celebrating their right to be who they are and then think they are somehow excluded and need to counter it. You can celebrate pride as a straight cis person, you might not understand every slang but you won’t understand every slang of any other group as diverse and colorful as lgbt+. I live in a country that only separates it’s school children in the locker rooms (even debating whether or not to build gender neutral locker rooms). I live in the capital that puts on a pride parade every year and sells flags in stores all year round and I am still called disgusting by coworkers for liking women. There’s so many gay characters in tv now but they still get called controversial. Even if all the homophobia melts away from countries like America you should still celebrate pride in yourself to inspire other countries to do the same because right now being queer in some places can land you in jail or worse.

Here's another honest follow-up question:
Why do the straight pride parade folks feel "somehow excluded"? What do they feel a "need to counter"?

You can celebrate being straight all you want but surprise surprise celebrating pride month was not conceived to push people away and I’m tired of grown people not considering all the angles to issues they act so passionately about. Thank you for reading my rant, sorry for sounding aggressive if I did.

Commonly, humans are irrational creatures. When the overwhelming majority of the nation is Christian, mentions of “God” abound in our legal documents, currency, and political discourse, and “Christmas” is still the default American assumption of the winter “holiday season-“ saying a religious Christmas display can’t be done with public funds or that a public announcement must not use the word Christmas becomes a “war on Christmas.” When candidates can thank god for everything and speak of a destiny from god and speak of their lives and such being devoted to or guided by god- but a Muslim candidate without even uttering a word of their religion becomes a threat to the Christian faith and it’s place in this country- those are examples.

So the majority of people are not LGBTQ+. The majority of tv characters and public personalities are not either, and the majority of advertising and media is framed from a “straight” perspective and aimed at “straight” audiences- and in recent times more- but still a VERY small amount of LGBTQ+ perspectives have made their way into these spheres. In the early 90’s you could turn on your tv or read the news without giving a thought to LGBTQ+ or even seeing anything related that wasn’t a joke or a smear.

And then that changed. Ellen came out. That was a big moment. Others came out. LGBTQ+ communities started speaking up more and saying they didn’t want to be either ignored in media or be a joke or equated with pedophiles. In this new surge many empowered or just fed up decided that they weren’t going to just hide and they weren’t going to be completely discreet in public, call lovers “cousins” or “roommates” or the like and never show affection or be obvious or romantic.

Wether more people started coming out or wether the sudden flurry of media focus made people notice the “gays next door” that had been there all along- who can say? If you buy a blue car you start seeing more blue cars, if you watch a movie with a certain type of phone featured you start seeing it more in the world. It’s just one of those things.

Either way- to answer the question of @unclethan- the “push back” is by and large from people who feel that they are under “attack” by LGBTQ+ because as laws start protecting them instead of prosecuting them, as society expands on embracing them instead of beating them (sometimes to death) in parking lots, and as tv and media either focus in on or actually show people like this in positive and prominent light- people who were once isolated now see what was always there. Like a calm person sitting at a table and having a curtain pulled back to reveal the whole time they’ve been surrounded by sheer cliffs they are suddenly scared.

Scared of something that was always there but they didn’t see it. Scared if something that was never any danger to them, and certainly not more of a danger when they are aware than when they didn’t know it was there. And instead of a potentially deadly fall and a fear of heights- they are scared of humans just like them, who mean and are no harm to them. Despite how irrational it is to believe that there is any non sci fi scenario in which they would lose their majority status- they cry out that traditional values are attacked by the very existence of a person who doesn’t live life as they do.

Because in their hearts they know that if they could that they’d erase those people from their world or push them back to fear and hiding- they assume those people would do the same to them if able. They believe that LGBTQ+ people want to take something from them, or force them to live life as an LGBTQ+ person. They fear what is different, what they don’t know or understand. That’s how the primitive human mind works. A cave man wouldn’t board a jet plane. It’s against primitive instinct. Some people do better than others at overcoming their primitive natures.

And that often scares and upsets people too. In fact- in my earlier post I ask what sense of community is there to a parade such as straight pride. Well- sadly often you’ll find that is what is shared by so many who would desire such a thing. A sense of belonging with other people who can’t think beyond those primitive drives. People living in a society that isn’t too kind to the “slow kids” on the social evolution scale. Like many groups ultimately about supremacy or bigoted bias- they are “safe spaces” where these people know that when they say something that would get them admonished in tolerant society it is instead echoed and cheered.

Their views are validated- their fears and insecurities are shared. Other minds have come to the same irrational conclusions and that’s reassuring to a person who everyone else sees as mentally primitive or off. “I can’t be crazy if all these people agree with me!!” But you see- if you only give speeches at asylums to patients- they’re no more inclined to believe you’re crazy than they are no?

So what it all boils down to is irrational fear and primitive thought processes and a need for a “safe space” and echo chamber where one doesn’t have to go through a process of introspection or hard thought but can just be comforted to know they are right. While a GROUO may be in the majority- a PERSON is always just alone unless they exist in a crowd or as part of something. Many in the majority take it for granted because the majority rarely holds town halls where everyone gets together. They fail to realize when a dominant majority shows such strength however that it comes off inherently hostile as those in the majority are usually the only ones not intimately aware that they outnumber and out power everyone else.

Oh. My. God. I really admire your writing capacity @guest_

Thank you.