PRIDE still matters

This weekend is the PRIDE Parade in Toronto.

It has been controversial -- to say the least -- with battles over matters having effectively no relevance to Gay rights.

There is an attempt to link Gay rights with other political agendas. The linkage is seen on the basis that Gays are outsiders and therefore must be sympathetic to other outsiders. To state the thesis is to see how weak it must be.

The PRIDE Parade -- a must for politicians and media -- shows how mainstream Gays have become. And in truth sexual preference is little different from any other preference -- Gays should fall on all ends of the political spectrum.

But clearly there remains work. The Gaybashings in BC last week are merely examples. PRIDE has done much but has much to do -- and eventually the Parade will become irrelevant -- and then not worth hijacking for radical politics.