The ‘Straight White Male’ Festival – Good or Bad?
July 28, 2014
An apparent ‘Straight White Guy’ festival in Columbus, Ohio has caused a huge controversy on social media this week.
The poorly-spelled flyers invited people to “come and help us celabrate [sic] our enjoyment of being straight, white and male” at Goodale Park in Clintonville, Columbus, on September 20.
The event made it clear that everyone was welcome, that beer would be provided, but drugs were banned.
Real Or Fake?
This was seen by many as a homophobic backlash against a gay pride festival that had been held there last month. However, other see it as a hoax, with officials saying they have not received any request to hold the event.
Whether is a real event or not, it did create a huge debate as to whether such an event should be allowed or not?
Many people are really upset about it, claiming that every day is ‘Straight White Guy’ day.
However, others were claiming that that straight white people have the same right as the LGBT, and other minorities to celebrate who they are.
My Opinion
I have to say, I agree with the latter argument. There is a massive difference between celebrating who you are, and having a go at people with different beliefs and alternative lifestyle choices. As a straight white male, I have the same right to be happy about who I am as any gay black person.
Now I understand that these kind of things can be hijacked by bigots, in the same way that the English flag has been ‘stolen’ by morons from, or supporting ‘Britain First’. It makes it hard to proclaim your pride in these kind of things, as people naturally suspect you are using it as a smokescreen for outdated, vile beliefs.
What I will not have is people saying I CAN’T be happy about who I am. Reading some of the posts on Twitter, you would think that people like me are the enemy of mankind, keeping everyone who is not like me down. I find people who think that equally as offensive as the people on the other side who dislike minorities.
Be Who You Want To Be
For me, people can do what they want in life, as long as they are not hurting anyone else. If people want to go and see a London male escort, fine. If they are straight and fancy seeing a London female escort, knock yourself out. Be happy about who you are, and don’t judge anyone else.
No-one deserves to have people looking down on them. That includes straight white males!
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