Esa's Notebook

In many cities, Pride parades were held in the summer. I no longer wanted to go there to march. Well, why not?

One reason, at least, is that I feel that the Pride movement has become politicized. In Finland, it refused to cooperate with some parties. The reason was that some of their members of the Parliament refused to accept new Transgender Act.

Personally, I was quite surprised by Pride’s decision. I do not understand why an entire party, with all its different people, should be excluded from cooperation. Pride knows that not everyone in these parties was against transgender law reform. Thus, the Pride organization fell into the same sin for which it usually reproaches others: intolerance and discrimination. In other words, discrimination against people who did not oppose the Transgender Act.

I have been to Pride events countless times in different countries. I understand the need to continue to promote tolerance of mainstream deviances and the need for equality in sexual orientation. In those respects, the world is still not complete, perhaps never completely. However, the Pride movement has become like a god of equality that is not violated with impunity.

In a way, the partners of Pride organization have become prisoners of equality ideology. Help me if our workplace doesn’t take part in the march! This can be seen as an anti-equality policy and may result in harmful publicity. The question is, should all organizations be represented there at all in corpore? My hometown participated, so, did I? What if my employer participated, what happened to me? In it, the organization decides on behalf of everyone that we support, for example, the implementation of the transgender treatments for minors. This reminds me of the days when people queued up at an certain embassy, because being absent would lead to certain political consequences. Now, the organization’s non-participation can be considered contrary to the gender equality strategy.

Another important reason why I can’t participate in the Pride march is using children as advocates for the LGBT cause. In processions in different cities, you could see children in prams with a rainbow flag in their hands. Some might say that it is not that serious: children are in favor of equality. My answer is that the Pride Parade can be an outwardly fun carnival, but the Pride organization itself has just shown that it is not just about having fun, it has a deeper, serious meaning. By including them in the march, their parents harnessed them to advocate for trans treatments for minors, among other things. Parents used their children – perhaps unknowingly – as provocateurs of a movement that promotes a politically tinged worldview and political intolerance and opposes children’s right to physical and sexual integrity. The place for underage children is not in the Pride march. They can live their childhood in peace without pressure from their parents and the Pride movement. In time, they will be able to become aware of sexual diversity and, as adults, make their own decisions about it.