Pride Month - live and let live, and leave me out of it

I'm not religious, and I don't hate LGBT people. So why would I be offended by everything being rainbow-colored for a month? It's quite simple.

June is coming, and I think we all know what that means. Tasteful color choices will be eschewed by corporations to pander to LGBT people everywhere. That’s right - Rainbow Capitalism month is upon us. Except in Islamic countries.

To the activist, ribbon-wearing people of the world of all flavors, why is awareness important? Better yet, why are constant refreshers needed to stoke further 'awareness' of cultural issues necessary? I've known that gay people exist all my life. I've known about trans people for almost as long as that. Why, then, do I need a constant reminder? And why do any of us need to be doubly reminded by a steady stream of content inundating us from all angles with more symbols and messages about topics such as LGBT pride?

So you're proud of who you are, good for you. I'm proud of who I am as well. I don't need to tell you that. Why do you need so badly to tell me about your pride? Are you sure it isn't verging into the territory of vanity at that point?

I have gay friends, and gay relatives. They don’t tell me about their sex lives, and I don’t tell them about mine. I can infer from their sexuality all the information I need to know about them in that aspect, I don’t need them to beat it into my head for an entire month. And I certainly don’t believe they need my blessings or affirmations to live their lives as they see fit.

Would any of you feel okay with me being so pompous that I felt I needed to sanction your life before you could live it? No, of course not. You’d live the way you want in defiance of such self-importance. Likewise, I ask you not to let your own narcissism and self-importance compel you to bludgeon me over the head with your lifestyle and implore me to bend the knee in some sort of symbolic show of fealty the caporegime of the Rainbow Mafia.

And before anyone tries to then do the usual thing of attempting to pivot things toward racism, I don't mind Black History Month. Do you know why? The keyword is 'History'. I happen to very much enjoy learning about history. Black people have a rich and vibrant history that, while I don't agree with its weaponization to bludgeon people over the head akin to the gay pride month method, I still find myself interested in learning about it. Do you know why? There's plenty of interesting stuff there to learn.

So then, the argument becomes "Well, there's plenty of gay history to learn, too!" Really? Like what? What could someone's sexual proclivities possibly teach me about history? I enjoyed learning about Alexander The Great and his conquest of the known world back then, I never needed to know that he was bisexual, and yet more and more accounts tend to try and shoehorn that detail in there way more prominently than was ever needed. Alexander The Great conquered the world through military might; he didn't use his cock to do it.

Some might say that the philandering of Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy are important details to know when assessing their overall character as historical figures. Sure, I can get behind that. Do I need to know the intimate details of how they had sex, or what they enjoyed in the bedroom? No. I don't. No one needs that level of detail about anyone but their own significant other. And it certainly doesn't help me understand them as people. If they were pedophiles or some other brand of criminal sexual deviant, I could understand. However, to my knowledge, they were not. Sex between two consenting adults has no bearing on my life, and I don't need the minutiae of their coupling.

Simply put, celebrating your sexual preference is not equivalent to celebrating one's lineage and the history of that lineage. Celebrating a sexual preference and its history is akin to celebrating the act of sex itself, and I find that baffling because it's the last thing in the world that needs any celebration.

Some would argue that I'm oversimplifying it, and I reject that notion outright. They might argue that I'm reducing them down to a very small piece of what makes them who they are as a whole. That I agree with because what makes them who they are as a whole is made up of many things that aren't exclusive to LGBT people. You're specifically celebrating your sexual proclivities. And that's fine, but I don't want to see it.

To all those people who would be confused as to why I 'care' so much, I put this question to you - Imagine if every time you went to a restaurant - any restaurant - the waitstaff puts food that you do not care for down in front of you that you didn't order, and strongly insists that you eat it, would you do so? It's something you never asked for, it definitely doesn't appeal to you, and yet the waitstaff of every restaurant you ever visit insists on giving you something that you don't want, and they strongly urge you to eat it. Would you be happy with that?

I have no problem with people living the way they want to live, doing whatever it is that makes them happy. If you want to be gay, be gay. If you want to be trans, be trans. Whatever it is you want to do, do it where it is appropriate. It should never have anything to do with me. I never asked about your sexual proclivities, so I also shouldn't have to be inundated with it.

And before the argument becomes, "Well, as a heterosexual man, you've probably bragged to your friends about sexual conquests without them asking for details!" Nope. I don't do that. I never would. I don't talk about my sex life with anyone. It doesn't interest me to do so, and I don't want to forcibly regale anyone with sordid details of anything sexual I've ever done. And do you know why? Because that type of stuff has no place in polite conversation. I get nothing out of kissing and telling, and no one else gets anything out of hearing about it.

So, then, I ask all of you - why would I want to be inundated with constant symbolism that denotes the sexual proclivities of others? Is it 'bigoted' if I choose to block accounts on my social media that display rainbow insignia for a month? I say no. Embrace your sexuality all you want and show that off to the people who like seeing that sort of thing. I'm opting out. And I totally understand why parents would do so on behalf of their children so that they can grow up without an abundance of undue influence from a segment of the society that has foregone their own capacity for procreation in favor of living as who they believe themselves to be.

Parents do not have to comply with your recruitment efforts. Nor should they be forced to do so with the threat of noncompliance carrying the penalty of ostracization and a loss of their livelihoods thanks to the malignant tumor that is cancel culture.

I'll leave you with this - Do what makes you happy, just don't try to force it down my throat, or the throats of anyone else. We'll just be over here, living our lives in private as everyone should.