Gosh, I think I am flattered. Usually I am branded the liberal here. Does this mean you accept me, B? I am speaking out!
:)
Outside of this thread, I haven't heard anyone on the street talking about it- conservative or liberal. I just happened to mention it to some friends, who thought it was terrible that children would be allowed in. That would be the outrage, not about the fair itself.
Two thoughts occur to me. In the great scheme of things, it's not a very large event. It's a small segment within a minority group in a city that is known for its extremism anyway. It isn't reflecting the normal American's life; you aren't going to see that in Houston or Dallas. (Heck, in Dallas, they were trying to get baggy pants banned). And for liberals, who tend to be pretty tolerant of personal freedoms, the outrage would be reserved, I think, for the children's welfare, not the fair itself. From the moral sense, while I find the whole thing pretty bizarre and nasty, I differentiate between my personal reaction and the need to stop it. Outside of concern that some idiots actually believe taking their children to this was some kind of broadening social field trip, I wouldn't start a campaign to outlaw it. My objection is not to gays, but to anyone who sees taking children to an event like that as ok.
Also, I talked to someone who had attended one of those fairs, and it seems that it isn't as out there as those pictures made it seem. As she said, she saw not one penis. They raise a lot of money for charity, and you have to want to get there to go. It's not like it's on Main Street. ANd there are very, very few children.
SO- I guess I would conclude that the whole thing isn't that big a deal for most- conservatives or liberals. What we do here is vent, and judge, and that's ok. When it comes to demanding that it be banned, I would have to say no. (Although I don't get why sex and nudity in the street isn't illegal? DO they get some kind of pass for the day?) |
