Pride 2005

The plague of mankind is the fear and rejection of diversity: monotheism, monarchy, monogamy and, in our age, monomedicine. The belief that there is only one right way to live, only one right way to regulate religious, political, sexual, medical affairs is the root cause of the greatest threat to man: members of his own species, bent on ensuring his salvation, security, and sanity. - Thomas Szasz

At bottom every man knows well enough that he is a unique being, only once on this earth; and by no extraordinary chance will such a marvelously picturesque piece of diversity in unity as he is, ever be put together a second time. - Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

I'm ambivalent about Pride. I've never liked the name--as I can no more imagine being proud of my sexual orientation than I can of having disconnected ear lobes. I had no say, nor hand in the matter. Imagine a poker player exposing his freshly dealt flush and remarking "I'm so proud of this hand." Only screwy people take pride in things over which they have no control. That aside, I love the unstoppable massiveness of the crowd. A synergy occurs in crowds: 1+1=2, 2+2=7, etc. The air is electrified. I suppose that's part of the thrill of sports.

More impressive to me than the parade is its remediation. A chain of 20+ gigantic streetsweepers thunder down Broadway--sucking up every trace of the whole affair. I'm proud of the way my apartment looks, and that's about the extent of my pride. Pride is a slippery and dangerous emotion. We're all more or less schmucks in the dark... be nice to the other schmucks.