pride (in the name of love)

today i was watching tv with my kids. i sent them off to go do a few chores before dinner and switched it over to the news.

turns out i was just in time to catch the pride parade that was in SLC today. complete with a dude dancing on a float dressed in nothing but some very tight, very small underwear.

help me figure this out, reader. first, a few facts, as you may not know where i stand on all of this:

1. i believe in equal rights for everyone. if gays want to be married, fine. i have zero problems with gay people. 
2. i'm not religious at all. i have zero interest in what the bible says. i'm socially responsible.
3. i have several gay friends. in fact, i've long believed that every woman needs a gay best friend. haha! 
4. my kids know all about gays. that's actually a funny story.. i've posted it below in the p.s.
5. my kids also know quite a bit about sex. we talk about it whenever the opportunity presents itself. so it wasn't like i was pissed or shocked that they would see this. i only brought it up b/c it's atypical of me to view the news with my kids. there isn't much good news on the news. :)

i am struggling with supporting this pride parade. here's why: sex doesn't belong in public. i don't think it's ok (or in the best interest of the gay rights movement) for some dude (or dudette), gay or not, to dance practically naked on a parade float in a public venue. i'm not part of the gay community, but if i was, that would not be the message i would want to send out. the message i got said, "hey, i'm gay, i'm sexual, i like to party, and i want to hook up with any gay guy out here."

in my mind, the message should be, "we are people too. we have jobs. we have kids. we have moms, brothers, cousins. we pay bills, we pay taxes, we eat food, we put our pants on one leg at a time, too. we're just like you."

am i right? am i wrong? help me see your point of view. am i reading into this too much? taking it too seriously? i wasn't there, so i don't know what the rest of the day was like or what any of the other activities were. the only thing i saw was that 1 min spot on the news.

keep any comments respectful. no hate speech.

p.s. here's the story on my kids finding out about gays. we watch the amazing race. and there's almost always a gay couple. so a few seasons ago, there were some married lesbian priests. my daughter said to me, "married?" and she had this look on her face that said REALLY??? my son said, "girls can be gay?" so i kept it short and sweet, b/c they were 7 and 9 at the time, and i told them that yes, girls can be gay. gays can be married in some states. and in some churches, the priests can be gay. i didn't need to explain the gay part. they figured that out all on their own. so, don't go thinking your kids are naive. they aren't.

p.s.s. we were in the city of salt last weekend, and we saw a homeless dude on the street. daughter pointed and yelled, "look!! a HOMO!!!" and then after we all collapsed in laughter, she retracted. "ooops, i mean a HOBO." hahahahahaaaaaa