#i dont know if i like it. but leaning towards butchness makes me feel more.....defended. protected

[hailmaryfullofgrace55675]

i don’t get it when people make posts about how bears and leather people and butches are like, the thin line defending Pride (the permitted public festival?) from cops and/or corporations(?) and/or bigots. like. don’t get me wrong i love butches and i have generally positive feelings toward leather people and i looooove bears but like. the whips are for non-combat uses, you know? i dont really perceive any of these demographics as being more aggressive, competent, or confrontation-ready on average than like... the organizers, volunteer security, or even any random eventgoer? i don’t think being hairy, kinky, or masc automatically prepares you for a police encounter.

i guess that people who really lean into these identities do tend to be a little older and more integrated into actual in-person queer communities than your general population jae q prideparade, on account of they are identities that people grow into more over time and within queer spaces, but i would still want some kind of documentation or evidence before believing that people in leather vests are doing more to “defend Pride” (whatever that means in practicality) than people in high vis vests or fussy sequined ones. i also think “they’re useful troops” is a really unnecessary and unpleasant justification for the presence of kinksters at Pride, they’re ok because they’re people and they’re in our communities and they’re not doing anything wrong and they deserve to have fun in the sun like everyone else, not because they’ve earned their stripes in honorable combat.