1
A. The Media Construction of U.S. Gay Pride Parade as a
Carnival-like Event of Gay Pride and Visibility
Gay Pride Parade is basically a parade of gay pride
and visibility. It displays the pride and visibility of
homosexual people as an individual and a community to be
publicly noticed, familiarized, and accepted. In the
early phase of modern gay liberation movement in 1970s,
homosexual Americans were more visible among their
community. In this regard, the significance of their
visibility was associated with the coming-out action of
LGBT Americans to tell others that they were homosexual
(Eaklor, 2008, p. 132). American gays and lesbians at
that time firstly adopted the parade model as a strategy
to tell America about their community formation and their
pride as homosexual being (Herrel, 1992 as cited in
Maasik and Solomon, 1997, p. 421). Thus, the first U.S.
Gay Pride Parade in 1970 was held in a form of public
gathering of LGBT Americans that was indistinguishable
2
from political demonstration (Armstrong and Crage, 2006,
p. 740).
In 1970, Gay Pride Parade was firstly and
simultaneously held in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago
on June 28 (ibid, p. 740-741). There were hundreds to
thousands of LGBT Americans joined the parade. They made
use of Gay Pride Parade to express their pride and visibility
in public space (urban street) for the purpose of gaining
public recognition and familiarity. At that time, the
parade was used to be held in ordinariness and solemnity.
There were no floats, no sounds of booming music, no boys
in briefs that colored the scene U.S. Gay Pride Parade in
early 1970s (Sargeant, 2010).
The physical appearance of most LGBT participants in
the 1970 U.S. Gay Pride Parade was mostly displayed in
the ordinariness of everyday appearance. The parade
attributes that were attached to the LGBT participants
were signs and banners that echoed their demand on public
3
acceptance towards their pride and visibility as an
individual and a minority of homosexual kind. Yells and
shouts were also lamented by LGBT participants to attract
public attention and to encourage public familiarity,
acceptance, and support towards their homosexuality. At
the Los Angeles Gay Pride Parade in 1970 for instance,
there were groups of LGBT participants under the
affiliation of Gay Liberation Front that marched while
carrying banners and yelling, “Two, four, six, eight, gay
is just as good as straight” (Christopher Street West
Association, n.d.). There was also a march of an
affiliation called as group of friends carrying a large
sign that echoed, “Heterosexuals for Homosexual Freedom”
(ibid).
In recent twenty first century years, U.S. Gay Pride
Parade is known as an event that displays the pride and
visibility of LGBT Americans through the attractive and
entertaining scene of carnival-like displays and shows.
4
Unlike in the previous years of the twentieth century,
U.S. Gay Pride Parade in twenty first century years is
held in a form of carnival-like event that displays
dancing and singing performance, booming music, rainbow
flags, and hundreds of colorful parade floats. Through
the parade, LGBT Americans come out or express their pride
and visibility as an individual and a minority of
homosexual kind to be publicly noticed, familiarized, and
accepted in an attractive and entertaining way. The sense
of ordinariness and solemnity has no longer dominated the
way the homosexuality of all LGBT participants is made to
be visible during the parade. The public spectators are
served with the appearance of LGBT participants in
various themed-costumes, body painting, make-up,
accessories, and other bodily attributes. Meanwhile, some
LGBT Americans even display their body in shirtless and
nudity symbolizing their aggressiveness in expressing
their homosexual or gay pride and visibility. All of these
5
carnival-like attractions, shows, as well as the
attributive and aggressive bodily display basically
symbolize the way LGBT Americans overtly make use of Gay
Pride Parade to construct their attractive, entertaining,
and aggressive pride and visibility as homosexual beings
in the frame of public familiarity for the purpose of
calming down public homophobia or anti-gay feeling and
attitude.
In some American media, the 21st century U.S. Gay
Pride Parade is illustrated as a carnival-like event that
displays gay pride and visibility. In the media, the
discussion of U.S. Gay Pride Parade is often associated
with the description about carnival-like displays and
shows that color and decorate the scene of the parade and
the physical appearance of LGBT participants. In this sub
chapter, the analysis is focused on the media
construction of U.S. Gay Pride Parade as a carnival-like
event that displays gay pride and visibility. The
6
construction is analyzed in the perspective of The
Seattle Times’ online news article published during 2009
to 2011.
Susan Kelleher (2009) in The Seattle Times’ article
entitled Seattle Parade Marries Pride and Politics presents the
discussion about Gay Pride parade in Seattle, Washington.
In her article, Kelleher specifically uses the term Seattle
Pride Parade to refer to the Gay Pride parade that was held
in Seattle on June 29, 2009. She illustrates the Seattle
Pride Parade as a carnival-like event of gay visibility
by describing the physical appearance of LGBT participant
in bodily attributes and decorations that can be analyzed
from the following citation:
"I'm not the marrying type," said Jeff Foster, 30, a living work of art deckedout in black leather with a rainbow-colored mohawk, silver-studded faceand ears, and tiny ruby horns sticking from his forehead above his piercedeyebrows (Seattle Parade Marries Pride and Politics, June29, 2009).The self-described goth/punk/pagan from Bend, Ore., traveled to Seattle toexperience a sense of "family and safety and belonging" with a largercommunity (ibid).
7
The above citation is The Seattle Times’ online news
article that points out the discussion about the visibility of
Jeff Foster as one of gay participants at the 2009
Seattle Pride parade. In this case, Susan Kelleher, the
author of the article describes the gay visibility of Jeff
Foster in two identities, as “a living work of arts” and
“a self-described Goth, punk, and pagan”. As a living work
of art, Kelleher describes the physical visibility of Jeff
Foster that was decorated with or “decked out” in black
leather with a rainbow-colored Mohawk, silver-studded face and ears,
and the tiny ruby horns that are stuck in his forehead right
above his pierced eyebrows. Based on this description, Jeff
Foster is illustrated as a gay man who came out or
expressed the visibility of his gay body and asserted his
gay identity to be publicly noticed and familiarized
through the artistic display of his physical appearance.
Kelleher’s description about Jeff Foster’s body as “a
living work of art” represents her perspective in
8
describing the 2009 Seattle Pride parade as a form of a
carnival-like event. Artistic display is the integral
part of carnival. One element that represents the
artistic display of carnival is the flamboyant costume or
dress. The display of flamboyant costume by carnival
revelers or participants is one element that
characterizes the scene of a carnival-like event
(Lipsitz, 1994, 235). In this regard, the visibility of
Jeff Foster’s body that is described as “a living work of
art” can be considered as flamboyant. Literally, flamboyant
is defined as the very confident in behavior or the
appearance that is purposely made to be noticed by being
brightly colored (Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary
3rd Edition). As one of the Seattle Pride parade
participants, Jeff Foster’s appearance is flamboyant
because during the parade the visibility of his gay body
was intentionally displayed and decorated to look
attractive and colorful in public gaze, familiarity and
9
recognition through his black leather outfit, rainbow-colored
Mohawk, silver-studded face and ears, horned forehead, and pierced
eyebrows.
Based on the illustration above, the 2009 Seattle
Pride parade is implicitly defined in the news article as
the rhetorical strategy for homosexual people like Jeff
Foster to be publicly noticed, familiarized and well
liked through the artistic and flamboyant display of his
gay body. The modification of his physical appearance
into “a living work of art” during the parade represents
the way he made the visibility of his gay body to look
attractive and entertaining in the frame of public
Americans’ gaze. By appearing as “a living work of art”
at the 2009 Seattle Pride parade, Jeff basically made use
of the parade as his rhetorical tactic to proudly come
out or express his artistic and flamboyant appearance to
calm down public fear and hate towards his homosexuality.
By maintaining his “living work of art” appearance, Jeff
10
Foster was also being friendly in encouraging public
familiarity and fondness towards his self-identity as a
gay man. He was being friendly here because his
appearance was not made as confrontational, solemn, and
ordinary as the physical appearance of LGBT participants
at the early 1970s U.S. Gay Pride parade. His overall
physical appearances here were made to look as artistic,
flamboyant, friendly, attractive, and entertaining in the
frame of public Americans’ gaze and familiarity.
In addition, the black leather outfit that decorates the
physical appearance of Jeff Foster is known as the
typical outfit for gay men when they present their
visibility as participants of Gay Pride Parade. In this
case, the bodily appearance of gay men in leather outfit,
accessories, or fashion attributes basically symbolizes
the aggressive ways of gay men in declaring their gay
visibility to public watchers (Herrel, 1992 as cited in
Maasik and Solomon, 1997, p. 424). Since 1970s, Gay Pride
11
parade across the United States has been inevitably
colored with the presence of gay men groups in leather
clothes, costume, accessories, or fashion attributes. In
the 1979 Chicago Gay Pride parade for instance, there was
the march of gay men in leather outfits (leathermen),
women dress (drags), and muscular body (beefcakes). They
came out and marched at the 1979 Chicago Gay Pride parade
as a minority that demanded public acknowledgment and
familiarity towards their community culture and sexual
acts (ibid).
In queer perspective, gay men in leather clothes
symbolize dangerous hypermasculinity (ibid). By wearing
leather clothes or costumes, accessories, and other forms
of fashion attributes, gay men escalate their masculinity to
be hyper-visible to counteract the social stereotype that
marks them as effeminate (Cameron and Kulick, 2003, p. 6).
In this case, the escalation of gay men’s masculinity is
done through the way the leather materials are made and
12
designed to accentuate and decorate gay men’s muscular
body. In the news article above, the description of Jeff
Foster’s body as a living work of art in black leather constructs
the physical identity of Jeff Foster as a hypermasculine gay
man who aggressively asserted his muscular visibility in
front of public Americans through the 2009 Seattle Pride
Parade. Based on this construction, it can be understood
that the 2009 Seattle Pride Parade is defined by the news
article as an event that displays gay men’s visibility in
hypermasculinity. In another sense, the description of
Jeff’s appearance in black leather outfit that is
highlighted in the above news article can also be
understood as the way the news article defines the 2009
Seattle Pride Parade as one form of rhetorical tactic
used by gay men i.e. Jeff Foster to encourage public
society to identify and acknowledge his gender identity
as a hypermasculine gay man.
13
For gay men, hypermasculinity is one of their central
issues related to their struggle in achieving the ideal
requirement of hegemonic masculinity or masculinity based
on the socially constructed norms and values. In other
words, hegemonic masculinity is masculinity that is widely
acknowledged by major society. In certain understanding,
hegemonic masculinity is referred to the patriarchal
masculinity or masculinity that is presented by a male
figure with identities as white, straight (heterosexual), upper-
middle class, college educated, gainfully employed, Protestant,
father, of good complexion, weight, and height, and sportsmen
(Erving, 1965 as cited in
http://web.grinnell.edu/courses/lib/s01/lib397-01/ReStruc
turing_Masculinities/documents/gaymasc.pdf). Based on
this definition, gay men are exactly excluded from the
category of hegemonic masculinity due to their sexual
identity that is considered as non-straight. This exclusion
is also strongly supported by the established social
14
stereotype that marks their gender identity with the term
effeminate (Cameron and Kulick, 2003, p. 6) or other
identities that are commonly referred to women’s personas
or feminine traits. In fact, there are numbers of gay men
who reject the socially constructed gender classification
that excludes them from the classification of manhood
masculinity. Thus, being hypermasculine is a way for gay men
to prove to public society that they are masculine men.
In the struggle of being hypermasculine or of having a
physical look as a masculine (straight) man in the eye of
public society, gay men apply several symbolic artifacts
to express and represent their hypermasculinity. One obvious
object or artifact used by gay men to symbolize their
hypermasculinity is leather. In this regard, the wearing of
outfits made of leather material symbolizes an attempt of
gay men in displaying and expressing their masculinity to
be highly visible in public gaze and space. In 1950s, gay
men started to make use of leather outfit to represent
15
their hypermasculine image (Kularski, 2013, p. 9). Then,
throughout years of post-Stonewall Riots incident,
leather clothing developed into a community and a
subculture. Members of leather community consists of gay
men who likes wearing leather clothing and perform such
sexual fetish, a sexual act towards objects or parts of
the body other than sexual organs i.e. leather,
sadomasochism, bondage, domination, uniforms, and rubber
(http://www.lambda.org/symbols.htm). At that time, the
physical look of gay men in leather clothing or outfit
was made to be visible in cultivated muscles, short
haircut, trimmed mustaches, jeans, and boots (Eaklor,
2008, 139). In other words, gay hypermasculinity during the
post-Stonewall years was visualized by the appearance of
gay men in leather clothing with muscular body, short
haircut, trimmed mustaches, jeans, and boots. They were
used to be called as “macho men” (ibid).
16
The physical appearance of Jeff Foster in black
leather outfit at the 2009 Seattle Pride Parade that is
described in the above news article illustrates the way
Jeff Foster made use of leather artifact to construct and
assert his hypermasculine or “macho-man” image to prove his
masculinity in front of public Americans. In other words,
the physical appearance of Jeff Foster in black leather
outfit describes his attempt to have a look as a
masculine (straight) man in public gaze and familiarity by
displaying and emphasizing his muscularity in black leather
outfit. Thus, the description of Jeff’s visibility in
black leather outfit as one of participants at the 2009
Seattle Pride Parade that is highlighted in the above
news article represent the way the news article
implicitly defines Gay Pride Parade as an event that
displays the hypermasculine visibility of gay men
participants signified by their muscular body in leather
outfit. In other words, the news article’s description
17
regarding Jeff Foster’s appearance in black leather
outfit at the 2009 Seattle Pride Parade shows how the
news article defines Gay Pride Parade as an event that is
used by gay men to assert their masculinity and to
encourage public familiarity and acknowledgment towards
their manhood masculinity for the purpose of
counteracting social stereotype that all gay men are
effeminate and that masculinity is the province of
straight men.
In another sense, the public display of Jeff’s bodily
appearance in black leather outfit at the 2009 Seattle
Pride Parade illustrates how he, as a gay man, tried to
assert the established notion of masculine-male/feminine-
female binary that men are born with masculine traits
while in contrast, women are born with feminine traits.
In this regard, Jeff’s masculine image that was
accentuated or made to be hyper visible through his
muscular body display in black leather outfit illustrates
18
his way of strongly supporting the notion that
masculinity is associated with maleness and
muscularity. In common conception, Jeff’s hyper-visible
masculinity (hypermasculinity) is associated with male power
and domination but it is the male power and domination
that is emphasized to be more obvious (Springer, 1993 as
cited in Vergne, 2012, p. 3). Meanwhile, male power is
often associated with physical strength particularly
muscle strength. Dyer (1982) noted that muscles are
defined as a sign of male power (p. 71 as cited in Vergne,
2012, p. 4). Based on this notion, hypermasculinity
represents male power and domination that are accentuated
or made to be hyper-visible through muscularity. In this
regard, Jeff Foster is a gay man and he has muscular
male-body. The accentuation of his muscular body in black
leather outfit at the 2009 Seattle Pride Parade
illustrates the way he publicly asserted and echoed the
notion that masculinity is associated with male power and
19
domination. Thus, the description of Jeff Foster’s
visibility in black leather outfit at the 2009 Seattle
Pride Parade that is highlighted in the above news
article shows the way the news article defines the 2009
Seattle Pride Parade as an event that assert the notion
of masculine-male/feminine-female binary through the
visibility of gay men participants who made their
masculinity hyper visible through the accentuation of their
muscular body using black leather outfit.
Other identifications of Jeff Foster that are pointed
out in the above article are Goth, punk and pagan. In the
article, Goth, punk, and pagan are said as the self-described
identities of Jeff Foster at the 2009 Seattle Pride
parade. In the article above, the discussion about the
self-described identities of Jeff Foster as a Goth, punk,
and pagan is explained in the context of family and
community inclusion. The clause “family and safety and
belonging” that are stated in the article above and are
20
put in quotation marks emphasize the signification of the
terms Goth, punk, and pagan as a form of family or
community that promotes sense of safety, affiliation, and
inclusion to homosexual people in this case to a gay man
like Jeff Foster.
In most common knowledge, Goth and punk are known as
communities of people who are interested in particular
genre of music, arts, fashion, literature, films, even
ideology. The visibility of these two communities’
members in public space is commonly characterized with
fashion style and physical look. In the article above,
the identification of Jeff Foster’s physical appearance
in black leather outfit and rainbow-colored Mohawk emphasizes the
signification of his inclusion and affiliation in the
community of Goth and punk. In gothic world, black and
other dark colors are used to characterize gothic fashion.
Meanwhile, Mohawk hairstyle is one of the typical styles
in punk fashion. The description of Jeff Foster’s
21
physical appearance in the combination of black leather
outfit and rainbow-colored Mohawk illustrates the way he
asserted his gothic-punk identity as well as his inclusion
and affiliation in the community of Goth and punk to
public spectators.
Another self-described identity of Jeff Foster that
is highlighted in the above article is pagan. Literally,
pagan is defined as a polytheistic religion (Cambridge
Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 3rd Edition). Its believers
are also called as pagan (ibid). It is assumed that the
first accounts about homosexual behavior had been found
in the ancient religious ritual of pagan (Buchanan, 2000,
para. 1 as cited in Sutor,
http://rockhawk.com/homosexuals_in_history.htm). For this
reason, the inclusion and affiliation of homosexuality is
at least found in the worship of various pagan gods
(ibid). In this case, the discussion about the self-
described identity of Jeff Foster as a pagan signifies an
22
interpretation that defines Jeff Foster as a religious
gay man. Based on this interpretation, Jeff Foster’s gay
visibility that was displayed at the 2009 Seattle Pride
parade was not simply about his identity as a gay man,
but it was also a display about his religious identity as
a pagan. At the same time, the way Jeff Foster described
himself as a pagan illustrates his attempt to assert the
sacredness of homosexuality as its practical value had
ever been found in the ancient religious ritual, in this
case in ancient pagan ritual. In other interpretations,
the discussion about Jeff Foster’s religious identity as
pagan highlighted in the above news article illustrates
the way the news article implicitly defines the 2009
Seattle Pride Parade as an event that assert an insight
about homosexuality and its sacredness in religious
teachings that is represented by the way the LGBT
participants i.e. Jeff Foster publicly assert their
religious identity through words and physical appearance
23
in outfits or accessories that symbolizes paganism. In
this case, Jeff’s silver-studded face and ears of Jeff Foster
that is discussed in the above news article symbolizes
Jeff’s way of asserting his paganism through physical
look since accessories or jewelries made of silver
material are often used to symbolize paganism.
The description of Jeff Foster’s religious identity
as a pagan that is highlighted in the above news article
also signifies an inclusion and affiliation of homosexual
people in the realm of religious practice and
denomination i.e. pagan. Yet, in most religious teachings
and denominations, homosexuals are often unaccepted as
they are regarded as unnatural, ungodly, and impure (Yip,
2005 as cited in Adamczyk and Pitt, 2009, p. 339).
Meanwhile, Americans are mostly religious. They believe
in various religious teachings and are affiliated into
various denominations. Many of religious Americans are
conservative and most of them are intolerant towards
24
homosexuality. Thus, LGBT Americans have been commonly
experiencing an exclusion from religious denominations.
It is a struggle and a movement for LGBT Americans to
be visible and recognized not as a sinful being in the
midst of religious communities and particularly the
conservative ones. They have long been seeking freedom in
religious practice and inclusion in various
denominations. In the late twentieth century, their
struggle resulted in the growing number of “LGBT-friendly
religious groups” that openly welcomed the affiliation of
LGBT members (Eaklor, 2008, p. 221). In the mid-1980 for
instance, there were some Christian denominations that
openly welcomed homosexual Americans i.e. United Church of
Christ, the United Methodists, the Evangelical Lutherans, and the
Presbyterian Church USA followed by The Unitarian Universalist
Association, The Quakers, Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism in
1990s (ibid, p. 222).
25
Into the twenty first century, the number of
religious groups that openly welcome the inclusion and
affiliation of LGBT Americans is greater. Christians, as
the largest community of faith in the United States, show
greater welcome towards LGBT Americans. There are tens to
hundreds of Christian Churches across the United States
welcome the inclusion of LGBT Americans
(http://www.gaychurch.org/find_a_church/united_states/uni
ted_states.htm). Yet, there are also numbers of
denominations that show their exclusion towards the
affiliation of LGBT Americans i.e. Conservative
Protestants (Southern Baptist, Churches of Christ, Evangelical,
Fundamentalist, and Pantecostal), Mormons, and Conservative
Muslims. This particular phenomenon shows that the LGBT
Americans are now actually still struggling for the
expansion of their inclusion in the arena of religious
denominations particularly the conservative ones.
26
In the article above, the identification of Jeff
Foster as a pagan reflects the way Susan Kelleher
illustrates the spiritual need and the religious
affiliation of Jeff Foster that were symbolically
expressed by him at the 2009 Seattle Pride parade.
Through this illustration, Kelleher defines the 2009
Seattle Pride parade as an event that displays the
religious visibility of LGBT Americans. This definition
refers to the way Jeff Foster made use of Gay Pride
parade to express or make visible his religious
affiliation to make public aware on his need in religious
practice and inclusion. This illustration also explains
the way Jeff Foster encouraged religious spectators other
than pagans to welcome the inclusion and affiliation of
LGBT Americans as part of their denominations.
The overall identifications about the physical
appearance of Jeff Foster that is discussed in the above
article illustrate the variety of Jeff Foster’s
27
visibility that was displayed at the 2009 Seattle Pride
parade. Based on this illustration, the visibility of
Jeff Foster that was made to be publicly recognized and
familiarized through the 2009 Seattle Pride parade was
his identity as a gay, Goth, punk, and pagan in the shield
of his “living work of art” appearance. In this case, the
visible presence of Jeff Foster that was made to be
artistic, attractive, entertaining, aggressive, and
flamboyant in the frame of public gaze through the 2009
Seattle Pride parade was not simply his presence as a gay
man. Yet, the visible presence of Jeff Foster that was
made to be publicly seen as “a living work of art” was
also the identity of his inclusion and affiliation in
communities of faith and interest i.e. pagan, Goth, and
punk.
In this sense, the identification of Jeff Foster as
“a living work of art”, Goth, punk, and pagan also
signifies the way the news article defines the 2009
28
Seattle Pride parade as a carnival-like event that
display and declare the gay visibility of LGBT Americans and
their inclusion in various interest groups and religious
denominations. Based on this interpretation, the
carnival-like scene of the 2009 Seattle Pride parade is
illustrated as a rhetorical strategy for a gay man like
Jeff Foster to encourage public familiarity and
acceptance towards his homosexuality and to expand his
inclusion in broader mainstream communities i.e.
religious denominations and interest groups.
Another illustration that defines U.S. Gay Pride
parade as a carnival-like event of gay pride and visibility is
also presented in The Seattle Times’ online news article that
was published on June 27, 2010 entitled Seattle Pride Parade
Show of Support for Gay Community. The author of the article,
Christine Willmsen points out a description about the
visibility of LGBT Americans’ pride that was symbolically
displayed at the 37th annual Seattle Pride Parade in the
29
aegis of rainbow-colored attributes. She writes, “Allen and
hordes of other people lined Fourth Avenue downtown to watch people in
rainbow-colored boas, socks, earrings, beads and wigs marching in the 37th
annual parade” (Willmsen, 2010, para. 3). In this article,
Allen and hordes of other people are described as the parade
spectators who enjoyed watching the visibility of LGBT
participants’ pride that is symbolized in rainbow-colored
attributes.
In the above news article, the rainbow colors are
identified as the color of boas, socks, earrings, beads, and
wigs that decorate the physical appearance of LGBT
participants at the 37th annual Seattle Pride Parade. In
the perspective of queer analysis, the colors of rainbow
are the symbol of gay pride. In time post Stonewall
Rebellion (1969), numerous symbols and colors were
created and adopted by American gay men, lesbians, and
bisexuals to express their pride or signify their sexuality
and/or politics (Eaklor, 2008, p. 138). The rainbow colors,
30
for instance, were used as the color of a flag that was
designed to symbolize gay pride (ibid). This rainbow-
colored flag was later known as the Gay Pride Flag. Gilbert
Baker, a San Francisco gay artist, was the one who
designed the Gay Pride Flag. In recent twenty first
century years, the Gay Pride Flag remains as the icon of
gay pride parade and it is always waved in every Gay
Pride Parade around the world.
In the above news article, Christine Willmsen points
out that the rainbow colors are found in some accessories
and jewelries i.e. boas, socks, earrings, beads, and wigs worn
by LGBT participants during the 37th annual Seattle Pride
Parade. Based on queer perspective, what is Willmsen
intended to point out here is that the rainbow-colored boas,
shocks, earrings, beads and wigs are symbolical. These
accessories and jewelries symbolize gay pride as they are
rainbow-colored. They were worn to symbolize the self-pride
of LGBT participants towards their homosexuality or
31
gayness. In this sense, the 37th annual Seattle Pride
Parade is illustrated by Christine Willmsen as an event
that comes out the self-pride of LGBT Americans as homosexual
beings or as individuals that are not completely straight.
In another paragraph, Christine Willmsen points out
another description of some carnival-like displays and
the physical appearance of LGBT participants at the 37th
annual Seattle Pride Parade that were also decked out in
the nuance of rainbow notion. She writes, “About 165 floats, many
decorated with the theme "Over the Rainbow," showed support for the gay
community with balloons, flags, booming music and several versions of
Dorothy and The Wizard of Oz skipping through the Emerald City”
(Willmsen, 2010, para. 4). In the article, Willmsen uses
the phrase “Over the Rainbow” to describe the decorations
of 165 floats displayed at the 37th annual Seattle Pride
Parade.
In common understanding, “Over the Rainbow” is known
as the title of a song that becomes the official
32
soundtrack of a popular American movie entitled The Wizard
of Oz. For LGBT Americans, the phrase “Over the Rainbow”
is a song that symbolizes gay visibility as it is
popularized by Judy Garland who is well known as an
American gay icon (Currid, 2001, p. 123). The song was sung
by Garland in her starring role as Dorothy Gale in The Wizard
of Oz (1939) movie. In the era of 1950s to 1960s, Judy
Garland was very famous among LGBT Americans as a gay
singer and a movie star. Her stage performance at that
time could successfully come out large number of gay
audiences and created idolization (Wickman, 2012, para.
4,
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/explainer/2012/06/rain
bows_and_gay_pride_how_the_rainbow_became_a_symbol_of_the
_glbt_movement_.html). In this case, Garland’s capability
of representing queer identification and pleasure is
constructed based on her appearance and film role that
often reflect the androgynous and camp character (Currid,
33
2001, p. 123). Thus, all of her stage shows were often
successful in encouraging LGBT Americans particularly gay
men to come out and watch her show in particular public
spaces as her audiences and fans as well.
Beyond Judy Garland’s role and iconography, “Over the
Rainbow” song itself is queerly identified as the
reflection of LGBT Americans’ life story. The song lyrics
of “Over the Rainbow” tell about an imaginary land in
somewhere way up high over the rainbow where happiness
and all dreams can come true. In The Wizard of Oz movie, the
song was sung by Dorothy Gale in the scene when she found
herself in trouble and got no sympathy from her aunt and
uncle. By singing the song, she wandered his imagination
and started wondering for a dreamland where she could get
sympathy and find no hardship. Until then she experienced
an unexpected journey that led her to the Land of Oz. In
the queer perspective, Dorothy’s journey from the great
grey prairie of Kansas to the bright, beautiful, and green Land
34
of Oz is interpreted as the journey of LGBT Americans to
come out from the grey area of self-unawareness and self-denial to
the bright area of self-awareness and self-acknowledgment as
homosexuals.
In the news article above, the phrase “Over the
Rainbow” is exactly used to describe some decorations
that were used to make the 165 parade floats in the 37th
annual Seattle Pride Parade looked attractive. It is
stated that the decorations consist of balloons, flags, booming
music and several versions of Dorothy and The Wizard of Oz skipping
through the Emerald City. Among these decorations, what are
called as the several versions of Dorothy and The Wizard of Oz
refer to some LGBT participants who modified their
appearance by wearing Dorothy Gale and The Wizard of Oz
costumes. Both Dorothy Gale and The Wizard of Oz are known as
the major characters in The Wizard of Oz movie. By wearing
Dorothy and The Wizard of Oz costumes, the LGBT participants
35
here were symbolically expressing their homosexual self-
awareness in the frame of “Over the Rainbow” theme.
For many LGBT Americans, being visible or coming out to
one-self and to others as a homosexual is mutually
exclusive and often problematic at the same time.
Historically and culturally, LGBT Americans experience
the wide range practice of homophobia and heterosexism in
the midst of American society. Since childhood period,
LGBT individuals even have been victimized to homophobic
or antigay attitude addressed their own families,
communities, and strangers (Drescher, 2007, p. 16). Their
fear on public rejection makes themselves unable to merge
their homosexuality into their public personalities
(Drescher, 2007, p. 16). They rather choose to hide their
homosexuality from oneself-awareness and public
acknowledgment. Thus, they become closeted individuals (ibid).
In recent twenty first century years, criminality
based on homophobic or antigay attitude are continually
36
being experienced by LGBT Americans as well as
heterosexuals who are suspected as gay. In 2010 for
instance, there were three homicide cases towards
homosexual citizens. One of the cases was the death of an
18-year-old gay man from Texas that was murdered by his
classmate based on homophobia motive (Romney, 2011, para.
1). The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs
reported statistic data that showed a 13% rise in violent
crimes on the basis of perceived or actual sexual
orientation, gender identity, and status of HIV positive
throughout 2009 years and over (ibid, para. 2). Both the
homicide case and the statistic data reported by National
Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs show that homophobia
remains to be exist in the midst of contemporary American
society.
Based on the above facts, the self-awareness of LGBT
Americans as homosexual beings that is publicly displayed
through their appearance in Dorothy and The Wizard of Oz
37
costumes at the 37th annual Seattle Pride Parade is
strongly contradictive with the real life experience of
many LGBT people in America in dealing with public
homophobia and their difficulties in coming out their
homosexuality. By wearing Dorothy and The Wizard of Oz
costume, the LGBT Americans here were coming out their
homosexual self-awareness and telling public about their
homosexuality. The costumes were basically used by LGBT
participants to make their gay visibility looked attractive
and entertaining in public familiarity and
acknowledgment. Thus, public fear on homosexuality and
other antigay attitudes could be calmed down and
transformed into sense of acceptance and inclusion. In
this case, the 37th annual Seattle Pride Parade is
implicitly illustrated in the above news article as an
event that displays the attractive and entertaining
visibility of LGBT Americans in expressing their
Unicorns from Beyond the Garden ofHedon march in the parade Sundayafternoon. The sidewalks werepacked as the parade, whichstarted at 11 a.m., made its wayalong Fourth Avenue, from Union
38
homosexual self-awareness as a way of overcoming public
homophobia.
In another online
news article published
by The Seattle Times, the
interpretation of Gay
Pride Parade as a
carnival-like event of
gay pride and visibility is also presented in a form of
photographic narration
attached to the news
article entitled Sunday
Pride Parade Draws Diverse Crowds. The photograph on the right
side of this paragraph presents an illustration of the
LGBT participants that marched at the 37th Seattle Pride Parade
held on Sunday, June 26, 2011. In the photograph, it can
be seen that there are numbers of LGBT participants
expressing their gay pride and visibility cheerfully and
39
flamboyantly by displaying their appearance in unique
costume, accessories, brightly-colored makeup, and
artistic hairstyle.
The caption explains that the LGBT participants
captured in the photograph belong to a group called as
Unicorns from Beyond the Garden of Hedon. In this case, Unicorns
from Beyond the Garden of Hedon is an interest group which its
members share strong liking towards unicorns and fashion
(http://vinylmeow.wix.com/unicorns#!about). Members of
Unicorns from Beyond the Garden of Hedon are individuals with
creativity and skills in fashion design by using the horn
of unicorns as the icon of their fashion ornaments.
Members of Unicorns from Beyond the Garden of Hedon are mostly
LGBT people. The group is often invited to present a
fashion show in many public events including the Gay
Pride Parade held around Seattle City. The above
photograph describes the fashion show displayed by the
40
LGBT members of Unicorn from Beyond the Garden of Hedon during
their participation at the 37th Seattle Pride Parade.
In the photograph, it can be seen that the LGBT
members of Unicorn from Beyond the Garden of Hedon were marching
at the 37th Seattle Pride Parade while expressing their
pride and visibility under the aegis of their appearance
in unique costume, makeup, hairstyle, and a unicorn horn
stuck on their forehead. The woman in the giant black
tuxedo captured in the photograph represents one of the
LGBT participants at the 37th Seattle Pride Parade who
expressed her gay pride and visibility through her
flamboyant appearance in tuxedo costume, bright-colored
makeup, Mohawk hairstyle, and horned forehead. The way
she waved her hands and smile to public audiences also
signifies the way she expressed her self-pride as a
homosexual to public spectators. She and other LGBT
participants captured in the photograph illustrate the
way LGBT participants of the 37th Seattle Pride Parade
41
made their gay visibility looked artistic, attractive and
flamboyant in the frame of public gaze, identification,
and familiarity.
In another sense, the woman in the giant black tuxedo
that can be clearly seen in the photograph also
represents butch figure. In this regard, the term butch is
literally used to define a woman appearing or behaving
like a man, or a very strong and muscular man behaving in
traditional male way (Cambridge Advance Learner’s
Dictionary 3rd Edition). In the framework of gender study,
butch is referred to lesbian gender. Another term that is
also used to refer lesbian gender is femme. In this
regard, butch describes lesbian gender that accentuates
signs of masculinity, while femme describes lesbian gender
that accentuates signs of traditional femininity
(Levitt&Hiestand, 2004, p. 605).
In particular, butch identity describes lesbians or
women whose personalities resemble traditional (male)
42
masculinity (Rosario et al, 2007, para. 4). Butch lesbians
or women here are likely to appear or be visible and
behave in men’s way. Their physical appearance resembles
men’s style and cross dressing i.e. short sometimes
slicked haircuts and three-piece suits with formal
collars (Picket, 2009, p. 35). In addition, there is an
empirical justification stated by some researchers that
views butch women’s dress and hairstyle as a sign of
assertion towards lesbian identity (Cogan, 1999; Krakauer
& Rose, 2002 as cited in Rosario et al, 2007, para. 4),
as tools to attract femme partners, and as a way of
having the most comfortable and true feeling as butch
lesbian (Levitt & Hiestand, 2004 as cited in Rosario et
al, 2007, para. 4).
The giant black tuxedo and Mohawk hairstyle that
decorate the physical appearance of the lesbian woman in
the above photograph symbolize men’s style and cross
dressing. In this case, tuxedo is literally defined as a
43
form of male suit consists of one set of black or white
jacket, trousers and bow tie that is usually worn at
formal social events (Cambridge Advance Learner’s
Dictionary 3rd Edition). Meanwhile, Mohawk hairstyle in
many ways represents men’s hairstyle since it is often
characterized with short haircut and few hairs that are
made longer along the centre of the head. In this regard,
the lesbian woman in the giant black tuxedo and Mohawk
hairstyle that is captured in the above photograph
illustrates the way she asserts or makes her identity
visible and noticeable as butch lesbian by displaying her
masculine look in the giant black tuxedo and Mohawk
hairstyle. In another sense, the photographic narration
that describes the lesbian woman in the giant black
tuxedo and Mohawk hairstyle that is clearly captured in
the above photograph illustrates the way the news article
defines the 37th Seattle Pride Parade as an event that
displays the gender visibility of lesbian women as butch
44
that is represented by the masculine look of the woman in
the giant black tuxedo and Mohawk hairstyle.
In the perspective of queer study, the formation of
butch identity is seen as a political attempt to
counteract and challenge the constructed nature and the
traditional social notion of the masculine-male/feminine-
female binary. The term butch in the scope of gender
conception is used to define the gender presentation,
behavioral traits, and social role of lesbian women who
maintain the traditional (male) masculinity. In this
regard, the most visible attempt of butch lesbians in
representing the traditional male masculinity is
represented through the way they maintain their physical
appearance in mannish look and cross dressing. At the
same time, the way butch lesbians maintain their mannish
look and cross dressing also represent their visible
attempt in breaking the boundary of the masculine-
male/feminine-female binary.
45
In common practice, the way butch lesbians maintain
their men’s style and cross dressing is done by having short
haircut and wearing pants. Yet, short haircut and pants
are certainly considered as contradictive to the
traditional or orthodox conception of female gender
presentation that suggests women should represent
femininity through long haircut and dress. Dress, for
instance, has been maintained as the normative symbol of
traditional (female) femininity (Griffin, 1998; Sherrow,
1996; Woolum, 1998; Zimmerman and Reavill, 1998 as cited
in Wilde, n.d.). Meanwhile, pants are often known as the
symbol of traditional (male) masculinity. Thus, the
physical appearance of butch lesbians in short haircut and
pants explicitly signifies their political attempt in
challenging the traditional social conception of the
masculine-male/feminine-female binary.
In this case, the giant black tuxedo and Mohawk
hairstyle that colored the physical appearance of the
46
butch lesbian woman captured in the above photograph
symbolize the traditional (male) masculinity. Tuxedo, for
instance, is literally referred to man’s suit consist of
one set of black or white jacket, trousers and bow tie
that is usually worn at formal social events (Cambridge
Advance Learner’s Dictionary 3rd Edition). The literal
definition of tuxedo here explicitly explains that tuxedo
is socially and commonly understood and acknowledged as a
suit specially designed for man. In other words, tuxedo
can be understood as the artifact symbol of traditional
(men’s) masculinity. Thus, the physical appearance of the
butch lesbians in the giant black tuxedo that is clearly
captured in the above photograph illustrates the way the
woman as one of the LGBT participants made use of the 37th
Seattle Pride Parade to express their gender presentation
in traditional (male) masculinity to public society. At
the same time, the physical appearance of the butch
lesbians highlighted in the above photograph also
47
illustrates the way she made use of the 37th Seattle Pride
Parade to publicly assert her rejection towards the
traditional social conception of the masculine-
male/feminine-female binary.
Meanwhile, the Mohawk hairstyle of the woman in the
above photograph is also commonly identified as the
traditional hairstyle of men. Historically, Mohawk
hairstyle was firstly introduced by men of Mohawk tribe,
an Indian tribe of the Iroquois nation in the
northeastern part of North America (Parker, 2012, para.
1). Mohawk men modified their hairstyle by pulling the
hair out of the head until only a small square was left
at the back crown of the head (ibid). In certain case,
Mohawk men made use of their hairstyle to intimidate
enemies during war time. Afterward, the modern adoption
of Mohawk men’s hairstyle was firstly started during the
early World War II. It became the haircut style of the
U.S. Allied Airborne soldiers, specifically the 101st
48
Airborne Division (Granger, 2008, para. 3). At that time,
the Mohawk hairstyle was also used by the soldiers to
intimidate enemies (Parker, 2012, para. 2).
Throughout the 1970s, Mohawk hairstyle was popular
amongst Punk rock generations. It became the cultural
symbol of Punk rock lovers’ hairstyle. By the 1980s,
Mohawk hairstyle was not only popular amongst Punk rock
generations. Celebrities outside of Punk genre at that
time began to adopt Mohawk haircut as their hairstyle
(ibid, para. 3). Today, Mohawk hairstyle has been widely
adopted as one form of popular hairstyle for men.
Moreover, there are numbers of women who modify their
haircut with Mohawk style. Female celebrities i.e.
Rihanna (the Grammy Award winner who is known for her
single “Umbrella”), Miley Cirus (an American actress and
singer who is popular with her performance in American TV
series “Hannah Montana”), and Halle Berry (a popular
American actress and former fashion model who won
49
Academic Award as Best Actress in 2002 for her
performance in Monster’s Ball) are now well known as the
role models of women with Mohawk hairstyle. Their Mohawk
hairstyle has been widely discussed in media and in many
occasion, the media portray these celebrities’ pride of
having the Mohawk haircut.
The popularity of Mohawk hairstyle amongst women and
female celebrities in many ways indicates a sign of a
revolutionary movement in breaking the boundary of the
orthodox norm of female gender presentation that is
symbolized with long haircut. In this case, Mohawk
hairstyle is commonly characterized with short haircut.
Meanwhile, in the stereotypical and orthodox perspective
of social knowledge, short haircut is used to symbolize
maleness. In other words, Mohawk hairstyle symbolizes the
male gender presentation that is traditionally and
socially defined as masculine. Thus, the butch lesbian
with Mohawk hairstyle that is captured in the above
50
photograph illustrates the way she made use of her Mohawk
haircut to symbolize her political act in breaking the
boundary of the normative-orthodox gender presentation
based on the masculine-male/feminine-female binary.
Based on the overall explanation above, both the
giant black tuxedo and the Mohawk hairstyle that decorate
the physical appearance of the butch lesbian captured in
the above photograph are included as symbols of
traditional male-masculinity. In this regards, the way
the butch lesbian in the photograph maintains her look in
the giant black tuxedo and the Mohawk hairstyle here
represents her way of copying the traditional men’s
masculine style to express her rejection towards the
conformity of the normative-orthodox gender presentation
based on the boundary of the masculine-male/feminine-female
binary. Thus, the highlight about the image of the butch
lesbian in the giant black tuxedo and the Mohawk
hairstyle that is clearly captured in the above news
ELLEN M. BANNER / THE SEATTLETIMES"Recycling Queers" march indresses made from plastic bottlesin Seattle's 37th annual PrideParade Sunday, June 26, 2011 indowntown Seattle. The paradestarted at Union Street, went
51
article photograph illustrates the way the news article
defines the 37th Seattle Pride Parade as a carnival-like
event used by lesbian women to assert their political
action in challenging the normative-orthodox gender
presentation based on the masculine-male/feminine-female
binary and at the same time, encouraging public
familiarity and acknowledgment towards their gender
presentation performed in traditional male masculinity.
The second photograph
on the right side of this
52
paragraph is also attached to The Seattle Times’ news
article entitled Sunday Pride Parade Draws Diverse
Crowds. The photograph displays the image of two gay men
marching as participants of the 37th Seattle Pride Parade
held on June 26, 2011. It can be seen in the photograph
that these two gay participants marched along public
urban street while displaying their carnival-like
appearance in an attractive and artistic costume design
made of plastic bottles. In the photograph, it can be
obviously seen that the two gay men dressed up in skirt
and carried umbrella that were made of second-hand
plastic bottles. They also wore unique hat made of
plastic bottles’ caps. In the caption, they are defined
as “Recycling Queers” that refers to their physical
visibility as gay men with costume and bodily accessories
made of second-hand plastic bottles. In this case, the
word “queer” at “Recycling Queers” is literally used as
another term to call homosexual people, specifically
53
homosexual men (Cambridge Advance Learner’s Dictionary
3rd Edition).
Amongst queer community, the physical appearance of
the two “Recycling Queers” in the photograph is well-
known as drag queen. In queer terminology, a drag queen is
defined as a homosexual or gay man who often, or
habitually, dresses in female clothes (Newton, 1979, p.
3-4). Drag queens are commonly known as stage performers
and many people like to call them as female impersonator
(Scheiner, 2011, p. 13). In this case, becoming drag
queen for gay men means embodying female appearance and
sometimes attitude for an entertainment or a show. It can
be obviously seen in the photograph that those two
“Recycling Queers” or gay men maintained such drag
attitude and appearance that embody femaleness. In terms
of appearance, it can be seen that those two gay men
dressed up in skirt made of plastic bottles, wore giant
white-corsage around their wrists, and put lip-gloss on
54
their lips. In this case, skirt has been culturally and
normatively defined as female clothing. Meanwhile, the
giant corsage made of white lace that decorated their
hand-wrists is also commonly known as one forms of female
accessory. And the lip-gloss they put on their lips is a
type of (women) make-up that makes lips look shiny
(Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 3rd Edition). In
addition, the rainbow-colored hats that are made of
plastic bottle caps worn by those two gay men embody
queer conception of pride. In queer sense, the rainbow
colors of those two gay men’s hats are defined as symbol
of gay pride since they are usually used as the official
color of the Gay Pride Flag
(http://www.capitolpride.org/glbt_symbols.shtml). Thus,
the rainbow-colored hats worn by those two gay men
implicitly symbolize their pride of being publicly
visible as gays in drag appearance that embodies
femaleness that was displayed along public urban street
55
during their participation at the 37th Seattle Pride
Parade.
In terms of attitude or manner, the way those two gay
men in the photograph carried their umbrellas also
represents female gesture. It can be seen from the way
they performed the effeminate or sissy act when they
carried their umbrellas that are made of plastic bottles.
Their effeminate or sissy act here in many ways represents
female mannerism. For drag queens, the embodiment of
female mannerism is achieved by copying traditional
female attitude i.e. being feminine, effeminate, or sissy.
In many occasion, they intentionally embody feminine,
effeminate, or sissy gestures for a public show or an
entertainment that is made to be attractive and
entertaining in public gaze. In the photograph, it can be
obviously seen that those two gay men performed
effeminate act in carrying their umbrella when marching
along public urban street during the 37th Seattle Pride
56
Parade. By acting as effeminate in public, those two gay
men in the photograph basically performed drag act to
entertain, attract, and attain the attention of public
spectators along the edge of the street. In this sense,
those two gay men proudly presented their gay visibility
to be present in public Americans’ gaze and familiarity
by attracting and entertaining public spectators using
their effeminate act or gesture as drag queens during the
parade.
It can also be obviously seen in the photograph that
there are numbers of spectators along the edge of the
streets watching and enjoying the parade marchers
including those two gay men who performed effeminate act
as drag queens. Some spectators took the photograph, made
video, and some others just sat, stood up, and cheered to
the parade participants. Those scenes literally
illustrate the sense of attention paid by spectators
towards parade participants including those two gay men
57
who performed effeminate act as drag queen. It proves
that the embodiment of effeminate act by those two gay
men when they performed as drag queens during the parade
were attractive and entertaining. Thus, the highlight of
the effeminate gesture maintained by those two gay men in
the photograph shows the way The Seattle Times newspaper
defines the 37th Seattle Pride Parade as an event used by
gay men to attract and entertain public Americans’
attention and familiarity by displaying their gay body
through the embodiment of effeminate gesture as drag
queens.
In its most practical level, the embodiment of female
appearance and attitude by gay men i.e. the effeminate
gesture, the cross dressing dress, the make-up, wigs,
etc. often becomes the primary point of attraction that
is always well performed by drag performers to attain
public attention as well as admiration. In a study
conducted by Steven Hopkins (2004, p. 140), drag queens
58
with little or no conventionally marketable talents
confess that their drag performance helps them not only
in making money but also in receiving attention (ibid).
Hopkins’ study proves that the drag queen show in many
ways successfully helps gay men in attaining the
audiences’ attention through their drag performance and
appearance. And in many ways, the existence of audiences’
attention here often turns to such admiration.
In certain case, the existence of audiences’
admiration towards gay men’s drag attitude and appearance
helps building up their self-esteem (Scheiner, 2011, p.
12). For gay drag performers, such attention and
admiration given by their audiences means an acceptance
towards their gay visibility. The existence of audiences’
acceptance here plays important role in the construction
and the escalation of gay drag performers’ self-esteem
that helps encouraging them to make their gay body
visible in public gaze. In this sense, becoming drag
59
queen represents the attempt of gay men in gaining self-
esteem to express their gay visibility by dragging public
attention and admiration with the embodiment of female
look and gesture represented by their gay body. In other
words, performing as drag queen for gay men is basically
a rhetorical tactic used to attract public attention and
admiration hence, they can have self-esteem to be visible
as gay in public.
In the photograph, it can be clearly seen that those
two gay men marched as drag queens while waving happy
smiles to the camera and spectators along the edge of the
street. The wave of their smiles here literally
illustrates that they were happy and confident to be
visible as gay in public space by performing as drag
queens at the 37th Seattle Pride Parade. In another sense,
the wave of their smiles here can be described as a form
of self-esteem and pride they expressed during the
parade. For this reason, the highlight of their
60
appearance and attitude as drag queens in the photograph
that is attached to the Seattle Times’ online news
article entitled Sunday Pride Parade Draws Diverse Crowds
signifies the way The Seattle Times newspaper defines the
37th Seattle Pride Parade as an event that displays the
self-esteem and pride of gay men under the aegis of
female attire and attitude as drag queens. At the same
time, the newspaper also defines the 37th Seattle Pride
Parade as an event that promotes and strengthen the
notion of drag queen as an appearance and an attitude
used by gay men to establish and escalate their self-
esteem and pride in expressing their gay visibility in
public space and in the frame of public gaze for the sake
of gaining public familiarity and acknowledgement towards
their gayness.
In the perspective of queer theory, drag queens are
discussed as individuals or figures that represent the
complexity of gender subjectivity that does not fit with
61
gender category based on binary or dualism conception. In
this case, drag queens are often identified as
individuals who perform such appearance and attitude that
combine maleness and femaleness in a way that is hard to
be described by using conventional (binary) gender-
categories i.e. masculine and feminine (Rupp&Taylor,
2003, p. 126 as cited in Valocchi, 2005, p. 757-758).
This conception is practically based on the way drag
performers often present such appearance and attitude
that represent the opposite sex role and/or the mix sex-
role (Newton, 1979, p. 4).
In performing such appearance and attitude that
represent the opposite sex role, gay drag performers act
and appear as individuals that oppose their ‘real’ self
(subjective self). In this sense, when the real self of
drag performers are male, their male-role is covered
underneath their social (stage) self as female by
dressing up in female clothing, putting make-up on face,
62
and acting in womanlike characters i.e. sissy, nelly,
effeminate, feminine, etc. This way of performing the
opposite sex-role is adopted more by heterosexual
transvestite (ibid). Meanwhile, the mix sex-role
appearance and attitude is frequently presented by gay
men when they perform as drag queens. In performing such
appearance and attitude that represent mix sex-role, gay
drag performers usually act and appear in both male-
masculinity and female-femininity. One of the many ways
done by gay drag performers to perform as the mix sex-
role drag queen is done for instance, by dressing up in
stripping costume and then at the same time, taking off
the bra to show off or proudly display their flat (male)
chest (ibid, p. 5). Another method used by gay drag
performers to appear and act in mix sex-role is
demonstrated through the way they display their bodily
appearance in female clothing yet, still maintaining male
63
manner by talking verbally or vocally in male voice to
audiences (ibid).
Those two gay men in the above photograph literally
perform such drag appearance and attitude that represent
mix sex-role. It can be seen through the way they displayed
their body and the way they performed in gesture that
embodies the socio-cultural concept of both male-
masculinity and female-femininity. In this case, the
embodiment of female-femininity by those two gay men is
represented through the way they effeminately carried
their plastic-bottles umbrellas, dressed-up in plastic-
bottle skirts, put lip-gloss on their lips, and wore
giant white-corsage around their wrists. In this case,
their effeminate gesture in carrying umbrellas and the
way they dressed up in skirt made of plastic bottles are
the two most obvious objects that signify the way they
embodied female femininity by impersonating female
appearance in cross-dressing dress and female attitude
64
i.e. sissy, nelly, effeminate, and feminine. Meanwhile, at the
same time, the embodiment of male-masculinity by those
two gay men is also represented through the way they
proudly displayed their shirtless muscular body.
In common social thought, muscularity has been
understood as a symbol of maleness and masculinity. In
this case, men with muscular body are often identified as
masculine. In the perspective of socio-cultural norm in
American culture, muscularity is strongly associated with
male masculinity (Steinfeldt et al., 2011, p. 324). For
this reason, American men are easily encouraged to
struggle for having muscular body (ibid). They work hard
on their body, building their muscles to meet socio-
cultural expectation about what it means to be a man.
Thus, the way those two gay men in the above photograph
publicly displayed their shirtless muscular body
illustrates their attempt of maintaining such appearance
65
that defines their male-masculinity in the frame of
public Americans’ gaze and familiarity.
In this case, the overall drag appearance and
attitude performed by those two gay men in the above
photograph obviously represent mix sex-role. It can be
obviously seen through the way they act and appear in
femininity and masculinity at the same time by
effeminately carrying their umbrellas, dressing up in
skirt, putting lip-gloss on their lips, wearing the giant
white-corsage around their wrists, and displaying their
muscular body in shirtless. Physically, those two gay men
are male therefore, they could shape their body to be
muscular and displayed it in shirtless during the parade
as their way to actualize their maleness and masculinity
in front of public spectators. At the same time, half
parts of their male body were wrapped with female
clothing, make-up, and accessories i.e. the plastic-
bottle skirt, lip-gloss, and the giant white-corsage.
66
They also made their male bodily movement in feminine
gesture through the way they effeminately carried their
umbrellas.
In this case, the mix sex-role attitude and
appearance performed by those two gay men implicitly
represent their ability to be masculine and feminine at
the same time using their male body. In the perspective
of queer theory, the ability of those two gay men in
performing mix sex-role is understood as a complexity in
gender subjectivity which cannot be defined using the
traditional conception of sex, gender, and sexuality
based on the alignment of binary opposition concept i.e.
male/female, masculine/feminine, and heterosexual/homosexual.
Based these binaries, a man or male is aligned with
masculinity, while a woman or female is aligned with
femininity. Practically, the binary alignment of male-
masculine and female-feminine has long been widely adopted as
a cultural norm of sex-role by major (heterosexual)
67
society under the rule of heteronormativity, a set of norms
that make heterosexuality seems ‘natural’ or ‘right’ and
that classify homosexuality as ‘unnatural’ or ‘wrong’
(valocchi, 2005, p. 756). Based on heteronormativity, the
binary alignment of male-masculine and female-feminine work
naturally or rightly only when it is represented by
heterosexual males and females. By contrast, homosexual
men and women are viewed as unnatural, wrong, or
‘deviant’ towards the binary alignment of male-masculine
and female-feminine. Thus, homosexuals like gay men are
normatively excluded from the traditional conception of
masculinity and femininity. This exclusion, practically,
results in the emergence of such action or movement
addressed by homosexual people to counteract the way
major (heterosexual) people think about the naturalness
and the righteousness of masculinity and femininity based
on traditional (heteronormative) binary-concept.
68
In certain circumstance, performing as a drag queen
is viewed as an explicit and intentional action made by
homosexual people particularly gay men to reject or mock
the traditional notion of femininity and heterosexuality
(Rupp and Taylor, 2003, p. 117 as cited in Valocchi,
2005, p. 757). In this case, performing as a drag queen
is one way used by gay men to challenge the boundary of
sex-role based on the heteronormative binary-alignment of
male-masculine and female-feminine by proving their
ability in performing or impersonating heterosexual
female-femininity using their male body that is
represented through their bodily gesture in carrying the
plastic-bottle umbrella effeminately and their physical
appearance in female clothing, make-up, and accessories
i.e. the plastic bottle skirt, the lip-gloss, and the
white giant-corsage around their wrists. In other simple
words, the drag attitude and appearance performed by
those two gay men illustrate the way they prove to public
69
that femininity is not a natural trait attached to
(heterosexual) female and masculinity is also not an
innate trait attached to (heterosexual) male. In this
sense, femininity and masculinity can be performed by one
single male particularly a homosexual male or gay man
using his muscular (male) body.
In the above photograph, the highlight about those
two gay men’s attitude in carrying their umbrellas
effeminately and their physical appearance in shirtless
muscular body, female clothing (i.e. the plastic-bottle
skirt), make-up (i.e. lip-gloss), and accessories (i.e.
white giant-corsage) suggests the way The Seattle Times
newspaper uses photographic narration to illustrate the
37th Seattle Pride Parade as an event that displays the
visibility of gay men in drag attitude and appearance
that embody mix-sex role i.e. masculinity and femininity.
Through the photograph, The Seattle Times newspaper here
implicitly constructs an interpretation that defines the
70
37th Seattle Pride Parade as a parade of gay visibility
used by gay men to challenge public Americans’ perception
that believes in the naturalness of sex-role based on the
binary association and classification of male-masculine and
female-feminine that define male and female here as
heterosexual. In other words, the newspaper here views
the 37th Seattle Pride Parade as a gay pride parade that
presents the political action of homosexual people i.e.
gay men to prove the unnaturalness of sex-role through
the way they proudly presented their gay visibility in an
entertaining and attractive display of drag attitude and
appearance that embody masculinity and femininity at the
same time for the purpose of encouraging public
Americans’ familiarity, acceptance, and acknowledgement
towards gayness and the complexity of its sex-role or
gender performance with the hope that public exclusion
and stereotypical identification of homosexual people as
the “other”, the “abnormal” or the “deviant” related to
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their gender attitude and appearance will be no longer
exist in future.
B. The Media Construction of U.S. Gay Pride Parade as
a Political Celebration of Gay Rights Movement Victory
Throughout the late twentieth until recent twenty
first century years, the spirit of celebration has been
inevitably coloring the scene of Gay Pride parade across
the United States. The scene of celebration is
represented through the sparkling displays of carnival-
like shows and attractions that decorate the parade scene
e.g. dancing and singing performance, loud music-beat,
rainbow flags, artistic costume display presented by
parade participants and hundreds of colorful parade
floats. There have been numbers of issues underlining the
theme of celebration. Most issues are related to several
achievements or victories of gay rights movement e.g. the
Stonewall Riots incident, community acknowledgment,
72
equality in marriage rights, child adoption, military
involvement, family and church inclusion, acceptance in
working places, etc.
Began in 1990s, gay pride parade across the United
States was mostly held in the spirit of celebration
towards gay rights movement victories. The theme of
celebration was framed into two conceptual terms, pride and
visibility. Both terms were used to define all achievements
or victories gained by LGBT Americans at that time related
to the wide expansion of their visibility in public. They
could come out, telling their sexual identity to public
with pride and without fear. They used gay pride parade
to be publicly visible as LGBT individuals, communities,
and members of several mainstream institutions e.g.
families, education, politics, church groups, work-
places, public services, and city officials.
At the Seattle Gay Pride Parade held in 1996 for
instance, the scene and spirit of celebration colored the
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march of LGBT Americans from Capitol Hill to downtown
Seattle. They courageously expressed their gay pride and
visibility as individuals and communities. As individuals,
they expressed their gay pride and visibility in the
attractiveness of their gay body covered by colorful and
stylish costumes and accessories ranging from casual T-
shirts and sneakers, yards of sequin and taffeta,
towering high-heels to leather straps (Byrnes & Thomson,
1996, para. 7). As communities, they proudly dressed up
in such uniforms that described their social status and
affiliation as pagans, Starbucks and Microsoft employees,
Peace Corps volunteers, teachers, firefighters, police
officers, scuba divers, choral singers, politicians,
water-polo players, veterans, and as members of the
Righteously Outrageous Twirling Corps and Dykes on Bikes
(ibid, para. 6, 8, 9, 10).
In this case, the attractiveness of LGBT participants
in colorful costumes and uniforms presented at the Seattle
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Pride Parade in 1996 illustrates the way they celebrated
their freedom to be pride and visible in public space
(street) as individual and community of homosexuals or
those whose sexuality is identified as LGBT (lesbian, gay,
bisexual, and transvestite) and queer. In other words, the
Seattle Pride Parade in 1996 illustrated a celebration of
courage for LGBT Americans in expressing their pride and
visibility for having no more fear to come out as LGBT
individuals and communities not only in public but also
in numbers of mainstream institutions e.g. religious
groups, working-fields, sports, public services,
education, and military.
As a matter of fact, the 1990s years witnessed the
significant victory of LGBT Americans in achieving gay
pride and visibility across the United States. Throughout
the 1990s years, LGBT Americans could successfully expand
their visibility and inclusion in political life, state
officials, military, academic field, employment, health
75
services, legal institution, religious denominations,
other civil rights groups, sport life, media coverage,
internet, TV-shows, film, music, and literary works. In
academic field, for instance, many LGBT Americans could
have open access to higher academic institution i.e.
college and university as students and staffs i.e.
lecturers and administrative employees. They also got the
facility like the establishment of office devoted to deal
with diversity in general and specifically to LGBT
students in higher education institutions (Eaklor, 2008,
p. 219). In addition, course or programs related to LGBT
studies had increased in numbers since the first Gay and
Lesbian Studies Department was created in 1989 at San
Francisco City College (ibid). In 1991, the City
University of New York opened the Center for Lesbian and
Gay Studies and the university became one of very few
institutions where one could pursue graduate-level work
in the area of LGBT studies (ibid). Yet, by 2000 there
76
were about twenty institutions offered programs focusing
on LGBT studies, usually within Gay and Lesbian Studies
or within a Woman’s and Gender Studies program (ibid).
In recent twenty first century years, gay pride and
visibility are no longer the major themes of celebration at
most gay pride parades across the United States. There
has been one single issue underlining the spirit of
celebration in every U.S. Gay Pride Parade throughout the
21st century years. This issue is about the legalization
of same-sex marriage in several states across the United
States. Exactly since 2004 until recent years, there have
been seventeen states granting legal marriage license to
same-sex couples. Among the states are i.e.
Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, Washington
D.C., New Hampshire, New York, Washington, Maine,
Maryland, California, Delaware, Minnesota, Rhode Island,
New Jersey, Hawaii, Illinois, and New Mexico
(http://www.statesthatallowgaymarriage.com/). The
77
legalization of same-sex marriage in those 17 states has
been becoming the reason for the annual organization of
U.S. Gay Pride Parade as a form of celebration
particularly towards the victory of gay and lesbian
Americans in gaining equality in marriage rights in the
21st century years.
In some American media, the 21st century U.S. Gay
Pride Parade is also described as an event of celebration
by highlighting same-sex marriage issue as the main theme
of celebration. To some extent, the media view U.S. Gay
Pride Parade as more than just a celebration by adding
brief discussion about gay rights issues communicated
beneath the crowds of celebration mood that makes the
parade sounds political at the same time. Thus, in this
sub-chapter, the analysis is focused on how American
media define U.S. Gay Pride Parade as a political
celebration of gay rights movement victory. In this case,
the analysis is based on the news coverage about U.S. Gay
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Pride Parade published in the online page of The Seattle
Times newspaper during 2009 to 2013.
The following news article discusses about U.S. Gay
Pride Parade held in New York City cited from the online
news article published by The Seattle Times on June 28, 2009
entitled Gay Pride Parade Marks 40 Years after NYC Uprising. The
article is written by Karen Mathew (2009) and it
particularly discusses New York Gay Pride Parade as an
event used by LGBT New Yorkers to celebrate the
legalization of same sex marriage in some states as well
as to express their demand on the same legalization of
same sex marriage in New York.
Decades after a riot at a Greenwich Village bar sparked a movement forequal rights, gay New Yorkers celebrated their gains at Sunday's gay prideparade and lamented the state has not legalized same-sex marriage.
The annual march down Fifth Avenue commemorated the Stonewallrebellion of 40 years ago, when patrons at a gay bar resisted the police. Theseveral days of disturbances that followed the uprising became one of thedefining moments of the gay rights movement.
The celebration was tempered by the knowledge that other states, includingMassachusetts, Connecticut and Iowa, have legalized same-sex marriagebefore New York. (Gay Pride Parade Marks 40 Years after NYC Uprising,June 28, 2009)
79
In the first paragraph of the above article, the
author specifically uses the term Sunday’s gay pride parade to
refer to the gay pride parade that was held in New York
on Sunday, June 28, 2009. She describes the Sunday’s gay
pride parade as an event where gay New Yorkers celebrated their
gains. She further explains that the celebration was about
the ‘gains’ of gay New Yorker resulted from the incident
of a riot at Greenwich Village bar that sparked a movement for equal
rights. In this case, a riot at Greenwich Village bar is
widely well-known as the Stonewall Riots.
The word celebrated stated in the clause ‘gay New
Yorker celebrated their gains’ literally indicates the way
the author directly describes the Sunday’s gay pride parade as
an event used by LGBT Americans to celebrate the gains of
gay rights movement. In other words, the Sunday’s gay pride
parade in the above news article is defined as a form of
celebration towards gay rights movement’s gains or victories.
80
In this case, the word gains stated in the clause “…gay
New Yorkers celebrated their gains at Sunday's gay pride parade...”
literally signifies some gay rights movement goals or
victories achieved by LGBT Americans during the year when
the Sunday’s gay pride parade was held. In the previous clause,
the author writes about a riot at a Greenwich Village bar
that marked the spark of a movement for equal rights. The riot
is called as the Stonewall rebellion in the next second
paragraph. In this case, the author tries to explain that
the gains that were celebrated by gay New Yorkers at the
Sunday’s gay pride parade related to the gains or victories of a
movement for equal rights that had been achieved by gay
New Yorkers since the day the movement was sparked during
the Stonewall Riots at a Greenwich Village bar until the
day they held the Sunday’s gay pride parade on Sunday, June
28, 2009.
There have been many gains or victories achieved by
LGBT Americans through their gay rights movement since
81
the outbreak of the Stonewall Riots in 1969 until recent
21st century years. Several gains that had been achieved by
LGBT Americans particularly gay New Yorkers since the day
the Stonewall Riots happened on June 28, 1969 until the
day the Sunday’s gay pride parade was held are i.e. the
expansion of their visibility and inclusion in sport
life, media coverage, internet, TV-shows, film, music,
and literary works, political life, state officials,
military, academic field, employment, health services,
legal institution, religious denominations, and other
civil rights groups.
Yet, in the last clause of the first paragraph of the
above article, the author specifically mentioned one gay
rights issue that was lamented by gay New Yorkers beneath the
midst of the celebration mood at Sunday’s gay pride parade.
The issue was about same-sex marriage rights that had not
been legalized in New York State at that time. In this
case, the highlight about same-sex marriage issue in the
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first paragraph of the above article explains that there
was a right, in this case a marriage right that had not
yet been gained by gay New Yorkers until the day they held
the Sunday’s gay pride parade.
Then, in the last clause of the first paragraph of
the above article, the author further explained that
there was not only a celebration at Sunday’s gay pride parade.
The verb-word lamented stated in the clause literally
refers to the act of expressing sadness and feeling sorry
about something (Cambridge Advanced Learner’s 3rd
Edition). In this case, the use of the verb-word lamented
in the clause indicates the way the author tries to
describe that there was not only a joy that colored the
atmosphere of celebration at the Sunday’s gay pride parade.
There was also an expression of sadness and regret by gay
New Yorkers related to their marriage rights that had not
been legalized and acknowledged by the state government.
Thus, the Sunday’s gay pride parade is contextually defined by
83
the first paragraph of the above article as a celebration
that is not only colored with party and pleasure but it
is also tempered with the lament or the expression of
sadness and regret stated by the LGBT participants, in
this case gay New Yorkers about same-sex marriage rights
that had not been legalized by New York state government
at that time.
In the second paragraph of the above article, the
author uses the term annual march to refer to the Sunday’s
gay pride parade. The word march in the phrase annual march is
literally defined as an event displaying large number of
people who walk along public space (street) while
expressing their support or disagreement of something
(Cambridge Advanced Learner’s 3rd edition). This literal
definition of the word march shares similar literal
meaning with the word demonstration that is defined as a
march of people in group together showing their support
or disagreement of something or someone (ibid). Thus, the
84
phrase annual march stated in the second paragraph of the
above article signifies the way the Sunday’s gay pride parade
is literally viewed as a form of demonstration.
Yet, in the first full sentence of the second
paragraph of the above article, the phrase annual march is
explained as an event that commemorated the Stonewall rebellion
of 40 years ago. The word commemorated stated in the sentence
signifies that the phrase annual march is described as an
event that was colored with the mood of commemorating the
Stonewall rebellion. In other words, the phrase annual march
here is also defined as a commemoration. Thus, based on
the way it is referred to the phrase annual march, the term
Sunday’s gay pride parade is contextually defined by the second
paragraph of the above article in two senses at the same
time, as a demonstration and as a commemoration of the
Stonewall rebellion.
Meanwhile, in the third paragraph of the above
article, the Sunday’s Gay Pride Parade is again defined as a
85
celebration. It is literally signified through the way
the author uses the phrase the celebration to refer to the
Sunday’s Gay Pride Parade. In its full sentence, the celebration
phrase is further explained as an event that is tempered
by the knowledge about the legalization of same-sex
marriage in other states i.e. Massachusetts, Connecticut,
Iowa except New York. The word tempered here is a verb
meaning to make something less strong, extreme, etc
(Cambridge Advance Learner’s Dictionary 3rd Edition). The
use of the word tempered in the sentence signifies that
the phrase the celebration is described as an event with less
extreme or less strong mood or temper. As celebration is
literally related to a party (ibid), therefore the phrase
the celebration stated in the third paragraph of the above
article is, in other words, contextually defined as an
event that was expressed in the less extreme of party mood.
In this case, the knowledge that made the party mood of
the celebration became less extreme as stated in the third
86
paragraph of the above article is the exclusion of New
York from the list of states that had legalized same-sex
marriage in 2009 or at the time when the Sunday’s Gay Pride
Parade was held. Literally, this knowledge can be considered
as an unpleasant fact or an expression of regret towards
the same sex marriage rights that had not been legalized
in New York by realizing the fact that other states i.e.
Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Iowa had legally
acknowledged same sex marriage rights. Thus, the celebration
phrase is mainly defined by the third paragraph of the
above article as an event that was tempered with the party
mood or fun and unpleasant feeling as well as
disappointment at the same time. In this sense, since the
celebration phrase is referred to the term Sunday’s gay pride
parade, thus the Sunday’s gay pride parade (2009) is
contextually defined in the third paragraph of the above
article as a celebration that was expressed not only in
the less extreme of party mood or fun but also in
87
unhappiness and disappointment at the same time under the
knowledge about the legalization of same-sex marriage
rights in some states i.e. Massachusetts, Connecticut,
Iowa except New York at that time.
Based on the first, second, and third paragraph of
the above article, the Sunday’s gay pride parade is directly
referred through the word celebration and the phrase annual
march. Those two references are contextually defined in a
sense that, in some ways, far from their literal meaning.
In the first and third paragraph of the above article,
the word celebration for instance, is contextually described
as an event that is colored with not only happiness or
joy but also a lament of regret and disappointment toward
the knowledge about same-sex marriage rights that had not
yet legally been legalized in New York State. This
lament, in particular sense, can be understood as a form
of political action performed by the parade participants
(gay New Yorkers) that expressed their demand on public
88
support for the legalization of same-sex marriage in New
York State. Thus, the contextual definition of the word
celebration stated in the above article signifies that the
Sunday’s gay pride parade is contextually defined as a political
celebration.
Then, the phrase annual march stated in the second
paragraph of the above article is contextually used to
refer to the act of commemorating the Stonewall rebellion. In
this case, the phrase annual march is not literally
identified as an event that expressed the act and the
mood of a march or a demonstration. It is identified as a
form of commemoration that is literally referred to the
act of officially remembering and respecting a great event
or a great person (ibid). In the second paragraph of the
above article, the Stonewall rebellion is said as one of the
defining moments of the gay rights movement. Thus, it can be
understood that the Stonewall rebellion here is said as a great
event that was commemorated at the Sunday’s gay pride parade.
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The two contextual definitions of the Sunday’s gay pride
parade that are signified through the word celebration and
the phrase annual march as clearly stated in the above
news article show the way the above news article asserts
a notion that gay pride parade is more than just a
celebration. The knowledge about same-sex marriage
legalization and the Stonewall rebellion history that is
briefly discussed in the above news article explains that
there is a commemoration and a political message related
to gay rights issues that is lamented or spoken up beneath
the celebratory and ceremonial mood. In other words, it
can be said that the above news article simply defines
the Sunday’s gay pride parade as a political celebration and a
commemoration of gay rights movement.
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