Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has poked fun at the idea of straight people holding their own “Pride” parade to protest the prominent demonstrations in celebration of the LGBTQ+ community.
The New York Democrat who has risen to prominence as one of the leading progressive voices in Congress, took to Twitter to join in and drag the idea of holding a “Straight Pride” parade as ridiculous.
“Will ‘Straight Pride’ be a Freaky Friday type situation where all of our history books, movies, stories, media, news, etc feature mostly LGBTQ+ people & perspectives? Will people have to come out as straight?” she tweeted.
“What would folks march in? Socks w/ sandals on? Dad jeans?” she continued.
The proposed straight pride parade is set to take place in Boston, and comes as communities across the country celebrate the LGBT+ community as a pride of Pride month.
The counter parade was organised by a group calling itself Super Happy Fun America (SFHA), and has been spearheaded by three Boston men who applied for the permit for the parade.
The men have said they launched the parade and campaign to “educate the public, politicians and civil servants about the straight community and the unique problems we face”.
Online, the parade has been met with considerable ridicule.
“A straight pride parade in a world where straight people can be prideful without fear every day? That’s just silly,” Matthew Mercer, a voice actor, wrote on Twitter.
But users online also noted something more sinister at play: Mr Mercer and others claimed that at least one of the three men who organised the event in Boston — Mark Sahady — all have connections to far-right groups in the Massachusetts city. Mr Mercer wrote that the other organisers did, too.
“If you look into the history of the organiser and see the deep connections with violent hate groups, it changes things from silly to f****d up,” Mr Mercer continued.
