Gay Pride Day!

Today was a wonderful day to be in Amsterdam. The gay float parade down the canal was an amazing experience, one that showed how united and supportive the Dutch are. As we all watched the many differing styles of floats go down the canal there was truely one theme throughout the entire parade. This theme was of course Gay pride but it's importance goes far beyond just pride, but awareness of the growth of a culture into understanding and acceptance. The Netherlands/Amsterdam deserves to be proud of their acceptance because as we all know being Gay in many societies across the world is not accepted or even allowed under law ( some countries even have the death penalty if you are caught being "gay"). For example in the United States gay marriage is a heavily debated issue where morals and beliefs of others tend to dictate the many lives of lesbians and gay men. In the Netherlands this seems to not be a problem. Getting married is a personal choice one that should not be decided upon by law. If a gay couple wishes to get married than why shouldn't they? It's not like they are hurting anyone by sharing their love with one another on paper. This is exactly the views of the Netherlands government and the obvious views of most Dutch persons in general. As far as I could tell there was no one there disrupting the event with signs of a differing viewpoint.

On a lighter note the parade was so much fun to watch! Each float had blasting techo music, exciting sometimes revealing costumes, and of course no parade would be complete without tons of confetti! There were many floats that were fun to watch but there were also floats that helped create awareness about differing issues affecting the gay community. For example AIDS awareness, Hepatitis B awareness, and amnesty international were all there spreading important knowledge to the community. One float in particular really touched my heart. The float stated that "these parents were proud to have gay children". I know many people from home who wished their parents supported and loved them no matter their sexual orientation. But of course we all know that this is not always the case and to see such support was touching and uplifting.

All in all, I believe that everyone really enjoyed the parade, not only was it fun to watch and partake in, but it also shed light on the type of community that we are living in. It allowed me to see that acceptance of all people no matter who they are is important if one wants to have a successful society. The United States and other nations should use the Netherlands as an example!