and the original comment - "50 year old men flashing their junk to kids" - makes a passive act sound active. i get that some people have an issue with public nudity but i also don't think a child will be scarred for life just by seeing a penis (or a vagina or breasts) in public at a pride event.
Right... not every child exposed to an adult man flashing their genitals will be traumatized.
The vast majority of drunk drivers get home safely.
I guess the better question is, why is homosexuality being so inextricably tied to things like public nudity, fetishism, etc? Most of us just want to live our lives like normal people. Our goal all along was to blend in, not to be "proud".
Yes, at one time I think it was appropriate to have these types of public gatherings to show unity and strength. And to assert our civil liberties. But those days are far behind us. I always thought the point of progress was to actually arrive at progress and then pursue other goals.
At this point, providing exhibitionists, fetishists, and nudists space to flaunt in the name of an entire demographic of people (who are not a monolith ideologically) just seems inappropriate to me. If you want to be a nudist, there are plenty of ways for you to engage in that in designated areas. If you want to do sexually explicit things, there's a time and place for that too. Gay, straight, I don't really care.
Call me old fashioned, I guess.