Despite being favoured by society in literally every aspect of their lives, it seems straight white men feel unfairly discriminated against because they don’t get their own pride parade. To right this perceived wrong, a group of men called Super Happy Fun America (SHFA) hosted a ‘straight pride’ in Boston this weekend (August 31), but ended up being outnumbered by counter protesters.
Led by far-right controversialist Milo Yiannopoulos – who was apparently the ‘grand marshal’ – the event attracted a few hundred supporters, and over 1,000 protesters. Offended by the omittance of straight people from the LGBTQ+ acronym, Yiannopoulos told the crowd: “Add the S to LGBTQ!”
Plans for the Straight Pride Parade were initially announced in June, with organisers demanding “an end to discrimination against straights”, claiming they “also deserve a parade”. The group requested the same route as Boston’s actual Pride Parade (which took place on June 8), asking the city’s mayor to close streets and grant a permit for vehicles and floats.
As supporters marched towards Boston city hall, they were reportedly met with cries of “Nazi scum” from counter protesters, who were baffled the group were even granted a permit for the event. Although SHFA denies being anti-LGBTQ+, many donned MAGA hats and several of the speeches complained about LGBTQ+ curriculums in schools. There was also a huge float that read, ‘Trump, build the wall. Making America great again’.
Despite more counter protesters attending than supporters, event organiser John Hugo still criticised Boston’s mayor, boasting: “Mayor Marty Walsh said there would only be 20 people here today. Look around. Not only is he intolerant, but he can’t count.” Hugo also went on to assert that Trump’s re-election would be a “shoo-in”.
Understandably, police presence was heavy, with 36 people arrested – most of them perplexingly being counter protesters – while Mayor Walsh condemned the parade, encouraging residents to attend other events that celebrated the city. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also denounced the event, declaring it a “I-Struggle-With-Masculinity” parade.
Clearly organised to cause controversy, it’s wonderful to see SHFA’s plan backfire, with most press surrounding the event focusing on the more successful counter protests. The whole thing is reminiscent of the time German locals drained a far-right festival of its beer supply, and proves love still trumps hate when it comes to extremists.