I wonder how many people gathered to watch the parade know of its origins. Do they know of the pivotal event at Stonewall that is largely credited with launching the gay liberation movement into public consciousness, certainly in North America? Of course there were prior people and events of significance to the movement, to the sub-/counterculture. There was the Society for Human Rights in Chicago (1924), Alfred Kinsey's Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (1948), The Mattachine Society, and the Daughters of Bilitis (1951 and 1956, respectively) to list some of the more recognized names, before the Stonewall riots (1969) in New York's Greenwich Village where gays first dared to publicly stand up for themselves in the face of police raids and brutality.

The first pride parade was held in commemoration of that event one year later. And every year from then on, cities around the world have enacted their own parades not only to commemorate that event, but generally to struggle for acceptance and equal rights. In the face of oppression and repression — religious, social, legal, political, the pride parade served to protest and educate, to assert and celebrate.

What really struck me, as I watched the parade, was how much of that struggle has disappeared. Protest and struggle featured minimally in this year's parade. Has our society achieved equality? Perhaps we have achieved just enough to not feel the same urgency, particularly in large urban centers. Moral support was still present, as was education. We were happy to see the various organizations that took part in the parade, such as PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Gays and Lesbians) groups, senior associations, cultural groups, faith groups, a handful of university groups and school boards, and workers' unions.

We now live in a society that has made certain legal gains. In 1973, homosexuality was struck from the list of psychiatric ailments. Sexual orientation is now included in anti-discrimination laws when it comes to labour practices. In some parts same-sex partners can now join in civil unions, or even get married. But for all the prominence and legal gains we have made, I fear we have also begun to lose certain things. For one thing, commercialism has taken a strong foothold in the parades. And many gay men are now becoming slaves to fashion and product-based lifestyles much like women were traditionally. Movies, television shows, magazines, and billboards portray mainly the beautiful, slim, hairless, fashion-conscious gay male.