You can complain all you want that it's not what you want it to be, but I took my 17 year old lesbian daughter to a pride parade this summer ( who had recently came out to me.... I knew when she was 12 yes. It was a commercial affair. But it was an incredibly empowering experience for her and many other young people , many like her who have to still lead a double life around rabid religious relatives. Focus on the good it's doing, as far as the cheesy marketing attempts, embrace it, if they want to foot the bill , let e them knock themselves out!

That might depend on where you live. Some LGBT pride events are still protested by religious wingnuts, so the people who participate are taking a risk. They are becoming more commercialized and less of a protest, which isn’t completely bad. It indicates things have improved and we have less to protest.

The Gay Peer spaces need revival.

Lgbtqrgfucklxyz Pride is fine
but...

Lets revive what WAS Empowering.

Blah blah blah
white men blah blah
gay men... Blah blah blah...

The acknoladge founder of the Radical Faeries ... (Sissy/Queer, inclusive of marginalized bisexual men in the 70s and 80s) a "Gay men's (501c3) "CHURCH", HAS BEEN UTTERLY CO OPPED By women and their 'queer' supporters...
The Gay Mens Church is herstory... And gay men have Nothing... Nothing left for their peer spaces... Women in MENS Spaces CHANGE EVERYTHING...
NOT for the better in my opinion.

STOP SCAPEGOATING PEOPLE (WHITE GAY MEN) WHO ARE NOT YOU, Unless you want that reflected BACK.

Yes solidarity good
Homogonization NOT good.

Unless of course you are going to invite men to women's spaces... (Art shows, craft fairs, festivals, support groups, community spaces, retreats, etc...)

GET REAL!

I don't like my peer group continually being Lumped with every xyzetc...
I'm not a B L T Or a Q
I'm a straight up G
I miss those peer spaces.

The goal I think has evolved over time. It is no longer just to offer LGBT people a bit of community support. It is really an effort to show the antis that we are just people and that they have nothing to fear from us. Familiarity promotes comfort. We can't beat haters into disappearing. We need to help them see less "need" to hate us. By letting them see so many straight and cis allies publically supporting us without threat to their own status, it hopefully deflates the haters' hate balloon a bit. I am all for that. I WANT mainstream. I don't want to exist merely in a gay metaphorical ghetto.

Limited inclusion is exclusion. How are the anti-lgbtq people supposed to learn and get over their homophobia by being excluded? If they are willing to make an effort to expose themselves to other views, regardless of their reasons for doing so, it's a step in the right direction. Telling them they are unwelcome will only strengthen their already prejudice views, and it will also give them specific and convincing arguments, complete with first hand examples. Isn't the whole goal to show the rest of the world that we are just as equal and normal as they believe themselves to be? As for the commercialization, that's unavoidable in a capitalist society. There will always be someone making a profit off anything that draws a crowd.