Gaiety

This weekend is Bangkok Pride Parade, which as I overheard someone say, is a little like having a two eyes and a head parade, alluding to the fact that being gay in Bangkok is definitely not unusual.
Not unusual perhaps, but definitely not on a par with being heterosexual. People are always amazed to see how lady boys, and extraodinarily effeminate men integrate so easily into society here.
But maybe they wouldn't need to place their sexuality on such open display if they were accepted as normal, and not encouraged to make themselves into something different to find identity.
Gay men are accepted. But not as they are. They must first transform themselves into something in which people can find entertainment value.
And don't even get me started on lesbians. I've watched as a co-worker has been laughed at and ridiculed for being lesbian. And this from 10 year olds.
Gays and lesbians are not hated here. No, instead the hatred is turned into ridicule and joke material.
Maybe that is a step in the right direction. Maybe with more exposure, and a more visible presence in society, mind sets will shift.
But the circus into which homosexuality is sometimes made can sometimes be painful to watch.
I'll be there nonetheless, waving my flag and cheering.