Like many people, I myself see the mardi Gras as a specticle worth viewing at least once in our life times, the old, cross it off the bucket list scinario.

I attended the MR last year, by chance as we were in town at the time and i can tell you it was an event i recommend every attend at least once.

The funniest thing for me was while walking away there were these guys sitting at the pub windows with signs saying, 'show me your dick', i thought that was hilerious.

As for media covearge, i guess they are like me, with the 'who cares' attitude, because after all, gays are the minority, so they would be well advise the get over it.

so rechtub, should left handers (also a minority) just 'get over it'?

Anyway, I think the problem with celibate people generally is that although it is usual for most people to make their sexual preference known, it isn't nearly as common for people to flag their level of sexual activity. Also, there is a bit of a conflict between gender attraction, which is not chosen, and a deliberate choice such as being celibate, which could change over time. Good on Tony for being true to himself, and good luck to him with getting recognition at Mardi Gras.

Candide "Good on Tony for being true to himself"

Is he?
He will only acknowledge being "attracted" but refuses to act on that attraction.
This does not sound like a healthy attitude by a mature, self-assured person.
He's no teenager still figuring things out, nor are there any aggravating circumstances that would make it difficult.

It's not like he's saying he's simply not found the right partner or circumstance.
He's ruling it out altogether.

That reeks of denial and aversion, not self-acceptance.
I know, I've been through that process myself.

And to expect Mardi Gras to cater to this is ridiculous.

For one thing, the events have nothing to do with SEX!
The program does not list "Tennis match followed by SEX", "Chess competition followed by SEX", or "Painting class followed by SEX".

If he wants to play tennis or chess or paint, there's nothing stopping him.

One thing I say is certain about the Mardi-Gra and other pop culture on gay issues

is that the Mardi-Gra and other pop things seems dominated by not just gayness but a "sexual over-promiscuousness" that may be partly what the author meant.

This overt "slutness" is not relevant to being gay or to being treated equal.

This would be like an extremely overtly sexually promiscuious event for heteros being an event to supposedly represent all heteros when in fact most would feel sick.

I am not against sexual overtness, in fact I love it.

But it is too much to publicly push it into our minds the vile and slutty image of the Mardi-Gra

To note again the LEFT and their constant control and hindrance of REAL equality progression in the world - why is it always Fred Nile or some Christian nun who is mocked at these eve3nts?

When are the Muftis and Sheiks going to be mocked? When are symbols, images and other representations of other more non-western cultures which are overwhelmingly more in need of education regarding gays, women and all things for equal rights going to be displayed at these events?

Never? Why not? Is this because, as the Iranian president once claimed, "Gays do not exist in Iran, we do not have gays"?

Or is it because (as I myself first hand know and knew a person like this) gays from strong religious/traditional backgrounds like Islam and others who not only are not recognised by society but even largely by themselves. I knew a clearly feminine man who was from Iraq and had a wife and kids and never spoke of gayness and no-one from his country ever mentioned it to him. This kind of torture, living in a cultural prison of fear is the kind of thing the LEFT need to focus upon as themes for events like mardi-gra.

BUT yet again the LEFT simply will not let ANYONE venture near those ideas, lest they be shot down with right-wing and bigotry bullets, silenced, mocked by all and considered a joke - Pauline Hanson?

I am really amazed at how these arguments can be ignored by our society,

how unless they are not revealing all their cards. Perhaps (as I suspect) the Left and supporters believe non-western peoples to be sub-people, somehow not fully capacitated or disabled, such that like with a retarded person or a child, the mistakes and errors (e.g. breaking a glass) are never truly dealt as if they are equal but instead the issue is seen as if some retarded child is nearby and so we must be extra polite and must ignore their stink and lack of manners for they are but children.

As bizarre as this must sound and as odd and foreign the concept must be let alone whether anyone will actually comprehend my arguments,

the sad truth is that this is FACT.

For what else could the reason be that gays never mock anti-gay forces and people in other cultures, non-western cultures? Considering especially that compared to Fred Nile or the church the treatment and understanding of gays and of many issues regarding rights and human dignity and equality MOST non-western societies are extreme to point of being off the scale of western levels.

Perhaps this lack of genuine seriousness in the Left is why the Gay Mardi-Gra is similarly not serious and is really just a big slut sex fest.

I apologize for using the "sl" word but feel the need to display the feeling I have.

And remember I love all open and promiscuous sexual things but this is still not the point here.

"Sexual over-promiscuousness" is the sign of someone not entirely at peace with their own sexuality. People need to parade their promiscuity not to show that they are liberated from the restrictive mores of the past but because they are insecure about their own attitudes to sex in the present.

Sex by its very nature is a personal and private behaviour. How we deal with the very natural sexual feelings that we all possess is entirely up to us as individuals. So long as it does no harm to anyone else then it does not need the sanction of any other group or individual. In the Mardi Gras it seems that many people are seeking permission or showing defiance where neither is necessary.

So much of the overt behaviour that Jottiikii talks of is either a cry for help or an aggressive slap in the face which says, “I don’t care what you think I am going to do what I like”. When people are insecure they look to how others react when they behave overtly. When they make ’jokes’ about sex they instinctively look at those around them for a reaction as if they are looking for approval or even help to sort out what is true about sex. Other overt behaviour tries to deliberately embarrass people and make them feel uncomfortable. This is an aggressive act with no other reasonable motive than to try and hurt those whom they perceive to be inhibiting their freedom in some way. In both cases we have individuals who are insecure about sex trying to solve their insecurities by immature and irrational means.

There is no good reason why the Mardi Gras should contain these elements and it would be equally true if it were a heterosexual parade. It might be a reasonable thing to do to celebrate freedom from discrimination but such an occasion should not be a platform for individuals to try and sort out what are basically individual insecurities.