Photos: 2010 Vancouver Pride parade

great day for all

It seems that things people get most enthused about are competitive sports, sex and nudity. Is there anything else that we should be giving any attention to that might be important to the quality of our lives? No? Apparently not. OK. Then I guess we deserve the fate we are preparing for ourselves.

@ Strategis - how about an incredible display of human rights?

Good point, Sean. It is marvelous to celebrate hard won progress in human rights. The right to have sex however you want, with whoever you want, and to form free associations of any kind with whoever you want, are precious to all humans (and animals also), and worthy of great celebration. But this is one tiny issue in a sea of freedoms which are denied most people today, the chief one being the right to have a real say in the governance of your nation.

All human rights as enumerated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are precious to every person alive, and unfortunately many of these rights are denied to most of the people alive today, including many Canadians. The right to security being the first. Freedom of belief, conscience, and speech. The freedom to participate fully in all aspects of society. There are 28 vital rights in the UDHR. It is vital to celebrate all freedoms, and of course the gay community and all society are very appreciative of their newly won rights, and flaunt this freedom as it should be in a very colorful fashion.

I think if we as a society were more thoughtful, we would give even more energy to the struggle for real democracy which is dependent on a truly free press, universal human rights, and a fair electoral process, none of which exist in Canada. Not even close.

Democracy is the foundation of all rights, as well as the foundation for an ethical foreign policy and beneficial domestic policy. When we direct as much attention to securing democracy in Canada as we have to securing the right to share sex with and romanticise whoever we please, and to display our naked or near naked bodies in public (I celebrate all these victories), then we will start to make real progress in this vital issue of democracy, and hopefully have a hundred times more cause to celebrate when we have achieved something resembling real democracy in Canada.

As I see it, gay rights and sports are two of the biggest issues that the billionaire power elite use to distract attention away from the dastardly plots that they are hatching in national politics and international financial and military circles. Who can argue against gay rights and athletic excellence? But what issues aren't being addressed as a consequence of all this well engineered exuberance? What about the steady erosion of privacy and other rights in Canada, the plot to integrate Canada and the USA in a police state, a broken electoral system, a pathetic excuse for a free press, and a foreign policy that would be the shame of every Canadian if the media were to report it in a fair and professional manner?

Let's stop killing and torturing people in other lands. Let's break up the media cartels. Let's reform our electoral process. Let's get rid of Security Detention Certificates and the entire Terrorism Act. Let's allow people to talk about natural medicine and to sell vitamins, herbs, and health foods without federal government interference. Let's prohibit the torment of animals for any reason. Then let's have a huge parade to celebrate peace, democracy, health, environmental sustainability and human rights, and include the gay celebration as a part of that Freedom Day, plus all the other groups and individuals which have freedom to have their voices and concerns heard and addressed in a true and free democratic society.

I was looking for my son in the parade and there he is as it is a celebration for sure because it is very worrysome you know all the dangers faced for loving someone like themselves. Its not Romeo and Juilete but Romeo and Romeo and Juilete and Juilete as some members in society try getting in the way as hatred is built on ignorance as educated men build consipracy theories about gays taking over the world. Does that mean we will all be gay? Not likely,.