Pride 2023 DEFIES White Supremacists, Christian Nationalists

Queer Songwriter Pens & Performs Defiant New Parody for Pride 2023

My offering for Prism and Pen’s June writer’s prompt is this song and video

The roots of comedy run deep. Humorous plays poking fun at politicians, philosophers, religious practices, and other societal foibles began gaining popularity as long ago as the 6th Century BCE on the stages of Ancient Greece.

Crude, explicit poems and songs recited and sung at Dionysiac festivals reveal a common human sense of humor that has changed little over the course of the intervening millennia — the phallus being one of the most ubiquitous subjects of mockery and exaggeration.

The origins of drag…

And, since women were forbidden from participating in the theater throughout centuries of theatrical evolution, boys and men mounted stages in make-up, wigs, and women’s attire to portray the female roles. Ironically, the tradition of drag was born out of patriarchal conservatism, in the effort to keep women where they belonged: cooking in the kitchen, at the riverbank doing laundry, nursing a newborn heir to the castle, or on her back being a passive vessel for a man’s sperm.

Funny is harder to find these days.

Finding humor in today’s reactionary landscape presents a very real challenge. Queer and trans folk are suffering increasing levels of attack and living under ever-looming threat from homophobes and transphobes and the politicians who pander to the hateful, intolerant attitudes of the religious right. Companies that dare to show even the slightest support for or allyship with the LGBTQ+ community and/or promote policies of acceptance and inclusion are now being targeted relentlessly with harassment and boycotts.

The slogan of this insidious movement, perpetrated by a small, but unceasingly vociferous minority is “Go Woke, Go Broke.”

With all the serious existential challenges faced by humanity at this critical inflection point, it seems absurd that anyone would pick this as their number-one concern. And yet, these bigots even refuse to be assuaged by corporations capitulating to their demands. Once a company is branded as “woke,” that stigma is indelible. Once maximum damage is done, the mob moves on to its next object of mutual grievance — even if that company has consistently demonstrated anti-LGBTQ+ policies and attitudes in the past. Fox News and Chic fil-A being prime examples of this inexplicable phenomenon.

When their swath of banishment and cancellation is finished — assuming they’ll ever call it quits— one has to wonder where these haters will do their shopping and what sources they’ll seek for misinformation to reinforce their despicable beliefs and actions.

PRIDE 2023 remembers…

As we enter into this year’s PRIDE season, we in the LGBTQ+ community should be reminded that our annual celebration was born out of defiance.

PRIDE began in June, 1970, with queer and trans folk stepping out into the sunlight on Manhattan’s Christopher Street, locking arms in solidarity, and marching and chanting on the first anniversary of the shameful police violence inflicted upon the patrons of the Stonewall Inn.

A healthy sense of humor…

It should also be remembered that our demonstration of defiance year after year is fueled in great part by our willingness to put our quirkiest, most whimsical and colorful individual natures on vivid public display.

While PRIDE’s greatest gift lies in tribal unity (the indescribable and essential sense of belonging one feels within a loving, supportive community) PRIDE also presents an opportunity to mock convention by simply being visible.

These annual parades and celebrations give us a public platform to show the straight world that we pose no threat and that hateful scorn can’t hurt us. Why? Because no one laughs louder at us than we do. The difference is that our self-directed amusement springs from joy. It’s about being unashamed of who we are. Theirs, on the other hand, is rooted in ignorance and fear. Their mockery oozes with outright, abject cruelty.

But we can dish it out, too.

Let’s face it. The haters deserve their share of ridicule as well, even if most of them, sadly, were born without a funny bone and are, therefore, incapable of taking a joke.

So, as Aristophanes (Ancient Greece’s “Neil Simon”) might have done 2,500 years ago, I’ve composed a new parody ditty dedicated to PRIDE 2023. Based on the classic “Rainbow Connection” (Paul Williams and Kenny Ascher), originally rendered by Jim Henson in the distinctive voice of Kermit the Frog, I hope you’ll avail yourself of my new lyrical re-interpretation, taking direct aim at those who perpetrate the “Go Woke, Go Broke” movement.

Him’s, Her’s, They’s, and Them’s, I give you…

“RAINBOW INSPECTIONS”

Stay safe. Stay healthy. Don’t forget to laugh. And, take joy in who you are.

Happy PRIDE 2023!

A native of Oregon, Rand Bishop is a Grammy-nominated songwriter, platinum music producer, singer, musician, award-winning screenwriter, magazine columnist and lifelong activist for peace, justice, and equality.

This story is a response to the Prism & Pen writing prompt, Pride 2023 DEFIES White Supremacists, Christian Nationalists.

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