Camp-Shaming: Standard

A gaggle of muscled men in tiny briefs parades past, followed by a procession of Leather Daddies, complete with truncheons. Minutes later, a group of guys in dog masks fills their space, along with a human horse, angling his pleather hooves at the crowd. It could only be Pride in London [The photo's of New York Pride]. But despite the colourful costumes — and bare buttocks — on display, it’s an altogether tamer sight that prompts the man in a check shirt and chino shorts in front of me to grimace. He nudges his friend as a guy in Dorothy drag skips past, followed by a skinny, body-painted teenager in angel wings. The pair snigger.

For an outsider looking in, there’s never been a better time to be gay. Sure, at this year’s Pride celebrations there was the usual homophobic picketing, but those voices are growing fainter and less relevant compared with the widespread acceptance of LGBT people. The introduction of gay marriage in Ireland and the US appears further proof that, by and large, the war against bigotry has been won. Scratch the surface, however, and there are more pernicious battles being waged. Because while prejudice from straight people continues to dwindle, homophobia among gay men means that the community is in danger of eating itself from the inside out.

Gay men’s homophobia may sound oxymoronic, but it’s increasingly apparent in a culture that prizes masculinity and derides campness...

Joe Stone, The Standard

Oh Bakunin... along with 'Is drag sexist?', 'What's the point of Pride?' and 'Do fags have too much bum/drugs fun? - this has to be the most endlessly recycled gay subject matter for an article of all time.

We are our worst enemy, if only we didn't hate ourselves so much etc etc.

There's nothing new to say, let it go, dear.

And he quotes leading comedy gaybores Peter Tatchell and Owen Jones like they know anything about gay culture!

PS There's another evergreen favourite on Guardian online; Born This Way? Society, sex and the search for the 'gay gene'. This is rather good, though the truth is 'no-one has a clue'.