To the ordinary human brain, the phrase ‘straight pride’ — like its more famous cousin, ‘white pride’ — immediately evokes suspicion. Things like gay pride and black pride (which straight pride and white pride are a shitty facsimile of) arose out of necessity as a form of solidarity in the face of oppression — whiteness and heterosexuality, markers of the dominant cultural group in western society, do not have this necessity. Straight pride and white pride aren’t so much celebrations of heterosexuality and whiteness but instead assertions of dominance, which is they turn out to be the sole province of (surprise) homophobes and racists. You understand this and so, apparently, does the band Smash Mouth.
Straight Pride Parade????? FUCK OFF!!!!!!!!
— Smash Mouth (@smashmouth) June 4, 2019
Yes, that Smash Mouth, the band that did All Star and Walkin’ on the Sun and some very popular covers and probably some other songs that weren’t singles that real fans will be very mad I didn’t mention.
[jwplayer kZ1UKZzl]
They might not be enjoying the heady fame that they had in the Mystery Men and Shrek days, but the band is still very much going, and still very much active on Twitter, where they do things like weigh in on a proposed ‘straight pride’ march in Boston.
The march, timed to coincide with Pride Month, is described on the website as a celebration of “diverse history, culture, and contributions of the straight community“. If this sounds hollow and insincere to you, you will not be shocked to learn that organiser Mark Sahady has more accurately described the event on Facebook as “poking fun at the identity politics of the left“.
The march is tentatively scheduled for August 31, with Sahady saying that he believes it will likely be approved by city authorities because the group filed a discrimination complaint against the city and “it appears the City of Boston understands they would lose in litigation“. What a fun waste of time and money for everyone involved.
At least we know one thing for sure: Smash Mouth still rules.
