The Insipid Narcissism of Gay Pride Month

June 30 is the last day of Gay Pride month in Vienna. I welcome the end of it.

When I was an undergraduate at Boston University, one of my most entertaining friends was a history professor at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. Though he was obviously a gay man, he never expressly identified himself as such. In fact, he rarely talked about himself because he was so interested in so many other things—history, books, art, architecture, sailboats, colorful and amusing characters he’d known over the years. I don’t think I’ve ever met such a free-spirited man, completely at ease with himself.

During the last couple of weeks, I’ve often thought of my old friend and wondered what he would think of Gay Pride Month here in Vienna, with its garish parades and rainbow flags and pennants flying all over the place and even adorning church alters.

Gay Pride flag on roof of Vienna Academy of Fine Arts on the Schillerplatz

All of us, at some stage in our lives, especially during adolescence, feel the need to assert our identity in the presence of others and to seek their acknowledgment and validation. It’s an all too human impulse, but indulging in it is immature, in poor taste, and annoying.

Gay men living in Vienna and the other capitals of Europe are free to have a great time, hang out with their gay friends, and go to gay clubs and saunas. Literally no one who lives in any of the stylish districts in which they live and congregate cares that they are gay. One would now be hard pressed to find the fabled “homophobic” Kleinbürger who will object to them and seek to oppress them.

Though one may be justified in taking pride in a personal achievement—especially if it required hard work, discipline, and sacrifice—being proud of one’s sexual predilection is an expression of insipid narcissism, and is unlikely to result in any personal growth or creativity.