Would AB/DLs be welcome at Pride?

[Baby_Richie]

Hi All,

I noticed that it's been the Pride events this weekend, and I wondered whether AB/DLs would be welcome at these events, or whether we're not considered part of the LGBTQ+ community. I'd be interested to know your thoughts.

I wouldn't want to offend anyone, but I sometimes wonder if we're in the same position that LGBTQ+ people were in the past, that is, still seen as, at best, an oddity and, at worst, somehow sick & twisted, and worthy of little more than a beating.  I know that the improved situation for the LGBTQ+ has come about because of the determination and commitment of those communities and their refusal to let society make them feel ashamed simply for being who they really are.

I look forward to the day when all forms of intimacy between consenting adults, both sexual and non-sexual, and all forms of expressing our true, diverse and complex selves will be welcomed and celebrated. ?️‍?

[DLTGirl]

Having marched in this years London Pride I can say there were huge varieties in the people there. I saw leather, bear, trans. puppies, bondage, furries and all sorts of others but not a single DL. I have to assume they were there but probably not openly I'm afraid. I wish it could happen but sadly the community still seems to look down on us, mainly due to lack of information/education and the fact that there is almost nobody who will openly admit to being an AB/DL and take the lead to bring others out.

[Baby_Richie]

On 7/7/2019 at 5:33 PM, DLTGirl said:

Having marched in this years London Pride I can say there were huge varieties in the people there. I saw leather, bear, trans. puppies, bondage, furries and all sorts of others but not a single DL. I have to assume they were there but probably not openly I'm afraid. I wish it could happen but sadly the community still seems to look down on us, mainly due to lack of information/education and the fact that there is almost nobody who will openly admit to being an AB/DL and take the lead to bring others out.

Yes, I think that lack of information and education about AB/DL is a real problem for us. It seems a shame that we're not more visible. I wish that I were braver, and that I had been braver in the past. It isn't easy having to hide away what feels like an important part of who I am. I spent so many years feeling ashamed and disgusted with myself and it's hard to wipe all that away.

I remember many years ago I was with a few of my friends and, for some reason, the conversation turned to 'alternative' sexual practices. One of my closest friends, someone who I know to be very open-minded and inclusive, said that she could put up with most things but really couldn't stand adult babies. She'd seen them on some TV programme and thought they were "perverts and paedophiles". I didn't say anything. I didn't stand up for our community and myself and point out that ABs and DLs are no more likely to be paedophiles than the anyone in the general population, and, given that a lot of us have suffered our own traumas, probably less likely. I even went as far as denying that I'd ever heard of this "fetish", but it left me hurt and reeling. I deeply regret that I didn't stick up for myself and us. I would never let that happen now.

Up to that point, I honestly thought that she would have been someone I could have confided in, and it really closed me off for a few years as I just hated the thought that people would judge me that way. Now that I'm older (chronologically speaking anyway!), I refuse to feel ashamed anymore.

Perhaps a group of us should talk to the organisers of some of the Pride events and see whether they would be open to having us along? I guess educating people has to start somewhere.

[Forced2wet]

I work in the UK media and out of all of the hundreds of images that came in from Saturday’s Pride March in London (and other events around the country) there was only one photo that featured three people (two males dressed as little girls & one guy in dungarees sucking a dummy) wearing nappies.

Perhaps they were just the obvious ones and others hid the fact.

[Elfy]

I honestly don't know.

My first reaction is a big firm NO. I don't want Pride, which is already starting to struggle with an identity problem (ironically enough), co-opted by other groups because it is either fashionable to do so or because they want to use it as a way of trying to legitimise themselves. There has been a problem recently of paedophiles trying to get themselves under the LGBT banner for instance, TERFs have also used Pride for a political and hateful agenda. I don't want ABDLs, furries or any other group of fetishists coming in and using Pride to push themselves. Pride is very specifically about LGBT people and it is an enormously helpful outlet for us who otherwise can be discriminated and abused on a daily basis.

However... I also like the idea of Pride being a place where people can express themselves. I like the idea that it is a judgement free zone (as long as you aren't judging others) and you can be whoever you are. That would mean pet play, rubber fetishes and everything else.

So the answer is... I don't know. Whenever I see pictures of people openly wearing diapers or similar things at places like this my first instinct is to cringe and roll my eyes. I have a natural aversion to people putting the spotlight on themselves in public like that. Pride is supposed to be all about the LGBT community and the problems they face, anything that takes attention away from that message is a detriment.

[Baby_Richie]

6 hours ago, Forced2wet said:

I work in the UK media and out of all of the hundreds of images that came in from Saturday’s Pride March in London (and other events around the country) there was only one photo that featured three people (two males dressed as little girls & one guy in dungarees sucking a dummy) wearing nappies.

Perhaps they were just the obvious ones and others hid the fact.

Interesting to learn that there were three there though. I really wouldn't have expected that.

3 hours ago, Elfy said:

I honestly don't know.

My first reaction is a big firm NO. I don't want Pride, which is already starting to struggle with an identity problem (ironically enough), co-opted by other groups because it is either fashionable to do so or because they want to use it as a way of trying to legitimise themselves. There has been a problem recently of paedophiles trying to get themselves under the LGBT banner for instance, TERFs have also used Pride for a political and hateful agenda. I don't want ABDLs, furries or any other group of fetishists coming in and using Pride to push themselves. Pride is very specifically about LGBT people and it is an enormously helpful outlet for us who otherwise can be discriminated and abused on a daily basis.

However... I also like the idea of Pride being a place where people can express themselves. I like the idea that it is a judgement free zone (as long as you aren't judging others) and you can be whoever you are. That would mean pet play, rubber fetishes and everything else.

So the answer is... I don't know. Whenever I see pictures of people openly wearing diapers or similar things at places like this my first instinct is to cringe and roll my eyes. I have a natural aversion to people putting the spotlight on themselves in public like that. Pride is supposed to be all about the LGBT community and the problems they face, anything that takes attention away from that message is a detriment.

I think I share your confusion!  I completely agree that it would be wrong to try and get involved with Pride without serious discussion with the organisers and I wouldn't want to take focus of the real purpose of the event. I also want to acknowledge the discrimination and struggles that the LGBT community sadly still face, and to respect the importance of the Pride events to both celebrate the progress that has been made, and to ensure that the fight for respect goes on.

Perhaps there should be a separate event, a sort of 'fetish' (not keen on that term…) version of Pride?  Possibly not a parade, but an event where people can gather to celebrate the different ways that we can all express themselves in a non-judgemental environment.

[waddlergirl]

Well I were at Trans Pride yesterday, nobody explicitly noticed despite being quite certain my L4's were bulging below my very short skirt not that the Diaper bag is not a bit of a giveaway

 

[Forced2wet]

On 7/23/2019 at 7:54 AM, babywear said:

How many marchers do you see at LGBT Pride walking around showing their underwear. So if a person is LGBT and also AB/DL  Then they can join the march/day in other clothing and just be part of the group. Yes meet up with others you know who are abdl, and make a day of it but if you would not walk down the street any weekend wearing your nappy / diaper then why do it on Pride day. I know quite a few who are in the LGBTQ community and support them but being hetro male married and abdl I don't  fit into any of the groups marching in Pride. So go as a relative and friend of marchers..

Have you ever been on a Pride march?

Lots and lots of marchers wear just their underwear and other fetishized gear. I’ve noticed in 2019 there seems to be a large group of people dressing likes canines.

I can’t see that anyone wanting to wear a diaper/nappy would cause that much of a problem.

[frankenfurter]

Just to note here: there ABDLs in and watching Pride in London, but most of them aren't just running around in a nappy and nothing else. I've been there a number of years, fully padded, it's not like the toilet provision is great. Padded friends of mine have been on the news photos, you just wouldn't know they were padded from the photos. You might just guess they were age-players though. 

[abrera]

11 hours ago, frankenfurter said:

it's not like the toilet provision is great.

Big oof on that point xD

I can honestly say, at least for the pride march part ~ I have never seen a toilet (pull-ups are very useful in this respect) >.<

Personally, pride is a protest ~ I am there always to address the inequalities of the LGBTQ+ community.

Whilst I am absolutely in favour of freedom of personal expression, I personally would not engage in such a thing as it detracts from the message I am there to present.

[3bsg3]

I think that would cause problems for the LGBT community, there is a lot of negativity about ABDLs (paedophilia blah blah crap) that it wouldn't be helpful to the LGBT community, especially when they still have to deal with a lot of negativity already.