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peacefuljeffrey

Why is there a need for a "gay day" for skydiving? Or any other kind of "day"?

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IMO? - If it makes money, then it was a good idea. If it doesn't, then it was a silly idea.



God, I hope that is not really your standard for whether something has merit in and of itself.



Why not - as a business decision that's all that matters in the end to the DZO.

The other stuff, whether I find it an impotent and childish PC statement, or, conversely, as a legitimate gathering for people with similar "interests" is purely subjective. So in that case, I just mind my own business.

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

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I would like to know the answer to Jeffrey's question as well.
And Jeffrey, I myself am a little angry about the whole rainbow symbol and I agree with you; but for different reasons. The rainbow was originally supposed to represent the end of the Flood; now it has an entirely different meaning:S.:S:S
edited to read attached post


Mother to the cutest little thing in the world...

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Where does the 'no straights allowed' concept come in? To me "Gay Boogie" means "Boogie with lots of gay people and the straight people who like them. All others consider yourselves informed and uninvited if this event offends you"

What's the big freaking deal? :|

you've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel loquacious?' -- well do you, punk?

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I can certainly imagine a need, though not in my parts.



I am sure the 's' was a slip, but damn that is funny. :ph34r:



I think the 's' is there intentionally, but it's still a hilarious double entendre!



if it's anything, it's a Freudian slip, not a double e.



I disagree. He meant to say 'parts', as in, "Folks in these here parts don't take kindly to bein' told they can't have a boogie for their gay kin."

But it's a double entendre, because his private parts don't have a need for a gay boogie, presumably because he's straight, whereas someone else's parts just might feel that need.



I am the "he" in this. So I can answer as to intent.



So did you or didn't you mean to say 'parts' as it's used in the above context? :|

you've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel loquacious?' -- well do you, punk?

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and it made me wonder why such a thing is even necessary


It's probably not necessary, but they just might want a break from the closed-minded idiots that they may encounter in their typical weekend skydiving.
"Science, logic and reason will fly you to the moon. Religion will fly you into buildings."
"Because figuring things out is always better than making shit up."

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Not everyone believes the same way you do. Yes, the rainbow has been "co-opted." Of course, the swastika as been ruined, and the cross has a rather limited set of meanings.

I can't even put a little chrome outline of a fish on my car without people "knowing" what it means. It could just mean I like to fish.

WTF should the homosexual population not get to stomp all over some image just like everyone else?

As a by-the-by, I'm not a homosexual; I'm happily involved in a monogamous relationship, and I have a son who loves me. I just think it sucks that's it's OK to make fudge-packer jokes around the dz, and not breeder jokes.

Yes, every day at the DZ is a straight-white-male day. All it takes is not being a straight white male for it to be pretty frikkin' obvious. I don't think that the conversation at baby showers specifically excludes men, but I find damn few of them there -- maybe that's somewhere that women rule.

Wendy W.
There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

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I would like to know the answer to Jeffrey's question as well.



The answer is probably quite similar to why there are such things as the Christian Skydivers Assocation, who "originated as a way for skydivers who are believers in the Lordship of Jesus Christ to recognize one another and establish fellowship on the drop zone." (from their website) So, as several people have already mentioned, I believe the answer has something to do with fellowship.

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Boogies are put on because they are FUN, not because they fulfill specific goals.



NONSENSE!!!! We were going to have a Good Vibes boogie, and our goal was to get people to orgasm! :ph34r: There is ALWAYS a goal!

My goodness. I'm straight...well, basically. It's fun to kiss women (does that mean I'm going to Hell or shouldn't have kids?) But the Rainbow Boogie sounds like fun, and I'd go and have a blast if I can afford the time off work.

I really wish my life was SOOOOOOO good that I actually get UPSET when people who aren't like me are going to have fun. If that's something that actually concerns you, consider yourself lucky. Other people have concerns like where to get food/shelter or having to watch a loved one die/get sick or one of many other things that make life suck. Other people having fun does not make my life suck.
There's a thin line between Saturday night and Sunday morning

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Well...

Just maybe there's a group of gay skydivers who talk amongst themselves on another forum... and maybe one or two of them said "Hey, let's get together for a boogie"

And maybe someone else suggested that it might be a good idea to get a feel for how a few DZs would react to having a bunch of openly queer skydivers show up for a party. It would be poor form to take a DZ by surprise, eh?

And maybe it seemed like a good idea to make it clear in general that the boogie was being organized by gay skydivers so that no one who might take "offense" would stumble in and pitch a hissy fit.

And maybe it was recognized that there are a lot of gay folk who might never consider going to make a first skydive because they had no idea how they might be treated when they arrived at a DZ...so here's an opportunity to be public about a gay friendly place to come make a jump for the first time.

I dunno....maybe that's why

Edited for spelling :$
Owned by Remi #?

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Bill, I think there's a difference between swoop meets and RW meets and other kinds of boogies that are related to skydive disciplines

I don't normally pay attention to Speaker Corner threads, but I should note that we are planning various disciplines, contests and prizes -- we are already in negotiations with several sponsors right now. (The logos of all our sponsors will show up within weeks on our website)

We have a load organizer (employee from Skydive Spaceland -- listed in the news section of our website now as tentative), that will help the boogie do various disciplines, such as SCR's and 20-ways, as well as we are looking for someone to get a few Lightning rigs (4 of them, preferably 143's and 173's) loaned to us for the CRWdogs among the visitors. There are 3 already and I may be going to CRW school beforehand as well (obviously, I'd fly only in 2-formations). And we haven't forgotten you freeflyers, either.

We'll definitely do our best to accomodate everyone involved - we are keeping track of what disciplines the attendees have, and will optimize the event for it. There are also a lot of straight people (friends of gays) who expressed interest in coming. Sure, there will be some flaunt, but other aspects will be pretty plain. A Calendar of events will be published as time passes.

We have to be part of the same atmosphere that Montreal will be, since the gay olympics, the OutGames (www.montreal2006.org, opening ceremonies July 29) as well as Pride celebrations (www.diverscite.org) including the Pride Parade is occuring after sunset on Sunday evening July 30th, and Nouvel-Air will have a shuttle between the dropzone and the Montreal events. So the schedule of events will accomodate people who wants to stay behind at the dropzone, as well as people who want to go to Montreal downtown.

However, I am pretty sure for many others, they will just stay on the dropzone and just have a plain old standard skydiving Bonfire celebration. (Free campsite onsite) Straight guys who fly from out of town (there are already a few booking), will probably sightsee other things than the gays, although they do know how gays love to party and part of the reason why they are coming.

I know not everyone likes the "pride" aspect of things -- but that isn't deterring the attendance. We've had some amazing response so far, and many of them say "Finally. About time!" ....As you can see in the other thread in Bonfire. (Not just dropzone.com but also tons of emails, as well as other correspondence, as well as word-of-mouth) I guess there are many sides to this!

I know that by being one of the Boogie organizers, I've outed myself in the skydiving community -- but when I go back to jump at my home dropzone, I won't be flaunting it. I'll just be just like any skydiver doing everything else. Most people wont' recognize me as an organizer, unless they recognize me or ask. I'll respect my home dropzone and just be like any other straight-acting guy there, to respect everyone there.

Personally, I am very straight acting (people say my gaydar don't really go "beep") and I don't really show up in much of the pride stuff, but I can occasionally bask in the pride stuff -- and enjoy doing that. Others are more way "faggy" than I am. Others are even more straight acting. But for this boogie, we are catering to a wide audience of gay/lesbian/bisexuals and their straight friends. It's possible that not everyone may be satisfied (i.e. upset about rainbows!) but the overwhelming majority of the target market skydivers don't have a problem with it. There's all kinds of boogies, like women's boogies, anvil brothers type gettogethers, whatnot -- having a gay boogie is no different.

We aren't calling it the "Pride Boogie", it's just a "Rainbow Boogie", since it is the best name we have come up with, for this. It has been many months in the making and now we have enough confirmed attendees to fill an entire Twin Otter -- even before we have started our paid advertising (keep tuned!). The name "Rainbow Boogie" is better than "Gay Boogie" because the latter excludes too many (straights, lesbians, bisexuals), and "Queer Boogie" might be somewhat politically incorrect. Rainbows have already been around long enough that it is no longer always yells "PRIDE" at least in that part of Canada, it's simplly merely a plain gay symbol much like the color pink represents women, that's all, and the rainbow symbol is used on the website. Yes, it yells pride at other times, especially during celebrations and flag waving. If gays want to have a part in the "pride" aspects -- they are welcome to do so and I do enjoy that aspect -- Montreal will be a HOOT during this time period, as I've mentioned... I know a lot of us will be having lots of fun during this time period! (I'm not talking about bedroom stuff either... but a good time partying downtown!) It's not like the dropzone will be as decorated as a pride parade after all.

FWIW, I agree with "I don't think skydiving should be divided along lines of who's gay, or of what gender, or ethnicity, etc", yet I also simultaneously agree with "partake in occasional pride activities, such as annual events". That option is missing so I had to vote for the neareset option.

However, I also suckered into saying "Gay Day" too, because that is a whuffo-friendly term. There are Gay Day's in skiing, Gay Day at Disneyland, etc. Whuffos sometimes think "Rainbow Boogie" is something that comes out of a nose after an all-night rave. So that is why we also additionally registered www.SkydiveGayDay.com for whuffo-friendly advertising. Obviously, Nouvel-Air will want to profit from increased tandem traffic from the OutGames and the pride festivities, as they will run a recruitment booth and shuttle there.

For anyone here who asks, the Rainbow Boogie is at www.RainbowBoogie.com. As always, the website quotes Everyone is invited - all gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered skydivers, and their straight friends!

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>you don't see "straight-themed events" where no gays are allowed.

Right. And in this case you don't see a gay-themed event where no straights are allowed.



Well, the gay guys are gonna be able to make more jumps, with all their experience at getting their shit packed.
;)



:D:D:D

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May Contain Nut traces......

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Not everyone believes the same way you do. Yes, the rainbow has been "co-opted." Of course, the swastika as been ruined, and the cross has a rather limited set of meanings.

I can't even put a little chrome outline of a fish on my car without people "knowing" what it means. It could just mean I like to fish.

WTF should the homosexual population not get to stomp all over some image just like everyone else?

As a by-the-by, I'm not a homosexual; I'm happily involved in a monogamous relationship, and I have a son who loves me. I just think it sucks that's it's OK to make fudge-packer jokes around the dz, and not breeder jokes.

Yes, every day at the DZ is a straight-white-male day. All it takes is not being a straight white male for it to be pretty frikkin' obvious. I don't think that the conversation at baby showers specifically excludes men, but I find damn few of them there -- maybe that's somewhere that women rule.

Wendy W.



White hetro male hater!:P

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I as a soldier could care less what sexual orientation a skydiver has. Just have the right orientation for the dive plan!:P

Most military are very open minded. For a lot of us it (freedom of choices, all choices) is one of the reasons we serve/ed.

Please if 1 or 2 current or ex military has given you a bad expeirence or lead you to believe this I appalogize.

You have to understand that DOD and Adminastration policy is made by the "big boss'" not the Soldier's, Sailor's, Airmen, Marines, or Coast Guardsmen.


I say Boogie on! I have no issue with my attending and think others wouldn't mind my being there. (I am only an ass at work, it is in the duty discription!)
An Instructors first concern is student safety.
So, start being safe, first!!!

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The purpose of individuals, with something in common, getting together as a group for a party tends to be to invite others to join in, have fun, facilitate dialog, and to get to know others as people and friends.

I find it strange that others can find a reason to dislike a gathering they've been invited to. Especially when the purpose of the hosts have stated the purpose is to have a good time with peaceful individuals for something fun. I find it odd that someone can become angry because they received an invitation to a party. It says more about the recipient of the invitation than the sender.
find / -name jumpers -print; cat jumpers $USER > manifest; cd /dev/airplane; more altitude; make jump; cd /pub; more beer;



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>Just maybe there's a group of gay skydiver's who talk amongst
>themselves on another forum... and maybe one or two of them
> said "Hey, let's get together for a boogie"

Can't be. Those people must:

a) hate straight people
b) want to push their militant gay agenda or
c) want to encourage discrimination, unhappiness and bestiality

Don't give me any of this "just want to get together and jump!" stuff! If they wanted to do that, they'd just join the Christian Skydivers Association, or go to the Chicks Rock boogie.

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Any basic day at the DZ is supposed to be about the skydiving, and who gives a shit what gender of human being I'm gonna fuck when I get home?



You seem to care about this a lot actually... why?

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There's nothing about "any basic day at the DZ" that makes it a better day spent there for me as a heterosexual than for some other dude as a gay man.



Why do you believe this? What information do you have the gives you this level of confidence of someone else's perspective and experience?

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they have something skydive-specific to accomplish



The goal of many boogies and parties is to have a good time, not to necessarily accomplish anything skydiving related. I know many people who attend skydiving, BASE, rock climbing, rafting, and many other kinds of boogies/parties without actually participating. I've been to many boogies where the event was essentially cancelled to due to weather, government restrictions, and a variety of other reasons and the participants had a great time despite the lack of preplanned activity.

-=Raistlin
find / -name jumpers -print; cat jumpers $USER > manifest; cd /dev/airplane; more altitude; make jump; cd /pub; more beer;



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