Earlier this month, just weeks before the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, a Twitter user shared a since-deleted viral tweet directed at Pride goers. It contained a number of statements about the nature of Pride, with one particular remark sparking a string of intra-community discourse: “Please don’t bring your k*nks/fet*shes to pride, there are minors @ pride and this can sexualise the event."

Debate quickly followed within the queer community, calling into question the place of public displays of kink and BDSM at queer events. Some agreed with the original tweet, asseting that wearing fetish gear or publicly expressing one’s sexuality would violate the consent of those present, as it could make people feel uncomfortable or triggered. Others challenged these sentiments. “Kinks, sex, and protest are all inherent parts of pride,” wrote Nicolette Mason on Twitter. “One of the core tenets of pride is liberation and working against cultural shaming,” wrote a user under the handle @atty_boy. “Calling to make pride ‘kid-friendly’ implies that celebrating sexuality and kink openly is bad. Normalizing these things is a GOAL of pride.”

Wherever you stand on the issue, the fact remains that BDSM, subversive sexuality, and leather culture have enjoyed a long history within the LGBTQ+ rights movement, and such public displays of sexuality are driven by much more than libido or countercultural impulses — they're an inherent expression of queer culture and sexuality, and as such, deserve a place at Pride as much as anything.

For activists and members of the leather community, the notion that kink should be discluded from Pride is a symptom of larger issues. Writer, anarchist, and self-identified transsexual leatherdyke June Amelia Rose tells them. she believes the tweet reflects a modern but regressive pride discourse, promoting the idea "that sex is inherently damaging to see, experience, or think about in a public context."

"However, this is being leveled at queers and perverts who have a history of being medically pathologized and criminalized,” she says. "Simply being kinky or sexual in public is not a violation of consent. I didn’t consent to see the rainbow cops.”

The meaning of the American celebration now known as Pride has changed since its advent in 1969. Even before the Stonewall Riots, the LGBTQ+ rights movement was about more than joining and appeasing the straight world; it was also about proudly resisting them. What came to a head in the 60s and 70s was the split between the homophile movement, which sought to assimilate the LGBTQ+ community within cis-heteronormative culture, and a radical resistance on the part of many drag queens, dykes, trans people, sex workers, and gay men.