AJ Sundar’s analysis of gay pride parades starts with poor assumptions, so it is not surprising that he reaches a poor conclusion. He claims that the purpose of the parades is to raise money for AIDS research and promote acceptance of homosexual activity across the nation. But why think those are the only two purposes? And why think they are the most important?

Whether in the United States or in any country, the purpose of gay pride parades is to raise awareness and money for HIV research, as well as to promote acceptance of homosexual activity across the nation. As far as fundraisers go, the gay pride parades are great: They make quite a large contribution toward funding extremely important research that aims at finding a cure to a deadly disease. However, when it comes to promoting acceptance of homosexual activity, all I can see is the exact opposite.