The one thing Americans do far better than Aussies

There are a lot of things Americans are worse at than Australians but there is one area where, hands down, the US triumphs.

New York Pride and July 4 2022. Pictures: Benedict Brook / News.com.au and Kena Betancur/Getty Images/AFP

OPINION

There are lots of things the Yanks are worse at than Australians — playing rugby, using kettles, abortion rights.

But there is one area where — hands down — the US triumphs.

That area is pride — a joyous pride, celebratory pride, un-cynical pride, a pride in partying hard for just about any occasion.

Now, don’t get me wrong, Australians know how to throw a party. But the Yanks, well it’s next level.

It doesn’t seem to matter if the occasion is July 4, Halloween or even Mother’s Day. When it comes to an event you own it, you embrace it, and you take pride in it, or you don’t bother coming at all.

For me, this lower case pride was most obvious at the recent upper case Pride. Held in person in New York for the first time in three years.

It was part of weeks of global LGBTI Pride celebrations and protests between June and July, held from London to Milan, Christchurch to Barcelona.

In a normal year, it’s thought around two million New Yorkers crowd the parade route which snakes it way around Manhattan passing the famous Stonewall Tavern en route. It was here in 1969 that a riot take place led by gay and trans New Yorkers against oppressive police which sparked the United State’s modern LGBTI rights movement. And led to this very march.

In 2019 WorldPride – a kind of super, dooper, uber Pride – was held in New York and as many as five million people came along for the ride.

In contrast, Sydney’s gay and lesbian Mardi Gras – still one of the biggest such events on the planet – is watched by what seems an almost trivial 200,000 people by comparison on Oxford St.

On a scorching summers day, New York Pride did not disappoint. Pictures: Benedict Brook/News.com.au

This year, for the first time, I was able to march in New York Pride with Outright International, a human rights organisation which right now is helping LGBTI people from war torn Ukraine.

On a scorching summer day, the roar from the crowd on either side of Fifth Ave as the marchers passed was as infectious as it was unexpected.

In Sydney, Mardi Gras spectators are in a good mood. But I have never experienced quite the 360 degree tsunami of sheer positivity and excitement as on the streets of New York.

Deafening seemed to be the crowd’s neutral level. Any whipping up by parade participants – a cheer from a float or a shimmy or twirl from someone marching – would send the volume of spectators to something resembling a jet engine departing from nearby JFK.

New Yorkers wrapped in rainbow flags or in costumes just as extravagant as those marching would cling precariously from scaffolding to get a better view.

Tiny dogs, perfect for Manhattan’s cramped apartments, would be bejewelled by their owners for the day.

If there’s drugs better at releasing endorphins the way New York Pride did, I’ve yet to hear of them. Aussie cynicism be damned, it’s hard to resist being swept up in the enthusiasm.

Craning to get a better view. Pictures: Benedict Brook/News.com.au

It’s thought two million people attended New York Pride 2022. Pictures: Benedict Brook/News.com.au

What Australia can learn from the Americans

Next year Sydney hosts WorldPride, which promises to massively increase numbers during Mardi Gras.

Sydney WorldPride head Kate Wickett, recently attended both New York and London’s Pride events. She told news.com.au that Sydney’s Mardi Gras stood alongside the world’s best, but she had learnt a few things as she travelled the globe.

“What we’ve seen in New York and London is that, more than ever before, the community wants to come together and celebrate – and we’re working hard to put on the best global family reunion the LGBTQIA+ community could wish for.”

WorldPride is coming to Sydney in 2023. It has a lot to live up too. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Damian Shaw

Not just Pride, pride is everywhere

But this American enthusiasm isn’t reserved only for Pride. No sooner had the rainbow flags been packed away then the stars and stripes were unfurled for Independence Day on July 4.

Even Mother’s Day – which in Australia is marked with little more than an uptick in greetings cards sales – was a huge deal. Billboards were festooned with Mother’s Day messages; shops were decked out in Mother’s Day merch; First Lady Jill Biden even headed to Ukraine to meet her counterpart in Olena Zelenska to have a wartime chat mum-to-mum.

Americans love to wave a flag. Pictures: Benedict Brook/News.com.au

Some of the best costumes weren’t in the parade, they were just from people watching. Pictures: Benedict Brook/News.com.au

And we all know how gaga the Americans go for Halloween, an event sniffed at by many an Aussie.

It can seem sometimes there is an unquestioning element to celebrating and taking pride in the US.

Many Australians, for years now, have wrestled with the appropriateness of Australia Day celebrations – particularly the date.

Most Americans have no such qualms about July 4 it seems. Although it probably helps that the nation’s national day is about independence from the UK, as oppose to discovery by it.

A New Yorker takes part in the 2022 Nathans Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest on July 4, 2022 in New York City. Picture: Kena Betancur/Getty Images/AFP.

Pride could be tempered

Nonetheless among the celebrations of Pride, on that clear blue day, the clouds seemed to be forming.

Peppered among the crowds was placard after placard about the felling of the landmark Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court case which had five decades given women in the US there right to an abortion.

“Abort the court” read one. Others we’re even more colourful in their language.

Rights people had taken for granted for decades were, in some places, now no more.

And beneath the cheers, there were murmurs too – of a potentially worrying future for LGBTI people in America.

There may have been a party atmosphere but Pride has always been about protest too. After all, that's how it all began.

Decisions made at the US Supreme Court could turn the party into a protester. (Photo by Stefani Reynolds / AFP)

In ditching Roe vs. Wade, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas had all but called for other court rulings to be tested. Such as the successful case that had led to same-sex marriage being legalised nationwide, and even sexual relations between people of the same gender.

If they too get struck down, there is the genuine concern that some states could effectively make homosexuality illegal.

So while Americans might celebrate harder and with more fervour than I have seen almost anywhere else, quite soon those watching Pride may have a little less to be proud about.

All the more reason to party that bit harder — and protest that bit louder — now.