Jerome,
Glad you bring this to us. Understanding diverse societies is a great advance in learning how to live with people, even when their view on life and preferences don't match one's own. You do us all a good service in bringing us all to the celebration in such a good manner.
One thing I feel sure of, amongst the marchers there is likely to be an unusually rich concentration of architects, designers, engineers and other creatives. That, I'd wager is the single biological and existentially significant advantage that I believe that having gay men bring to societies where their humanity is respected. (I have not studied the contributions of gay women, but others might know). I do hope this is not seen as a controversial assertion! But I really believe that nurturing creative gay men has helped the human race to evolve to tackle logistic and logical challenges and esthetics in very important ways since ore-history. I doubt that society was always so prejudiced and cruel, as it has been in the last two millennia!!
These colorful parades put us in contact with the joy and common humanity and it brings a freshness to the air as everyone is happy and carefree at no cost or harm to a soul!
Asher
"Striking the pose" is a very good comment on the show!