A-LISTS youthful thinking by melissa k.t.
The Real Reason for Pride:
A PERSONAL REFLECTION
“I think I have obviously changed over the years. I also think Pride has changed. It has be- come slightly more acceptable to come out earlier.”
As the summer is quickly approaching, my mind has
started to automatically look forward to PRIDE! I start to get excited as this time of year gets closer and closer and it seems that each year keeps getting better with every extra year of my life experience. At my first Pride I was actually very young. My mom is
gay and she decided it would be a good experience for me. I was around the age of 10 and I don’t remember it all that clearly, but what I do remember was fun. There were lots of rainbows of course; I remember it was hot and that the parade was loud and full of tons of smiling people. It is a happy memory. The next time I went I was much older. The second Pride I at- of high school. I hadn’t intensely fascinated by there. I couldn’t wrap the fact that all of were gay or com- of the idea. I watching and
tended I was just out come out yet. I was all of the people my head around the people there pletely accepting mostly enjoyed stayed with my
mom and her girlfriend who
had a booth selling some items from their sign business. It became a tradition for us to all go to Pride together. Most people would probably be mortified at that age to be caught at an event like that with their mom but I never minded. My mom and I are close and it was just something I always did to show my support and love for her but then it turned into a celebration for both of us once I came out. My third Pride was of course better because I had come out of the closet finally. I had fun seeing all the cute scantily clad girls running around and celebrating. I remember being really nervous to dance with girls back then. I missed the parade that year but the booths were a lot of fun. I still to this day can’t decide which part I like more…the parade or the festival. The fourth and final year up to date was last summer and I had a girlfriend, which was a new twist. I volunteered with the sign crew and helped set up some of the booths for after the parade. We finished just in time for the parade to start but the problem was then walking all the way over to watch. My friend Mike and I started walking as fast as possible but it was taking too long and we were going to miss it. We flagged down one of those bike guys with a cart on the back to give us a ride. We
finally made it over and my girlfriend and her friends had staked out a spot for us to watch the parade. I remember having trouble finding a bathroom, protesters saying we were going to go to hell, the heat, taking pictures of guys wearing leather everywhere but their butts, and tons of rainbows of course. Later I got to catch some bands, see the booths and meet up with friends and coworkers. I would definitely say it was the best of all the years. I will have to see what is in store for me with this summer. I think I have obviously changed over the years. I also
think Pride has changed. It has become slightly more acceptable to come out earlier. We are seeing some younger teenagers and even kids in middle school com- ing to Pride. More people go to Pride because each year more people come out in general. It gets just a tad more acceptable to be gay with each passing year. I am look- ing forward to a day when more allies feel like they can come celebrate with us and I am also looking forward to a time when there aren’t any nega- tive protesters saying we are going to hell because of who we love. That will be the best Pride of all and hopefully it will be in my lifetime.
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RAGE monthly | JUNE 2010
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