~Pride~

As I wrote in my last post, last Friday and Saturday I did Pride-related dyke activities. Sunday I missed the Pride parade, but I went to check out the festival.

I learned this year (which I'm somewhat ashamed to admit, seen as how it's very basic Gay History) that Pride started in 1970 as a way to commemorate the Stonewall Riots the year before. I was amazed to learn that the tradition has been around for nearly 40 years.


My day started out with volunteering at GLAAD's booth for a few hours. GLAAD stands for Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, and they work to put an end to LGBT discrimination and inaccuracy in the media.


As I wrote a couple postings ago, the highlight for me this year was getting to meet the moms of the gay teens. Had I not been working the booth, I probably wouldn't have even known they were there; so it was a good opportunity to talk with some different people.

After that, I went to get free Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B vaccines from Hepteam, who had a booth there.



After that, I walked around and looked at stuff.






This year I saw two new additions - a teeth whitening booth ($120 for a 15 min. whitening, and believe it or not - maybe you will, because this is L.A. and these are gay men after all - all four of the machines were occupied, and there were people waiting in line as well) and a small petting zoo.

And when the dyyyyykes...go marching iiiiiiin....

As I discussed in my last post, last weekend was L.A. Pride. To start the weekend off, I went to the Dyke March Friday night. I've only been to one Dyke March before, which was purely accidental. Back in 1998, my g-friend and I were walking through a pocket park in NYC when we happened to run into a group of lesbians. They said, "Are you here for the Dyke March?" "...What's the dyke march?" "It's a group of dykes who march." Right...


As you probably know, the Dyke March is just that - its purpose is to increase lesbian visibility (inclusive of bisexuals and transgendered people), build community, and all that other stuff. It's actually a nice opportunity to feel a part of the lesbian community, or at least to feel like there is one. I see so many gay men everywhere I go, one starts to wonder if this phenomenon called lesbianism really exists or if the joke's on me.

One of the cool things about the NYC march was they blocked off a huge street for us - 5th Avenue or something like that. To walk in the middle of a major street in NYC was an experience in and of itself. The other cool thing was that several women took their shirts off and there were a lot of bra-less boobs hanging out.

This year in L.A. was very similar, although there were no boobs to be seen. The closest I saw were these paper mache ones taped to the back of someone's wheelchair/cart.


During the march, the dykes on bikes lead the way.





The Pride Headquarters is located in West Hollywood across the street from the Pacific Design Center. I took a pretty picture of it so I'm going to include it here.




Saturday I went to the first annual Dyke Day L.A. It was held in a different location than the rest of Pride, at Barnsdall Art Park near Hollywood at the top of a hill.




The view was great, the sun was shining, the breeze was blowing, music was playing - it was a perfect afternoon. I chilled on the grass and watched some bands, dancers, comedians, and even a demonstration on how to use a device so that you can pee standing up (she looked like she was peeing into a bucket on stage; I'm not sure if it was really her pee or some sort of water contraption she devised, but either way I'm sorry I don't have a photo of it).




Sunday I went to the Pride festival. I'll post some photos from that in a couple of days.

The Age of Aquarius

Of all the holidays I love the most, I think the ones I started celebrating as an adult are my favorite. The two that come to mind for me are Passover and Pride. The cool thing about Pride (other than the booze and eye candy, of course) is that unlike going home for the holidays, I've been able to celebrate it wherever I happen to be, and they each represent a different time in my life. I went to my first Pride when I was a baby dyke at Smith College in Northampton, MA. I went to NYC Pride the summer that my girlfriend and I lived there, the summer that we fell in love. I marched with PFLAG at Fresno Pride along with her parents, soon after they had come to accept her sexuality, nearly 10 years after she first came out to them. I went to L.A. Pride the summer after we broke up, and I made out with a guy just for the sheer queerness of it all (I'm more of a guy than he'll ever be, so it was very "gay"). I've also gone to events in San Francisco, D.C., Kansas City, and Albany. They're all different, from the 80% male presence in West Hollywood to the 80% female presence in Northampton. Some years it's a lot of fun, other years I couldn't care less; but I always go, if nothing else than to collect the free condoms (yes, I do have a use for them, and no, it's not for *him*).

I started going 12 years ago, and like everyone else, I've seen a lot of changes in that short amount of time - landmark legal successes, huge social changes, and a shift in the demographic of people that are coming to Pride. This year I saw several groups of high school students that were there with their school's Gay/Straight Alliance. I also spoke with three different straight mothers, all of whom had independently come with their teenage gay son or daughter. Meeting the moms of the gay teens was definitely the highlight for me this year. I thought it was the sweetest, most supportive thing a parent could do for their child.

After thinking about it, I realized that these moms were probably from the hippy generation, the generation of people who started the sexual revolution that queer people are continuing today. Pride has free AIDS tests and Hepatitis vaccines, dildos, lube, condoms, handcuffs - you name it, you can find it. Not only does Pride encourage safe-sex, but also healthy sexual expression in general - be who you are, express yourself, accept yourself. Love your neighbor, don't go to war, get politically involved, and don't vote Republican (OK, so there are gay republicans, and yes, they sometimes have a booth at Pride. But I haven't seen them since George Bush got elected...coincidence??). I have to say that it seems as if the queer community is the legacy of the hippy movement. Sexual freedom and politics merge in a way that continues to transform society. Where the personal continues to be political, where the unspoken is spoken, and where deeply ingrained taboos are challenged and overturned.

I know it won't stop with us, which is definitely a good thing. There are other groups that we are paving the way for, and if I'm lucky I'll be able to see them take the stage during my lifetime. There is one thing that the religious right is right about - we are changing the fabric of society; we have been for a long time. But if you look back over the course of human history, how can one believe that the way things have been is beneficial to humanity? We've killed ourselves, divided ourselves, repressed ourselves. Isn't it time for something new?