First Pride

It's Pride month, and I wanted to share my first Pride experience here. I hope maybe it'll help others who are thinking of going to get a better idea of what to expect, and I'd also love to hear other people's Pride experiences, as well!

I attended my first Pride yesterday! I was feeling a mixture of anticipatory excitement and anxiety about the event. When I first arrived I felt really uncomfortable, and needed time to sort of "acclimate" to the atmosphere. I think it may have been clear I did not feel particularly "prideful" and I also felt out of place because so many of the people around me were either prominently wearing rainbows or had a more alternative look with colored hair and different hairstyles and such. There were also a lot of people who seemed younger than me. There were others who were dressed pretty plainclothes, like me, too, though, and of course other people my age and older. I kind of got the impression that the more you got into the spirit the more attention and positive vibes you got from others, as I started to see this as I warmed up to the event. The festival itself was mostly made up of booths from various groups in the area (a lot of Church groups, but some others too), vendors, fair foods, and sponsors. I got a little flag for myself to put up in my office, and signed up to receive our local LGBT magazine, but I was a little too timid to interact much more with others.

I was there with a few friends, and I was very glad for their support but I could tell they weren't exactly into the whole event. I probably wouldn't have gone without them, though, so I definitely appreciated their attendance. It does seem like the kind of event that the people you are with might make or break, what I mean to say is the more excited the group you are with is likely the more fun the whole thing will be. When a few more friends showed up with their baby, wearing a rainbow cape, the whole atmosphere kind of brightened around us .

Here, we have a night time parade that occurs after the festival, with lights and glowsticks and stuff. That part was a lot of fun. Very loud, pretty crowded, but not prohibitively so. A couple of my friends who seemed disinterested at the festival got pretty into the parade and helped me get lots of swag, haha. There were groups marching, and I saw a friend of a friend (who I'm now out to thanks to Pride) marching in one of them. There were a few small floats, mostly local nightclubs, and those were the most entertaining because the people got all dressed up. Some guys in thongs and gimp outfits in a cage came down the street in the back of a semi truck, we of course saw the beauty pageant winners that had been "elected" in previous months, and the highlight float for me was a lesbian nightclub where all the women were wearing different super heroine costumes (including Raven from Teen Titans, a favorite of mine!). There were bands, and church groups, dancers, and just plain people marching, handing out glowsticks, beads, flowers, and even snacks. All in all that was a lot of fun.

There was also a Rocky Horror float, and I mentioned to my friend that I'd never actually seen the whole movie, so after the parade ended we headed back to her place for a viewing. I said "It's late, I should go to bed" and she said "but it's Pride!" and hearing that come from my straight friend definitely goaded me into joining. :lol: . We watched and talked openly about LGBT issues and I felt more comfortable than I ever have talking these things in the past. That alone, I think, has made this a rewarding experience.

 

Thanks, Pret! Have you been to Pride?

 

Heh my friends were actually a bit of a mixed bag, I could tell they didn't really want to be at the festival. But fortunately the parade seemed to appeal to them. And yeah, I am really lucky I do have straight friends who will come out to Pride with me in the first place .

The swag was a lot of little stuff, I got some signs and beads, some snacks and the best thing was one of my friends grabbed me a carnation. It's sitting on my dining table now .

Rocky Horror was fun, way weirder than I even realized! I'd seen clips of some of the dances and heard the songs and stuff, but I didn't know the overall plot. It was nice to finally see it, but I think it'd be a lot more fun in a big group than just in the living room haha.

That's great! Do you dress up at all?

Next year I will at least wear some rainbows. I saw a couple of people dressed in like rainbow unicorn hoodies and things like that, if I'm feeling bold enough maybe I'll also do some sort of unicorn theme . I like costuming, but I wasn't sure what the level or type would be at Pride. There wasn't a ton of costuming, though I did spot a few Jokers and Wonder Women, and of course some really beautifully decked out Drag Queens. But it might be fun to do something small next year.