Gay Pride Parade in San Francisco

For the record, I'm heterosexual.

For the record I have gay friends.

For the record, I consider myself a practicing Catholic.

These are some raging rapids of controversy I have to navigate right here.

I love all my friends and I have a tendency to be non-judgmental personally and professionally. Without going into it too deeply, my God who I worship is a God who appreciates good acts. If you live a good life, and are a good person, then the rest is up to him to judge. I love my friends because they are good people and I accept the people that they love also.

This blog is not to discuss such things. My life right now is measured in experiences. So, on to the Parade!

My old friend Lisa (an OT who I worked with in Baltimore, MD and is now conveniently working in Walnut Creek, CA) arrived separately and met up at the parade. We stood with about 5 ga-gillion people from 10:30 am until 2pm watching various groups march by our spot. We stood with a lesbian couple to our left and a male couple to our right. A heterosexual couple stood behind us. By the end of the parade, we were all very much friends and had caught some awesome stuff. Personally, I caught a bandana from Macy's that says "Pride and Joy", a snow globe with two fellows holding hands in front of SF City Hall (in tuxes), and a condom. The girl next to me caught a vibrator. There weren't a lot of throws at the parade (both Baltimore's Gay Pride parade and the Martis Gras parade in New Orleans left me with so much stuff I couldn't carry it all), but I have to admit the quality was better. I've never caught a snow globe before!!!

I saw some wonderful costumes!





















There were various celebrities and groups ranging from Dykes on Bikes, to Children of same-sex couples on Trikes. There was a group that was angry their penises were snipped at birth and another group stating that they were asexual. There were very stable couples strolling down the street (this couple has been together 21 years) and couples who were involved in subservient relationships:












































There were Protesters.



And police- many of them holding hands with same sex partners.



The book mobile made an appearance and people marched along side with pictures of books that had a homosexual character-- including one holding a picture of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" (Dumbledore came out of the magical closet a while back).



And there was some really random stuff. For example, a bike that appeared to sit 5 people (maybe 6?) and was man-powered.



I'm glad I went. I enjoyed watching the different groups and sharing the experience with the crowd. It always amazes me that no matter how different we are, we all agree that dressing your partner up as a horse and using reins to control him/her is a little strange. The same-sex and different-sex couples around me whole-heartedly agreed.