Hello!
Before we get into the nitty gritty of Pride, I'm gonna make a quick note up here. I'm talking a whole lot about the LGBTQIA community in this blog. And LGBTQIA is a whole lotta alphabet soup to write over and over. So I'm going to define it once for you and then refer to it using the umbrella term, “gay.” Bisexuals, Pansexuals, *Trans folks I see you! And I'm talking to you! But for the sake of word economics, I'm gonna call ya gay.
L-Lesbian
G-Gay
B-Bisexual/Pansexual (why is there no P in this thing yet? Come on now)
T- Transgender
Q-Queer
I-Intersex
A-Asexual/Alli
Welcome to: Pride, Post Mortem Subtitle: The Last of the Pride Month Blogs
This weekend I attended my first Chicago Pride Parade, and let me tell you, it did not disappoint. I started the day off at 10 am with jello shots. Because cereal, toothpaste, and vodka is the breakfast of (day drinking) champions. Then, slowly but surely, the gay powerhouse of friends began to assemble in our living room to head down to the parade together. I always feel squeamish about putting people's names on my blog without asking permission, So I'm going to give everyone super-hero alter ego names and actual descriptions just so you get a sense of the lovely people I was surrounded by all day. By super-hero I most nearly mean, mythical creature names.
1. Wonder Woman: My lovely roommate whose knowledge of lesbian pop culture rivals the writers for afterellen. Not to mention her puns and endless “wit” (*sarcasm). Also, she can drink us all under the table. And she did.
2. Batman and Robin: My dear friend from home and her girlfriend stayed with us this weekend! I loved having them over and kind of maybe think they need to move to Chicago so we could hang out all the time. Hint. Hint.
3. Captain America: He's political, he's Catholic, he's a super gay activist, and he's in love with Austria. The whole. Damn. Country. Also, he looked sexy in his tank top. Very sexy.
4. Cat Woman: Because I only know so many super-hero's. So it's gonna get dicey. But she's awesome! Seriously delightfully happy human to spend the parade with. And she's from P-town! Represent!
5. Harry Potter and Company: Half the Loyola Quidditch team, wrangled skillfully by Wonder Woman, joined us. Super fun group of friends, allies, gays, and the like.
6. Tinkerbell: She's super tiny and super cute and super crafty with her DIY Pride t-shirt. And I dragged her to an overwhelming number of events. Really delighted that I got to spend Pride with her.
7. The Flash: Girl's a champ. Found us at Pride after a crazy night out on the town. Then went on a run the next day. One of my favorite people ever.
So there's the crew. The parade was so much fun. It lasted nearly 4 hours and I enjoyed every minute of it. Pride gets some backlash within the gay community for being commercialized, not properly representing the gay community and giving people who are not good allies a platform to play activist for an afternoon. That's all true. But, like any event with millions of diverse people, Pride is what you make it. I surrounded myself with people that are out and active on a day to day basis to increase visibility and combat homophobia. Not to mention, they are so fun and cool that they deserve super-hero names. Doesn't get much better than that.
But Pride is significant as an event in and of itself. Sure, it's not a grassroots movement, but it is so empowering to be around that many people celebrating the gay community. Also, not to downplay the significance of our allies, but it's super cool to have that many gay people at one event. Every other day of the year we are the minority in most workplaces, classrooms, social settings, what have you. To be at an event with thousands of people who share a piece of your story really makes you feel accepted.
It's something I didn't fully realize until I came out more, but it takes a tough skin to live openly. Sometimes I have days when I'm feeling super insecure and I feel like everyone knows this super private, potentially dangerous, sometimes controversial fact about me. I live in Chicago, one of the gay-friendliest cities on the map, so I don't actually have much to worry about, but if I can feel insecure in a huge metropolitan hub, I can't imagine how the gay people in more conservative or rural areas must feel. Events like Pride create miles of safe space where gay people can express their gender regardless of their sex, be openly affectionate with someone of the same sex, and not have to worry about getting sideways glances. Even if your town doesn't have a big gay scene, I hope that you can celebrate with us in spirit and that you feel a little more accepted.
Regardless of your opinions towards same sex relationships and non-normative gender identities, we exist. And we are not going away. We need events like Pride and designated gay places like bars and community centers to create a safe space for us to be comfortable live openly.
*And that concludes our “feelings parade” section of this blog.
Speaking of acceptance, pride is the perfect place to just unleash all of your gay on the world with no shame. I mean, people show up to this thing in tutus, underpants, fishnets, rainbows everywhere, you name it. I took this as an opportunity to fulfill every gay stereotype on the planet. By the end of the night my outfit was down to rainbow earrings, a rainbow ring, Converse, flannel, beads, and a rainbow tie. I had actual clothes on as well, don't think I went naked...it was too cold this year... Anyway. It got to the point where Captain America reined me in before leaving for my friend's Pride BBQ. Lost the tie. But still looked flaming, fear not.
Literally, everyone can get something out of pride. Get ready for some stereotypes up in here.
Straight ladies: My “men with rock hard abs dancing around in their underwear” quota was filled for the next ten years in one day. And none of them will hit on you. Also, glitter and rainbows.
Straight men: Beer and Lesbians.
Lesbians: Beer and Lesbians.
Gay Men: Brittany Spears. Every other song. The other songs were Beyonce.
I hope I've offended everyone. I personally don't care for beer and I really enjoyed the glitter and rainbows. And Beyonce. You do you.
Well I think that about wraps it up for me. Pride was followed by one of the most fun cookouts I've been to in a while. I would write about it but this post it already hella long, so I'm gonna hold off. But gentlemen, you know who you are, if you're reading this, well done. Best cooking I've had in a loooong time.
SHIT I forgot to talk about Girl on Girl Feminist Radio! Balls. Ok. Next time. This was way too good to go unwritten about. They have a segment called Clam Jams. I mean, come on now. Literally the greatest thing ever.
Hope ya'll had a wonderful pride weekend. And a relatively painless hungover Monday.
Kait
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