I was asked by the wonderful people of Heritage of Pride, who stage New York’s annual LGBT Pride Parade, if I was willing be a “judge” for this year’s parade. Now, I haven’t gone to Gay Pride regularly for years: whereas my first Pride Parades in the mid-Eighties were transformative experiences, in more recent years I didn’t feel the need for the affirmation that the parade gives. I was “over” Pride.
Thank you, HOP. for reminding me that I am not.
Watching the five and a half hours to the Parade (yep: five and a half hours), I was alternately touched, moved, and proud. Touched by the contingents from LGBT youth programs like the Door and the sheer excitement of these young people who are finding their voice and place in a hostile world; moved by the Moment of Silence at 2 p.m., when a million people fell silent to remember those we have lost to AIDS and hate violence; and proud to see contingents like that from the University of Saskatchewan, who had traveled from nearly all the way across the continent and waited five hours before stepping off to begin the parade.
I couldn’t help but think back to 1986 and my first time marching in the Boston Gay Pride Parade, at age 23. My excitement and nervousness was palpable. My Harvard classmate Trey Woods, one of the most impossibly handsome men who ever walked the planet, showed up in khakis and a button down, so completely overdressed it was almost laughable. We were young and we would conquer the world. Well, Trey died of AIDS in 1995 and I am not so young anymore. But today, I felt like we had indeed conquered the world. If only for a day.
Now, on a lighter note, some highlights of the parade for me:
Favorite overheard comment:
“I’m not riding: I had an hip replacement.”
Head of the Sirens Motorcycle Club (better known as “Dykes on Bikes””)
Three Favorite Signs:
“It’s not what man puts in his mouth that makes him unclean.”
Presbyterian Welcome (an LGBT-affirming group within the Presbyterian Church)
“We are praying for you Jerry: no hard feelings.”
“If Homosexuality is a Disease, Let’s all call in queer!”