June is Gay Pride Month!!!

[Eroica]

What are you going to do to celebrate???

[indigo]

Well I'm in another country though we are going to celebrate anyway, give ourselves lots of time and outings (excuse the pun).

[sct]

By hiding from parade insanity on Halsted...
I don't really like crowds. I'm out- every day, I don't need a parade for 'gayness' any more than I do for my addiction. Every day- is expressing my pride by being open about who I am.

[Draysin]

uggg...where will I be?
Possibly at a gay pride event. The closest one has changed it location
to the local gay bar. So I'm thinking this is just going to be a lot of drunken kids, fights with the local homophobes, not many vendors as there is no room for them. I mean...I wasn't even aware that this place had a parking lot and I've been there several times.
Finally I remembered where it is...I think you can park 8 cars there.

*sigh*

Then there is Ithaca...but so far I haven't seen much going on there. I MUST be missing the news!

I'm somewhat leery of Syracuse just because of the drive/social phobia thing. My fear comes out in anger so I become a walking timebomb which isn't fair to the rest of society (I'm working on this).

My community is small, doesn't tend to put much into events and there is a lot of bible thumpers that protest.

.....ugggg....I just know if I go to the local one I'll be in jail because I sometimes am just as bad as a teenage boy. Not that I would start a fight but I'd jump in to help someone in a heartbeat. <--and prolly get killed.

Redneck County. Lotsa fun here.

[freya]

Here in Rochester we celebrate in July -- so as not to have to compete with Toronto which has an awesome, huge pride that many folks in Western NY attend. Our Pride actually is also a full week of events and usually pulls crowds of >5000 for the Parade/Festival (on the last Saturday) and the picnic (Sunday). For a city our size, its' pretty big and very well done......although, of course, there is a lot of drinking, so it's probably not the greatest idea for anyone who's newly sober.

I kinda have some ambivalent feelings about it all now because we used to be very active in a lot of it and actually did some of the planning/orgainizing work for the parade and festival for 4 or 5 years, but now it's pretty much all been taken over by the local gay community group, which uses it to make money, which, to a certain extent is OK, but problematic from the perspective that that organization is pretty narrowly focused on mainsteaming/assimilationism......which, really, is just disturbing to me.

But, it is big and it is fun...especially for anyone who just wants to have a good time and really doesn't know or care about the politics beneath it all.

freya

[sct]

I'm somewhat leery of Syracuse just because of the drive/social phobia thing. My fear comes out in anger so I become a walking timebomb which isn't fair to the rest of society (I'm working on this).

Thanks for saying this. I'm the same way. Not about driving, I like that. But my social phobia definitely comes out an anger, and I end up walking around with my temper on a hair-trigger. It's a hard thing to explain to people when they pressure me to be anywhere in a large group of people. They feel I'm not going because I don't like them, when really, it's safer for everyone for me to regulate how I interact with people and avoid crowds when I'm not up to it.

[Ripley]

If I can work up the nerve, I may go to some of the gay pride events or the parade. I'm in Los Angeles so there's a lot happening here. I tend to get overwhelmed by crowds though so who knows if I'll make it or not, but I want to do SOMETHING fun.

[CatEyez28]

Ive gone for so many years and its not that big of deal for me anymore. Ive been avoiding them for the last few yrs for good reasons, you know all the parties and the drugs and booze. I know if i go im going to start wishing I was at all those parties all over again. Probably for the best I have to travel to go to the nearest one this summer...lol.

[otterbearcat]

Possibly the pride parade, if my gf and her kids go.
Otherwise, I dont think so, me + crowds+ no booze can = make me irritated.

[nandm]

Portland, Oregon's pride was yesterday. I could not believe the turnout. It was amazing. I have gone to it over the past few years and never have I seen a crowd like this. Lines at both entrances that stretched out. Nearly shoulder to shoulder walking around. I am not sure if the more recent battles with equality that we have both won and lost are the reason for the increase in participation and support, but what ever the reason it was wonderful to see.

I think it is very positive for our community to support these events as they allow the general public to see us and realize that we are the people next door, the person in the next office, the doctor, lawyer, paramedic, etc... We are every day people just doing our best to live our lives. We are not the monsters we have been portrayed as by those that fear what they don't understand. I don't understand why I am a lesbian either and feared that part of me for many years but today I realize that it does not make me less of or a bad person, I am simply a human being.

I hope that there are just as good turnouts for each of the Pride's in your areas as well. United we can bring fairness and equality to our world.