Since the Supreme Court ruling that legalized gay marriage, it quickly changed from gay married to just married. We, the 10%, are downright respectable nowadays. In spite of all the progress we’ve made in the past five years, I propose that we still need to remember the importance of celebrating gay pride.
The last time I attended gay pride, Wyatt was small enough to ride on my shoulders and a beautiful queen gave him a rainbow flag at the end of the parade. At that point, the flag was just about bigger than him, and he made a mission of whacking every person he saw with said flag. He still occasionally pulls out that flag and whacks people with it. And by people, I mean his sister.
Earlier this month, I broke the pride drought at Portland Pride (Pride Northwest). Along with my oldest daughter and her fiancé, we worked two booths, one for Ylva Publishing and one for Curve Magazine.
Attending pride in any capacity after Orlando and the bomber in LA, was a scary proposal. Being there both days from open to close was even more unsettling. But we went. It was too important not to. While there, I was reminded of all the reasons it’s important to celebrate pride, plus all the reasons that make pride awesome to celebrate.
Five Reasons to Celebrate Pride
ONE – It’s affirming to be surrounded by all gay all the time. People at pride are excited and happy (and often drunk). They smile and laugh and wish you well. Nobody at pride is upset. Okay, maybe that one guy holding the “God Hates Fags” sign is unhappy, but he’s across the street and isn’t really a part of pride anyway.
TWO – That guy is across the street holding the “God Hates Fags” sign. There is no shortage of bigotry in the world, and as long as there are people willing to hold those signs, we need to gather together and celebrate with abandon. 
THREE – Queens, costumes, dykes, oh my! Seriously, is there anything better than a queen if all her fabulous, made-up glory? Or the sound of Dykes on Bikes leading the parade home? Where else can you see gay Captain America and a unicorn in the same place? 
FOUR – All the cute lesbians. It’s so much fun to hang out and laugh with hot chicks. It’s even more fun when those hot chicks are all as queer as you are.
FIVE – People wear varying amounts of clothing. And that means there are lots and lots of tattoos on display. There are some really, really fabulous tattoos out there.
That’s it for my top five list. How about you? Did you go to pride this year? What are your reasons?
