My first Pride is a day I will never forget. My friend Christina and her girlfriend at the time Sarah picked me up from work and told me they were taking me to this festival for gay people. I had never heard of such a thing, I mean logically I knew I wasn't the only gay person in the world but surely I was the only gay man in the area in which I lived.I realize how naive that sounds now, but at the time I was still new to the whole coming out thing.
When we got there, I felt like Dorothy from the Wizard Of Oz. Everything was so exciting, so new, not to mention the guys that hit on me. Christina commented on the change that had taken over me, at that point I was out and proud, very much the activist. She said that while I was all that she noted the hint of lust in my eyes, and that she knew Pride would truly bring me out of my shell. It was the best day of my life, and I counted down the days until the next pride.
Every year since then, Pride has been my holiday of choice. once May rolls around I get excited for that first Sunday in June. I take my vacation to coincide with the day, and the one time I wasn't able to get the day off, I did what any good homo would do, I called off. As I said this is my holiday and there was no way I was missing it. Of course it doesn't help that the night before Pride is what I call Pride Eve, kind of like New Years Eve, but as I said Pride is all of the holidays wrapped into one for me.
A funny thing happened this year though. May came and went and there was no excitement, no countdown. What was wrong with me? Where was my enthusiasm? As I began talking to friends about my lack of happiness, my lack of energy in terms of Pride. One thing became very clear to me, the problem did not lie with me necessarily. It was pride itself, it has morphed into something I don't recognize, no longer were there the campy fun like Drag Queens, or boys in underwear handing out condoms. In their place is 2 stages of singers, and to be honest not very talented ones. One stage is full of karaoke singers who make William Hung, of American Idol fame, look good. Seriously these performers would make a great episode of auditions for American Idol, the laughter would be worth it. Before anyone says anything to me, I know I can't sing, that's why I write and not sing.
It felt like something shifted this year, and no longer was I in Oz but back in suburbia and i was a laughing stock because I was not part of a "gay" family. Even the vendors this year shifted towards more family friendly, more functional. In years past ID Lube was a major sponsor of the event, this year it was a mortgage company geared towards helping families find homes. Theres nothing wrong with that, in fact I encourage it, but there hgas to be a balance, what about those of us who don't have a family, those of us who are not able to buy houses?
Is there a fix for this pride problem? Or have I finally reached the plateau, where I am no longer young nor am I old so there is no pleasing me? No, as always there is a middle ground. Why not have drag queens compete in an America's Next Top Model type of competition or the new corner stone of Logo's programming Drag Race. With the vendors, why not try and go after a company like TLA, they produce movies both for family and for adults. What about HERE! and Logo, where are they? Why aren't they participating in Prides around the nation?
By contrasting the family friendliness with a touch of campiness and some naughty fun, Pride can be restored to it's former glory in my eyes. If you are sitting on the planning committee for any Pride-fest please consider that you're audience is more than just families. By blending in we are sending a message to other people that we feel we are immoral or wrong, by standing out and carefully including everyone in our festivities we show the world what I have believed since my very first Pride: That gay community is all inclusive, no matter what you look like, no matter what your backstory is, you will always be accepted by us. And isn't that what PRIDE is all about?
When we got there, I felt like Dorothy from the Wizard Of Oz. Everything was so exciting, so new, not to mention the guys that hit on me. Christina commented on the change that had taken over me, at that point I was out and proud, very much the activist. She said that while I was all that she noted the hint of lust in my eyes, and that she knew Pride would truly bring me out of my shell. It was the best day of my life, and I counted down the days until the next pride.
Every year since then, Pride has been my holiday of choice. once May rolls around I get excited for that first Sunday in June. I take my vacation to coincide with the day, and the one time I wasn't able to get the day off, I did what any good homo would do, I called off. As I said this is my holiday and there was no way I was missing it. Of course it doesn't help that the night before Pride is what I call Pride Eve, kind of like New Years Eve, but as I said Pride is all of the holidays wrapped into one for me.
A funny thing happened this year though. May came and went and there was no excitement, no countdown. What was wrong with me? Where was my enthusiasm? As I began talking to friends about my lack of happiness, my lack of energy in terms of Pride. One thing became very clear to me, the problem did not lie with me necessarily. It was pride itself, it has morphed into something I don't recognize, no longer were there the campy fun like Drag Queens, or boys in underwear handing out condoms. In their place is 2 stages of singers, and to be honest not very talented ones. One stage is full of karaoke singers who make William Hung, of American Idol fame, look good. Seriously these performers would make a great episode of auditions for American Idol, the laughter would be worth it. Before anyone says anything to me, I know I can't sing, that's why I write and not sing.
It felt like something shifted this year, and no longer was I in Oz but back in suburbia and i was a laughing stock because I was not part of a "gay" family. Even the vendors this year shifted towards more family friendly, more functional. In years past ID Lube was a major sponsor of the event, this year it was a mortgage company geared towards helping families find homes. Theres nothing wrong with that, in fact I encourage it, but there hgas to be a balance, what about those of us who don't have a family, those of us who are not able to buy houses?
Is there a fix for this pride problem? Or have I finally reached the plateau, where I am no longer young nor am I old so there is no pleasing me? No, as always there is a middle ground. Why not have drag queens compete in an America's Next Top Model type of competition or the new corner stone of Logo's programming Drag Race. With the vendors, why not try and go after a company like TLA, they produce movies both for family and for adults. What about HERE! and Logo, where are they? Why aren't they participating in Prides around the nation?
By contrasting the family friendliness with a touch of campiness and some naughty fun, Pride can be restored to it's former glory in my eyes. If you are sitting on the planning committee for any Pride-fest please consider that you're audience is more than just families. By blending in we are sending a message to other people that we feel we are immoral or wrong, by standing out and carefully including everyone in our festivities we show the world what I have believed since my very first Pride: That gay community is all inclusive, no matter what you look like, no matter what your backstory is, you will always be accepted by us. And isn't that what PRIDE is all about?
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