Wow B'more pride

[vicarz]

I've done a few years at DC pride, though it's been a while. It was _nothing_ like b'more pride. Well, the parade was comparatively tiny, but enthusiastic. What was amazing was the after-party. Unlike DC, b'more not only blocked off a few blocks and had vendors set up in the area - but it was a sea of legal (or tolerated?) drinking. There were drink stands amongst the food and stuff-to-wear vendors and lots of people were walking around boozing it up in the streets like it was nawlins. Oddly my rainbow-laced combat boots got a lot of positive comments - I'll have to wear them more often. When we wore out and headed back to re-shower before hitting the club, I realized that the tailgating section filled up another 2-block radius of drinking, eating, carousing, and general friendly mahem.

Parade and crowd had the usual suspects - noticed a fair amount of children, and most of the younger gay-identified kids were female (I have this rant about how different it is to be gay male vs. female blah blah). The one guy that really struck me as odd was just wearing a loincloth and sneakers...thing was, he had short tidy s&p hair (heavy on the salt), glasses, and basically looked like a government middle manager or perhaps an older bank employee. He was alone and his demeaner was...well like a bank employee. Power to him but even seeing it I couldn't mesh his dress-alternative style with the rest of him.

When we got back, we took advantage of the nawlins drink-in-the-street factor and walked from her place with vodka already in our hands. The blocks surrounding the pride official block were still strewn with friendly mahem and drinkery (of course and the actual drinkery, a bar that always seems to have patrons regardless of time of day normally). It was amazing though - they had added a covered area, set up lights and speakers, and had a free dj-club-dance session right there in the middle of the street. The hotness factor had skyrocketed - lots of eye candy and lots of eye candy making out with their eye candy - ho-mi.

We went into Grand Central for 80s night, got bands early so we could not worry about lines later, and headed back out for the party. We spent most of our time inside - I had a few guys try to pick me up (which doesn't usually happen at this gay bar on Saturday) which was ego-affirming. One was interesting - cute guy in a plaid shirt (trust me, he made it work) tried to pick me up and when I noted my gf, he then asked me to hit on his friend or buy him a drink, saying he was having a bad night. I thought that was darling so I went to do so, but couldn't find him. Maybe an hour later I saw him again, and having a few more drinks in me, I ran right up to him, asked his name (which I immediately forgot) and tried to buy him a drink. Dood was cute, cuter up close. We talked briefly and stopped, but later he was dancing on the stage and reached for my hand to get down - I started to help him jump down when he somehow landed on a friend-girl's foot! She was livid, or that kind of stunned angry you get with pain - but it got weirder when he was very theatrically profusing grand apologies that may have been kow towing or ... or was he trying to kiss her foot? Anyway, it was clearly not going over well with her and their friends, so I tried to discourage him / pick him back up to face us normally again. I think I gave up when Janna tackled me and said not to bother.

Fun - turns out Janna was sent in to keep me from "hitting someone again." Heh. See this was the girl I had uh..."protected" the other night in the street. The crew was worried that as I was manhandling the guy that I was angry. Janna knew the reason I had talked to him originally and seeing me knew nothing was wrong, but couldn't convince her friends. It just seemed easier to do what they asked even if I was yarns away from any type of silliness. Funny - you punch just one guy in the street through a window and suddenly you're the "guy who hits people," yeesh! Minor detail - when I tried to "pick him up" (literally, not the usual figuratively) I realized he was quite fit! He was cuter up close...When I was "dragged away by Janna" (I'm not the type to argue, but a Janna around my waist and I'm even more easily led) the poor guy insisted on buying the entire group a round of drinks. They refused the offer, but he looked at what one was drinking and just got a bunch for everyone.

I dove outside for a bit because after I finished a drink I wanted one of the frozen drinks you could get outside, so I went out by myself. I ran into Janna's friends and got into a conversation with a grad student in developmental psyc. It was fascinating, but unfortunately it went on so long I didn't get my boozed slushie after all! Worse, I just found out today while I was there a hot guy with hot dancers performed (synched anyway) songs from his techno album, boo!

I'm still high off the parade and party. Sure I was at gay pride with my girlfriend, but it's still a big part of my identity and coming out was a long and painful process for me. I still get all misty over the feeling of community, illusory or not. The fact that in b'more rather than just a bunch of booths & politics before club hopping around 17th street is just a giant (free if you wanna) street party just sent me over the edge. I love seeing the kids exploring, I love the relative safety of the large crowd (with easily spotted self-policing volunteers), the large group of people that on this day shows up en masse to ... to ... to just be en masse, when at all other times most of us have to live lives where you are just part of some hated minority...I just get high off of it.

Comments

[minniethemoocha.livejournal.com]

Going to Pride with your (bi?) girlfriend is totally punk rock. You are queer. This is something that just happens. I was a freshwomyn in college at a single-sex school and felt very self-conscious (esp in 1991) about coming out as a bi poly dyke who happened to have a couple of boyfriends and girlfriends because it somehow mucked up my dyke purity, but my (not then but later) roommate nifwitch said with her characteristic aplomb, "It's a bisexual thing." and then proceeded to get people of similar ilk together that year to form a political presence on campus. A year later as head of the L(B)SG, I brought a lesbian performance artist to campus to whom I introduced my bi boyfriend as a matter of course. She was weirded out, but it was just a new time.

I understand that coming out and bisexuality pose difficulties for males that females don't experience due to the prevailing indoctrination of masculinity. But dude. Yeah. Community will keep you sane. Queer energy is like nothing else and you are a contributor to it, and you do need to be around it. I miss it where I am.

I remember a post you did on the Roxy list about 10 years ago about Pride, where someone was grumpy because queers were treating it like Freak Day, and you wrote, "Pride IS Freak Day." That has always stuck with me.

I've been drinking wine in my friend's yard for a few hours (Alta Vista Torrontes is the best, you should try it) so I am a little tipsy, but I stand by my comments here.

[vicar.livejournal.com]

Aww! Thanks, I like everything you said :)

The girl is actually straight, but she's insanely gay-bi friendly, good on the politics, etc.

and after all these years I stand by the freak day idea. I mean the rest of the world just has halloween...

[http://users.livejournal.com/_blackjack_/]

I don't believe in these "straight" girls I keep hearing about.

[alumiere.livejournal.com]

yeah baltimore pride - i miss that one

the festival in the park on sunday is usually a lot of fun as well...

dc pride only ever felt like that one time; maybe 1987 or 1988 - i think it was p street that they'd closed off but i'm not sure - anyway - big area near a ton of gay bars (not near trax though) with open drinking, community rather than the mess on the mall that it is today

la pride is more like baltimore, but the festival costs - this year it was $20... at least it's in the part directly across from all the "boys-town" bars - we decided to skip the festival itself in favor of lots of cocktails and good dinner and dancing saturday, and since our old housemates live on the parde route sunday brunch and the parade

[vicar.livejournal.com]

I had such balcony envy during the parade! My short ass was jumping up to try and catch beads...while in the back of my head the voices were questioning why I was trying to catch beads I'd never wear (though I did wear mine all day and night - plus they had a rainbow attached to them) and could buy at any party supply store, USA; and whether this was along the lines of the "show your tits" mentality.

beads...

[alumiere.livejournal.com]

perhaps a bit of the mardi-gras mentality; but more-so a way to show off who you are

and yeah - i remember buying a whole case of rainbow beads specifically to bring to the mardi-gras party at pennsic for all of us who were truly glbt (i refused to give them out to anyone else - pennsic is one of those events where "faux gay/bi is in)

Re: beads...

[vicar.livejournal.com]

I'm oddly tolerant of fake gay/bi. I used to fake, before I dated men. I think a lot of people use that to transition - I think others who may be straight wind up having more "significant" experiences, so they're straight, but straight people who have had hot sex with their own gender. I even understand straight, curious, but scared (or...just plain crazy).

Though I admit it does rub me the wrong way after a time - but I can't really judge attention whoring, not with my LOOKATME history ;P

Re: beads...

[alumiere.livejournal.com]

i understand coming off as faux when you're in transition/trying to figure it out; it's when people who are clearly straight but have partners/prospective dates who find it hot so they make out w/ the other sex (nothing more, ever) and use faux gay/bi as a flirtation device that it pisses me off

and "LOOKATME history"? have you seen my pics? i've gotten worse over the years, not better there...

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

This makes me happy. It's nice to celebrate a feeling of community and being accepted for who you are.

[shadow27.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a great time