Rainblosion

Seattle's Gay Pride was exactly as I imagined a Gay Pride event would be which is exactly why I've never attended one.

The parade was pretty much like a parade and I've never liked parades. But it was somewhat different than most parades in that the Pride Parade was mostly (at least the first hour and 15 minutes I saw before I left)...

1. Noble people riding in cars with their long list of noble deeds being read to the crowd by a drag queen (of course). (I am very much for noble people doing noble things but they make for very dull viewing.)

2. Employees of corporate sponsors who support the LGBTQ community. (I also think that's great but it too makes for a boring show.)

Many people in the crowd seemed to think Pride = whacky costume/apparel day. There was a lot of stuff being worn merely because it was odd though it wasn't particularly LGBTQ (which I guess would be slogan t-shirts, boys in dresses, and of course rainbow rainbow rainbow). I really don't care what people wear, I just thought it was interesting how the event is being interpreted by the masses. In the future, when Republicans are a historic footnote and Mormons are all dead and married in Mormon Heaven, I can see Pride Day/Weekend/Week just being a rainbow hued, drag filled carnival with little social significance.

I did get to see Grand Marshal George Takei. A lot. His car drove up at the pre-parade kick-off and much to-do was made over him by Mama Tits (who, I have come to learn, is a very popular Seattle drag queen) and many photos were taken. Then his car came back later in the kick-off and a men's chorus sang a song to him about him. Then he spoke some words. A short time later his car was in the parade. Then when I gave up on the parade and walked to the Seattle Center I got there just as George's car was arriving. So yay, I've seen Takei.

Pride Parade ended in Pride Fest at the Seattle Center. That were 3 stages of music, one being a DJ stage, so even though there was an actual stage it was essentially just the same as having a radio hooked up to giant speakers; a few dozen vendors, half of them seemed to all be selling the same rainbow t-shirts, jewelry, and pride flags; a couple dozen corporate booths handing out trinkets and good will; and a couple dozen nonprofits handing out trinkets, information, and seeking donations.

The people watching was good...Sort of. Not as much diversity as Seattle's Folk Life but still interesting. I noticed that a lot of Gay guys seemed to be in small groups where all the guys dressed similarly and/or were all of the same size. Actually, the same could be said for the lesbians, too.

(Although there were people of all shapes and ages there I was surprised by the volume of good looking people. Clearly I don't frequent the beautiful neighborhoods of Seattle.)

All that said...

The atmosphere was great and I'm glad Pride events exist  because they send a largely positive message to many queer people who feel they're some freak of nature. That's still a common feeling in small towns and Conservative social communities, though I've encountered a lot of queer guys who didn't identify with the mainstream image of what it means to be gay that Pride events tend to focus on...Or at least the bits that stand out...Drag queens and flamboyancy. The dozens and dozens of company employees and government workers marching in the parade are boring but they are the actual face of queer life.

All meaningful things become meaningless once they become holidays, institutionalized, and/or commercialized. In the US we have Memorial Day and Labor Day and the only thing most people know about them is that one is a 3 day weekend at the beginning of the summer, the other is a 3 day weekend at the end of the summer. Martin Luther King Day is rapidly becoming another meaningless 3 day weekend, I've even seen King's image used in ads for special 3 day sales at stores. I wouldn't be surprised to see a fast food joint ad one day for an MLK Weekend special that goes something like "We have a dream of deal for you at Burger King!"


I doubt Pride will ever again be anything more than a carnival, it's pretty much impossible to get a mass of people gathered to have a good time to focus on anything of importance.


But even as a carnival it has value. The ever growing presence of Pride events has helped a lot with The Cause. Even if straight people come for the freak show they get exposed to queer people who are SURPRISE! Just people.

And I'm sure that every year in every town with a Pride event lots of of "straight" guys talk their friends into going to check it out for the fun of seeing all the freaks and...Well, everyone here knows how that story eventually ends.


Still, if I ever go again I won't be going sober.