Jun 30 2008
It’s OK to be Gay
Here we go, Saturday June 28, official Gay Day worldwide, except in Buenos Aires, where the Gay Pride takes place in November due to hemisphere-related weather displeasure. Whatever the case, I have noticed that every city has its preference. I’ve never been to the local Gay Pride event, only to the Paris parade and, yesterday, to the Houston parade. Well, I didn’t really make it to the actual parade given that it takes place at night — Houston weather is killing, running well above the high 30s (Celsius).
Here I am, walking down Westheimer, past the mythical Chances bar, and about to enter the Half-Price bookstore around the corner, when a woman whose origin was possibly Korean stops me with a smile on her face. Pointing at the crowd on our right and the barricades police forces were building around, she asks in basic English:
Woman: What is this?
Me: Gay parade…Gay Pride
Woman (flabbergasted): Oh…men?
Me (in let’s-teach-somebody-something mode): and women too!
I kept walking the length of the sidewalk, as I saw the crowds dancing to the tune of live singers, and a mix of butches, femmes and the rest of the in-the-middle jungle strolling down in the heat, hand in hand. Languages ranged from Chinese to Spanish, and beer flowed relentlessly from improvised street stalls zealously guarded by Houston police. The attendants carried their folding chairs on their backs, looking for a spot that would give them a perfect view of the cars filled with loud and proud boys and girls in costumes later that night. The sun fell on our faces and our backs, sticking our T-shirts to our bodies as we made our way through the crowd. It did not matter.
As I walked to my car, which I had parked quite a few blocks away at St. Thomas’ University, I saw two twenty-year-old boys kissing passionately in a corner. One of them was a resuscitated punk, and had meticulously dyed his hair in the rainbow flag colors. They parted ways, and a few seconds later, I saw his partner running past me with the lightness that only people in love have. It was then that I thought that, in fact, they were all there for that single reason…love.
Nice website!!