2008 Happy Gay Pride Thread

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We're Here!!!

Pat and Fred have arrived from Milwaukee. Stayed at the Pfister Hotel last night (won't even comment on that!) and watched the fireworks for the beginning of Summerfest from the top of the hotel. Off to Minneapolis and just checked in. Now off to Robert's. Pictures to follow.
 
A look back......

....at the night that started it all. Let's all remember, as we celebrate the holidays that there were some very brave souls who, 39 years ago, started the whole gay rights movement because they refused to take it any more.

A very happy and safe gay pride to all!!

 
Apologies to all...

Dear Robert;

I am sorry for the previous post...i never ment any harm by it.

My friends and i were on are way to pride and we got sorta rambunctious and i posted the picture of that. Please delete them as such. I have gotten messages that they were inappropriate. Please forigve my ingnorance. I enjoy this site to much to be disrespectful of it.

Message recieved from bobbywasher:
"This is a forum for people of ALL ages, dont post some picture of you where it looks as if you are '-------' some guy up the '---'. Its just not called for."

Sorry once again:
Sincerely,
Graham S.
 
these pictures

are just fantastic, all of them. I got 'married' 3 weeks ago to my partner of 8 years and among many conversations I have had with work colleagues was one about what a tolerant society we live in and how marvellous it is that we gay men can now have our partnerships recognised in law and in the eyes of society in general. Then I read in the Daily Mail that Heinz have been forced to pull a TV ad because of the complaints that it showed two men kissing. Makes me wonder!!!

I wish I could join those fabulous Pride marches..................... dressed as a can of baked beans. If you are going to any Pride event this weekend, make it fabulous and 'SPARKLE!!!' Paul x
 
sharples-----

Honeeey puuuuuhleeeez-----if someone finds something like that offensive, I hope they never have to go to the "big city" or they surley will be shocked----now wait a minute----even on the farm you can see stuff like that except they don't even have their clothes on!

I didn't know this site was policed by the ghost of Jerry Falwell!

IMO you guy's just keep on having fun. Lifes too short to sweat the little stuff. I'm not offended in the slightest.
Happy Pride to all!
 
Graham, Steve's right. There's nothing to be sorry about.

The subject line for this discussion is clear enough, and those who aren't interested don't have to read it. IMO anyone who would complain about that photo has some issues to deal with.
 
Graham - whatcha apologizing for?? Your pics are funny as hell....at least you contributed to the thread! It is a "Gay Pride" thread, after all!
 
Oh please whatever...

"Please delete them as such."

Graham your photos are fun, if a few hand wringers can't scroll past a silly photograph of you having fun while you are checking the water valve on a Maytag, then I should delete them and replace them with some naked ones LOL. [I said I should toggles :)]

Keep 'em coming Graham and all.
 
We're having a great time in the Twin Cities! Yesterday, we drove over to St. Paul, had lunch at the historic Mickey's Diner in downtown, then on to see some of the sights of the city - which I hadn't done before. St. Paul is a beautiful city and quite different than Minneapolis in that it still retains more of a "small town" feel. We hit a couple of thrift stores and mid-century antique shops and then headed back to Robert's to meet Pat and Fred for dinner & ice cream and then wash-in last night. We had a great time and will get some pictures up later this afternoon - hopefully we'll have some good estate sale finds to show as well!

Have fun and keep the fun pictures rolling in guys and girls!
 
I just read this posting on a blog I frequent and found it very clear and uplifting...

In his LA Weekly piece today remembering the thirty-ninth anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, Patrick Range McDonald summarizes the events of the day (well, evening) and its significance: "an angry bunch of drag queens and effeminate gay men pushed back after New York City police officers raided the place, and subsequently started the modern gay rights movement."

These flamboyant gays pushed back because officers of the state attempted to prevent them from assembling peacefully and associating with others like them. In short, the state was limiting their freedom.

Those who rioted weren’t demanding equality or any kind of government privilege, but were rebelling as did the patriots standing up against the British nearly two centuries before them. They were standing up for their freedom. They wanted to be left alone to live their lives as they chose.

As we recall those riots on their anniversary, let us consider how far we’ve come since then. We should be grateful for those drag queens who did what others less flamboyant refused to do. They really showed courage.

Back then, police frequently raided gay bars — and not just in New York. Back then, our fellows could not assemble as freely as could their straight counterparts nor could they live as openly as we do today. No states granted domestic partnership benefits. Nor did many corporations. No presidential candidate would meet with our representatives. In fact, there were only a handful of gay political groups at the time. Now, there are multitudes, appealing to the many diverse interests of our community.

Thirty-nine years ago, a bunch of drag queens and other flamboyant gays had had enough of the heavy hand of the state, with police preventing them from assembling freely. As we celebrate that anniversary, we should bear in mind that modern “gay rights’” movement began with individuals rioting for freedom.

As did the movements of many other once-oppressed groups throughout our nation’s history going back to our founding.

http://www.gaypatriot.net
 
What fun!

Where does "The Cities" parade go? Downtown Minneapolis? I don't remember going to it when I lived there, but I was pretty much a slave to the Marriott at the time. I do remember the bar on Hennepin that was just around the corner from the hotel (The Gay nineties? The Brass Rail?)

Tomorrow I shall be parading with the contingent from work. The mayor will be with us and everything. I haven't been in the parade for years, but electric utilities are not the most enlightened industry, so I thought I should do my part to show that we are everywhere ;-)
 
I want to wish everyone here a very Happy Pride Weekend!! Robert, Greg, Fred, Pat, and Don you are all having way to much fun!! Sure wish that I would have been able to be there as well. Have a great time all and be proud of just how far we have come!!! Terry
 
4- Finally my friend and I (yup, I needed to shave... ) that was all "Oh so cool" and fun! But we marched for 8 km under the sun and the temperature was 37°c tooooooooooooooo hot!

6-29-2008-03-30-20--dj-gabriele.jpg
 
12-13 July

CSD is much later in Munich than in the 'States...various reasons, not least that traditionally, June here sucks the big one with rain, hail, rain, hail and did I mention rain? July in southern Germany is one big smiley faced sun.

This thread is supposed to be light and fun, so I won't post some of the pictures, don't want to give any of the older ladies here the vapors (but do click on the link, dahlinks), just this one. The older man is the Lord High Mayor of Munich, the guy in the middle is a "simple" mayor of Munich, guy on the right is a councilman. For nearly 20 years now, we have had a gay/lesbian party active in the city council. Smart, they often side with the Christian conservatives on difficult votes...and then call in their chips when they need for the Christians to sit down and shut their mouths. Works very well; but then Christianity in politics is genuine over here, not just a pose like in the 'States.
The Lord High Mayor nearly won the high-heels racing contest in his youth and came in second at purse throwing a few years back. Not bad for a straight guy.

When I'm here, I help out with the logistics for two of the groups involved - old-timer collectors and the deaf gay/lesbian alliance. I'm only one of the four above (guess!) but helped design their data bases so got involved. It's an awful lot of fun tho' quite a few people of my generation and younger are having the same discussions about whether presenting ourselves as a stereotype advances our cause.

So not a topic for this thread, so do click and enjoy the pics!

http://www.csd-munich.de/fotogalerie07_harbeck/05_Sonntag/zz4_galerie003.html
6-29-2008-03-56-34--panthera.jpg
 
It's interesting to compare pride festivals around the U.S. and world. E.g. in West Hollywood, 20 years ago drag queens and freaks got all the media coverage, and it looks like they still do in many places. IMO that's a shame, because aside from entertainment and shock value this coverage doesn't do much (or anything) to advance our cause to the general public. In places like L.A. and S.F. the parade has evolved more into a celebration of diversity than a specific demonstration by the gay community, and on our local TV stations one is far more likely to see parade highlights (at least on non-Fox networks) showing gay physician groups, elected officials, firemen, police, soldiers, teachers, PFLAG etc etc than drag queens.
 
It's even more

dangerous to discuss Jeff's topic over here than in the US.

I stay out of it; no good can come of it. It is impossible to even discuss this one without some bitch freaking out and calling you anti-fem or worse. Way too polarized an issue.
Besides, keeping my promise of no political discussions this month...
 
A big part of gay pride is based in the rememberance of the Stonewall riots of 1969. It was those "drag queens and freaks", as Jeff said, who kicked up their heels and did the can-can down Christopher Street when they decided they were no longer going to tolerate the police harrassment any longer. And while many of us may find them to be an embarrassment or even a hinderance to the cause (I'll include myself in that group), they are all a part of who we are, our history, our past, etc. The pride parade and the whole movement has certainly grown up over the years, as any movement must to move forward, but let's not forget that night and the actions of those brave souls because it has benefitted all of us in some way, big or small.
 
There is nothing wrong

with being effeminate There is nothing wrong with being an over the top hysterical drag queen. There is nothing wrong with pretending that it is still the 1920's and we are so so, just so très blasé.
And I am very well aware how enormously easy it is to look down one's nose when one is 6'2" and built like a brick out house...even the dumbest breeder thinks twice before getting into it with me.
Doesn't change who I am inside, just - they don't make heels in a size 13D. And I am just hell on glacè gloves.

That said, I do wish we could someday reach the point where we could talk about our goals and means of reaching them without everyone immediately freaking out. Impossible, absolutely impossible to do. Hell, you wouldn't believe the fight those of us had who believe in marriage and monogamous relationships...the condemnation and anger makes me wonder just how "free" some of our sisters really are when they see my life choices as a threat to them...
Same with the fem/butch-drag issue.
I suspect we might get further with some of the less cosmopolitan folks if they had a chance to see how we are in real life and not just the bird of paradise tired old clichés which get all the media attention. But even saying that I risk getting flamed.

I'm old enough to remember when gay bashing was the order of the day in Colorado and when I'm in the 'States, I pass that damn fence where they tortured and murdered Matthew Sheppard regularly. Those gay men and lesbian women, together with very brave straight people struck a blow for us. But even daring to mention that they were not all effeminate or butch dykes is far too dangerous, so I shan't.

I suggest we drop this one and return to Robert's glorious idea of celebrating this great day...then return to it later?

6-29-2008-08-32-30--panthera.jpg
 

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