Happy Gay Day!
July 6, 2008
As my goddess daughter said this morning –
Happy Gay Day!
We were reluctant, but we went to the pride parade this morning. My mom and step-dad organized the group from the unitarian church that walked in the parade. If my parents are going to go to all that trouble and walk in the blazing heat because they support me, then we really should go and support them!
There were likely to be a lot of people there that we didn’t want to see or are no longer safe for us so we called in our spirit allies and protection and went down. We have every right to be there and it was important.
In the end, we made it just in time to see the 50 foot pride banner from church that was carried by my parents and all our friends from church. We walked a little way with them – until they decided that they needed to run to catch up – that was the end for me! We moved the car and went over to the park for the festival. This was the place we were most likely to run into people so with a deep breath we crossed the street and walked into the crowd.
It turned out to be insanely hot and both of us started to burn and overheat almost immediately so running into people started to seem like less of a problem! We retreated to the shade and hung out with M and RR (our goddess daughter – who is amazingly fey – more about this another time) and waited for my parents to find us. It was actually really nice to be near all of those people but not right in the middle. Too much energy in the crowd, but the edge was good and we never even saw someone we didn’t want to. Our allies and protection worked – even if it was by chasing us out of the sun! It was stressful but it was really good to see M and RR. My parents found us and we drove them back to their car at the beginning of the route.
My parents are really supportive and it’s nice to see. They seemed much more attached to the importance of Pride than K or me.
I realize that I have moved past the point of my life when my primary self-identification was about my queerness. There was a time that I didn’t leave the house without some rainbow symbol – I felt naked without it. I am so far from that place that it seems strange in retrospect, but it is a very small part of my life now.
The people I love, my spirituality, my illness and disability, discovering what my work is in the world, my art, my garden – this is what is important to me now.
But – for today – Happy Gay Day!
