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What Have you Done Today To Be Proud?
Jun. 27th, 2004 03:58 pmLast night was the big parade. Yes, I did ride in the parade on the Houston Big Men's Float. It was a fun time, though it did take a very long time from when we started decorating the rented flatbed truck until we actually got on the parade route.
I picked up Kip (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
scarabbear) and we worked down to the neighborhood were we were all set up. The Houston Big Man's club was float 118 out of 135 (down from last year's 200, but that was the 25th anniversary of Houston Pride). All of these crazy floats were set up in a residential area, disrupting the homeowner's lives by asking them to park elsewhere and to be invaded by us. Still, several people came out of there homes to greet us and we, in turn tried to be kind by not trampling their yards and thanking them for their hospitality. Chris, the leader of the Big Men's efforts went to greet several of the older residents of the area personally as we went by.
I thought it was kind of funny to try to cover every square inch of the "float" - a rented flatbed truck with cattle railings - with rainbow fringe, lights, balloons, and large flags made from tarps. My two thoughts - You can never, ever have too much rainbow, and the best thing you can do to show the diversity of our community, and show that we aren't all little dancing twinks, is to cover up where they can actually see us.
I had a chance to look around once we had finished decorating, before the parade started, seeing most of the floats. Being in the back of the parade, there wouldn't be a chance to see much else. I saw the Houston Area bears float, which was number 41, and if they asked me to march with them - which was nice, but I already committed to the big men (it took so long, I could have marched with both, probably). I also found Clint, a friend from my college band days, who was riding the Krewe of olympus float (I have no idea what they do). Their float was huge.
I also had the pleasant surprise of running into Mr. Lawrence and Mr. Tyson, the plaintiffs in the Lawrence v. Texas case that brought down the sodomy laws. It was just a moment, but I got to shake Mr. Lawrence's hand, and tell both of them "thank you" for what they had done. If I was unsure about being in the parade before, that moment totally changed my mind, and I had a much better, brighter attitude about it after that meeting. They were at the head of the parade, of course.
I took pictures of some of the floats and the parade route. Click here to see them.
A couple of people with the Big Men's club brought their kids. I thought it was cool, in a way, but since we were just sitting around for a long time - they were totally bored for a long time, and truly got on people's nerves. Two of the three kids belonged to one man who was more interested in his new boyfriend than watching his kids. Yeah, it takes a village, blah, blah blah, but no one wants to have to discipline your kids for you. Please be more responsible.
There was a generator on the float that was spilling out smoke. It made riding in the flatbed a little uncomfortable when were were stopped, but it ran the lights. There was supposed to be a sound system, but it never quite worked, and being between a punk rock band, and the Gay Men's Chorus of Houston, there was no need to be pumping out different music.
We finally got going at almost 10:00, after the parade started at 8:45. We hit the actual parade route at 10:20, and about half way through - in the less crowded section of the parade, we had already run out of beads to throw, and Hawaiian lei's. I actually liked the crowd better after we had given out everything, then they were just waiving and not begging, or demanding us for beads. The crowd was pretty friendly, and many waived back (I was a waiving fool, and my arms were sore from it). There were some people who caught my eye, and a few that were giving me looks back (I'm not a piece of meat, dammit! :-) ). I kept getting hit in the head by balloons, though, as I tried to peer out of the well-covered float.
I heard later, on the radio re-cap of the parade, that there were exactly five (5) protesters. We were told by the Pride Committee if we saw them (they would likely be next to Hugo's Restaurant), we should ignore them, which was fine by me. No sense egging them on. Apparently they left early, by the time float 118 rolled by, they were gone. You've got to be able to stick this out, folks.
I remember a couple of years ago, in Montreal, being surprised by how many families came to their pride parade. This year, I was again surprized by how many families, straight families were there on the parade route. People with strollers, and holding tiny babies. It was nice to see them out. I wanted to thank them for coming. Also on the recap, the fact that the parade is now Houston's third best-attended event. This after the International Fest and the Rodeo Parade (which i've been in, too). The crowd was a little smaller, due to the 100% chance of rain forecast, but it was still big.
The rain never came though, as one Pride Committee told the Houston Chronicle, "Mother Nature is a lesbian."
After I got out as much pride as I could possibly squeeze out of me, we dismantled the float in the Walgreens parking lot before heading back to our cars. I held the pride flag along out route through the neighborhood. It was midnight, and Kip and I went to a local taquiria to get some dinner. I think we were all tired of being gay for that evening.
Kip remarked to me later that he was a little nervous about the Big Men's Club's first float. He was concerned about the crowd laughing at us. I saw that some people's reactions were a bit comical, but all in all, civil. Mostly we were cheered, and the
The parade's about acceptance, even in some of our stranger elements. Some of those things, the drag queens, the leathermen, the butch dikes, they're all a part of this rag-tag LGBT community, and to leave them behind is to deny who we are. It took me a while to learn this. Sure the media focus in on the strange, the bizarre, but that's newsworthiness, and the coverage I've seen today has been very balanced. The media freak show may be changing! This is a good thing.
So there you go. Pride was fun, and after dinner I took Kip home. We were both very tired from standing for some 8 hours, and truck-surfing, tiring to stay upright as the truck lurched forward, and when the brakes hit (and the surprise when the fire truck had to come through the parade to get to a fire). I enjoyed the ride, thought wanted to watch the parade as well. I don't know if I would want to be in the parade every year, but I liked standing up and being there this time.
I picked up Kip (
scarabbear) and we worked down to the neighborhood were we were all set up. The Houston Big Man's club was float 118 out of 135 (down from last year's 200, but that was the 25th anniversary of Houston Pride). All of these crazy floats were set up in a residential area, disrupting the homeowner's lives by asking them to park elsewhere and to be invaded by us. Still, several people came out of there homes to greet us and we, in turn tried to be kind by not trampling their yards and thanking them for their hospitality. Chris, the leader of the Big Men's efforts went to greet several of the older residents of the area personally as we went by.I thought it was kind of funny to try to cover every square inch of the "float" - a rented flatbed truck with cattle railings - with rainbow fringe, lights, balloons, and large flags made from tarps. My two thoughts - You can never, ever have too much rainbow, and the best thing you can do to show the diversity of our community, and show that we aren't all little dancing twinks, is to cover up where they can actually see us.
I had a chance to look around once we had finished decorating, before the parade started, seeing most of the floats. Being in the back of the parade, there wouldn't be a chance to see much else. I saw the Houston Area bears float, which was number 41, and if they asked me to march with them - which was nice, but I already committed to the big men (it took so long, I could have marched with both, probably). I also found Clint, a friend from my college band days, who was riding the Krewe of olympus float (I have no idea what they do). Their float was huge.
I also had the pleasant surprise of running into Mr. Lawrence and Mr. Tyson, the plaintiffs in the Lawrence v. Texas case that brought down the sodomy laws. It was just a moment, but I got to shake Mr. Lawrence's hand, and tell both of them "thank you" for what they had done. If I was unsure about being in the parade before, that moment totally changed my mind, and I had a much better, brighter attitude about it after that meeting. They were at the head of the parade, of course.
I took pictures of some of the floats and the parade route. Click here to see them.
A couple of people with the Big Men's club brought their kids. I thought it was cool, in a way, but since we were just sitting around for a long time - they were totally bored for a long time, and truly got on people's nerves. Two of the three kids belonged to one man who was more interested in his new boyfriend than watching his kids. Yeah, it takes a village, blah, blah blah, but no one wants to have to discipline your kids for you. Please be more responsible.
There was a generator on the float that was spilling out smoke. It made riding in the flatbed a little uncomfortable when were were stopped, but it ran the lights. There was supposed to be a sound system, but it never quite worked, and being between a punk rock band, and the Gay Men's Chorus of Houston, there was no need to be pumping out different music.
We finally got going at almost 10:00, after the parade started at 8:45. We hit the actual parade route at 10:20, and about half way through - in the less crowded section of the parade, we had already run out of beads to throw, and Hawaiian lei's. I actually liked the crowd better after we had given out everything, then they were just waiving and not begging, or demanding us for beads. The crowd was pretty friendly, and many waived back (I was a waiving fool, and my arms were sore from it). There were some people who caught my eye, and a few that were giving me looks back (I'm not a piece of meat, dammit! :-) ). I kept getting hit in the head by balloons, though, as I tried to peer out of the well-covered float.
I heard later, on the radio re-cap of the parade, that there were exactly five (5) protesters. We were told by the Pride Committee if we saw them (they would likely be next to Hugo's Restaurant), we should ignore them, which was fine by me. No sense egging them on. Apparently they left early, by the time float 118 rolled by, they were gone. You've got to be able to stick this out, folks.
I remember a couple of years ago, in Montreal, being surprised by how many families came to their pride parade. This year, I was again surprized by how many families, straight families were there on the parade route. People with strollers, and holding tiny babies. It was nice to see them out. I wanted to thank them for coming. Also on the recap, the fact that the parade is now Houston's third best-attended event. This after the International Fest and the Rodeo Parade (which i've been in, too). The crowd was a little smaller, due to the 100% chance of rain forecast, but it was still big.
The rain never came though, as one Pride Committee told the Houston Chronicle, "Mother Nature is a lesbian."
After I got out as much pride as I could possibly squeeze out of me, we dismantled the float in the Walgreens parking lot before heading back to our cars. I held the pride flag along out route through the neighborhood. It was midnight, and Kip and I went to a local taquiria to get some dinner. I think we were all tired of being gay for that evening.
Kip remarked to me later that he was a little nervous about the Big Men's Club's first float. He was concerned about the crowd laughing at us. I saw that some people's reactions were a bit comical, but all in all, civil. Mostly we were cheered, and the
The parade's about acceptance, even in some of our stranger elements. Some of those things, the drag queens, the leathermen, the butch dikes, they're all a part of this rag-tag LGBT community, and to leave them behind is to deny who we are. It took me a while to learn this. Sure the media focus in on the strange, the bizarre, but that's newsworthiness, and the coverage I've seen today has been very balanced. The media freak show may be changing! This is a good thing.
So there you go. Pride was fun, and after dinner I took Kip home. We were both very tired from standing for some 8 hours, and truck-surfing, tiring to stay upright as the truck lurched forward, and when the brakes hit (and the surprise when the fire truck had to come through the parade to get to a fire). I enjoyed the ride, thought wanted to watch the parade as well. I don't know if I would want to be in the parade every year, but I liked standing up and being there this time.
