This is Gay Pride weekend in the Twin Cities (and other places around the country). In case you didn't know it, June is Gay Pride Month in the United States - so declared in honor of the Stonewall Riots which took place in June of 1969. But, no, this posting isn't going to be a Gay History lesson.
I'm sure that, because this is Gay Pride Month (and weekend), you'll probably see at least a blip or two on the news about it. Or in the newspapers. Or online. And, there's a very good chance that what you'll see is pictures of parade floats with strippers or drag queens on them. Or possibly leather-clad bikers driving down the parade routes. Or people wearing rainbow wigs. Because those are the images most news outlets focus on.
And, you know, that's what I've come to expect. After all, when you see stories about big sports teams winning tournaments, the news usually shows us the Vikings fan with his chest painted purple and yellow standing outside in -30-degree weather - not the dad in the sensible coat with his two kids. Or we see repeats of the US Women's Soccer Team tearing off their shirts to run around in their sports bras. So I guess the newscasters are so used to showing off the spectacular side of things that they don't know how to focus on anything else.
Here's the thing, though: most of the gays and lesbians and bisexuals and transgendered people in the world are just... well... people. Not any different, on the whole, than the rest of society. We're just people.
Did you know that, in some parts of the world, being homosexual can still get you put to death by the government? Heck, even in some parts of the United States, walking hand-in-hand with someone of the same sex can get you beaten to death on the streets. And that is why simply having the chance to show up and be counted is so important. That's also why showing everyone that "normal" people can be gay (and vice-versa) is so important.
What did Christopher and I do to specifically celebrate Pride this year? We went to a backyard barbecue thrown by friends of ours. Sure, the crowd was mainly gay men, but there were also straight people there, and a couple of kids, and two cats and a dog. Okay, so the potato salad and bean salad may have been a step better than at most neighborhood barbecues. And we may have upped the hair product quotient compared to some picnics. But, for the most part it was just a barbecue. And it was really fun.
I'm happy for all of the people who took this weekend to go out and watch (or march in) the Pride parades. I'm thrilled that the festival in town has grown every year - with more and more big corporate names unafraid to be attached to it. And I'm even a little glad that this morning when I opened the Star Tribune the only picture I saw from yesterday's festivities was a bunch of people milling about and ignoring the one lone hate-monger who had shown up to spew vitriol into the crowd.
Even more, though, I'm excited that - last weekend - I was able to go to see an International Gay Rugby tournament where the Twin Cities played host to 24 truly world-class rugby teams. Sadly, I didn't see a single news story about the burly and buff guys who travelled half-way 'round the world to play sports - and who just happened to be gay.
At the same time, I'm kind of proud of the fact that, on Friday night while we were ordering ice cream, I didn't think twice about calling Christopher "hon" across the store in front of people we didn't know. I'm even more proud of the fact that no one else in the store batted an eye at that - the earth didn't stop spinning, lightning didn't flash, and life went on.
Pride. It doesn't have to come with a festival. Sometimes it just comes with a burger and a double scoop.
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