Spokane PRIDE 2014

This year’s PRIDE was a nice event. It was not as big as I anticipated but if I had taken a moment to think on it I shouldn’t have been surprised.
Now that we have Marriage equality in Washington State and the right to serve for LGB people the need to stand and fight for many is no longer an imperative. These PRIDE events bring more than the old guard and the revelers in all things queer; they bring out the social justice warriors and advocates. But if there is nothing to fight for, the advocates and warriors don’t show up. Their friends who would have joined them do not show up as a result.
I also noticed that the event itself had fewer booths, (This is untrue, it was merely my perception of the event) but an improved kid zone over prior years. And to whoever was in charge of that kid space…It was really cool. I watched the children play on the numerous things brought in for them and was a tad jealous and longed to be 5 again, just to go into the bouncy castle for a few minutes and act the fool with the rest of the kids.

There was a Colors Guard at the parade. Apparently this is only the third time the military has allowed an honor guard. When I saw the boys getting into formation at the head of our parade and it dawned on me that these men were not costumed Color Guards or High School ROTC kids but the real deal, I almost cried. It means allot to those of us who are LGBT and prior service to see the colors at the head of a parade formation. I had a feeling only a fellow soldier or veteran could feel when I saw them in the parade.

Then there were 3 horses in the parade that looked pretty neat with rainbow socks.

There was a contingent of Angels blocking out the haters. Again I almost cried when I saw them.

The addition of these seemingly small elements to the parade really touched it off and was icing on the cake so to speak.

At the event after the parade only a couple of people in the local queer culture snubbed me. A few gay men made it a point to give me some props on my stand and being vocal on the state of current LGBT politics. One gay man even made a statement on stage taking issue with the disrespect TS women were getting via the Tranny debate.

Over all, the event was a good one. In spite of being rained on during set up and an overcast day most the day we managed to have a good time, listen to good music and watch the antics of the local burlesque show and drag performers.

I want to thank the people of OutSpokane who put it all together and the various social justice organizations who came to represent, and even the vendors who came to sell us stuff.

See you at Spokane PRIDE 2015!!!