![when is the gay pride parade in san francisco when is the gay pride parade in san francisco](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/06/28/multimedia/gay-parade-nyc-2015/gay-parade-nyc-2015-superJumbo.jpg)
I am sorry to admit that when I was a teacher I never reached out to help a student whom I suspected was struggling with his or her sexual preference or gender identity, and I purposely avoided literature addressing this subject in my classroom. And in schools-where “Don’t ask, don’t tell” is still the de facto policy-there is scant guidance provided for non-heterosexual pupils. Bullying (with the boost from the Internet) and hate crimes still threaten “different kids,” especially gay, lesbian, and transgender youth. While homosexuality is more tolerated (if not celebrated) in Cincinnati schools than during my teen years, no schools is a totally safe haven for gay students. I imagine that this parade and the overall acceptance of diversity in San Francisco provides a more nurturing environment for gay, lesbian, transgender, and bisexual teenagers, who are four times more likely than their peers to commit suicide. This atmosphere of acceptance is in stark contrast to our Cincinnati and its schools. And, in nearly every important way, I’m just like you.” I am fat or skinny, suburban or urban, black or Latino. I drive your bus, fly your plane, and move your furniture. I will put out your fire and carry you to safety. The participants were saying, “I am your police officer, your teacher, your lawyer. Almost every profession was represented in the parade, as well as families of various configurations. One woman in the crowd wore a shirt that declared, “We’re everywhere.” The sheer number of gay people marching in the parade was staggering. I understand that the participants were proud, as opposed to ashamed, but pride wasn’t the fundamental message I took away. Pride seems to me more of a response to an achievement, like winning a spelling bee, earning good grades, or completing a marathon.īut, then again, nobody has ever questioned or judged my heterosexuality my sexual orientation is a cultural assumption and has never elicited shame. Gender and sexual orientation were not qualities I aspired to, nor did I make a decision to join this “team.” I liked boys and was relieved (and horrified) when my estrogen asserted itself during puberty. I have given a lot of thought to the name of the “Pride Parade.” I’ve never felt proud to be a heterosexual woman. Only Kiwanians in little cars were missing. There were politicians waving from convertibles high-profile and middle America corporations like Google, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America floats and trucks bands and bagpipes. The spectators, including my family, expected exhibitionism-and we got it– but for the most part, the parade wasn’t so different from the Opening Day or Harvest Home parades. Instead, it felt giddy, honest, celebratory, communal, and, well, proud. I expected the tone of the parade to be strident and in-your-face. Many folks in the audience wore message-loaded apparel: “Equal rights for my gay kid and my straight kid.” The huge PFLAG (Parents, Friends and Family of Lesbians and Gays) contingent carried flags declaring their loyalty: Employees of anĪnimal rescue organization carried signs of the double entendre variety: T-shirts and signs displayed messages intended to titillate, amuse, and educate. Most of the people in the parade, including Olympia Dukakis and Chaz Bono, were wearing ordinary street clothes. or a queen or a fairy princess.īut there were also hundreds of people in uniform: police officers, soldiers, cheerleaders, fire fighters. On this day, a common man with regal aspirations could be a king. There was the requisite leather and feathers, of course, but also gentleladies in antebellum gowns with hoop skirts, rainbow painted faces, fairy wings, and Louis XIV wigs. In general, though, the costumes were ludicrous, not lascivious. There was the one zaftig woman riding a motorcycle whose abundantly tattooed, pendulous breasts rested on the handlebars.
![when is the gay pride parade in san francisco when is the gay pride parade in san francisco](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/-09Dz2J46dpudUFmsCdzFclLB90=/0x0:2803x1887/1200x800/filters:focal(1864x703:2312x1151)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/60111555/AP_17177825446402.0.jpg)
And one guy had a toy and a feather cunningly accessorizing his penis. Yes, there was the guy in chaps-only chaps.
![when is the gay pride parade in san francisco when is the gay pride parade in san francisco](https://cdnph.upi.com/pv/upi/7a6eb0899990eff734941fb934b9b397/GAY-PRIDE-PARADE.jpg)
It was really less debauchery and more Halloween. There are so many qualities that make up a human being… by the time I get through with all the things that I really admire about people, what they do with their private parts is probably so low on the list that it is irrelevant.” ~Paul Newman
![when is the gay pride parade in san francisco when is the gay pride parade in san francisco](https://d279m997dpfwgl.cloudfront.net/wp/2017/06/pride.jpg)
From the time I was a kid, I have never been able to understand attacks upon the gay community. “Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.