Have You Been?

[hgf33]

It's that time of year... Pride Festivals!! Has anyone ever been to one? There is one near me next Saturday, and I really want to go. I've heard they're a blast!

[redheadchick]

I went to the 2009 and 2010 Capital Pride festival in DC and I went to the 2009 March on Washington. I might go to the NYC Pride festival this year. There are a lot of people to meet (or just observe ;)) and there is plenty to do--lots of merchandise, performances, etc.) Go and have fun, they're a blast!

[welickit]

Yes we go to the Pride festivals every year. We got started when a lesbian couple asked us to do volunteer work. We loved it and met oodles of neat people. We even bumped into some people we never expected to see there. If you are down to earth and accepting of others you will never have a problem and will be seen as a member of the flock. If you are condescending or have an attitude you will be quickly rejected. It is a really fun time if you accept it for what it is and do your best to become a part of it. The nervous feeling you get when you attend for the first time will quickly go away. Just relax and be yourself. It is about having fun and meeting others. :bipride:

[softfruit]

I've been to an assortment around the UK - London, Manchester, Oldham, Brighton... each reflects the local LGBT / area culture interestingly, so you might go to one and find it Really Wasn't Your Thing but go to one in a different kind of a town or city and have a much better time.

Me, I like the little community feel of the ones in places like Oldham and Leicester more than the big bustle of London and Manchester.

There's always room for a bit of bi flag waving :flag4: so for any particular pride you're thinking of going to, I'd suggest starting a specific thread here in case anyone else is going, and looking at the bi news sources in your part of the world (bimedia (http://bimedia.org) in the uk for example) in case there is already some bi visibility planned. :bipride:

[Cherokee_Mountaincat]

We have Olympia Pride next weekend and I have a booth there. This will be my third year there, I love it..:}
Cat

[IndyBiFun]

Yep, I've been to two of the last three in Indianapolis and really enjoyed it.

The energy of knowing you are surrounded by thousands of like minded people is the best part of it for me. It's a really cool feeling.

And someone said, the people watching is eye opening too.

Go to yours, feel that energy, mingle, talk, laugh, people watch, have fun and be yourself!

[softfruit]

The energy of knowing you are surrounded by thousands of like minded people is the best part of it for me. It's a really cool feeling.

This is the really awesome thing, especially the bigger Prides where you are lost in a sea of people.

I remember how emotionally charged my first London Pride was back in the early 90s -- still not long after starting to talk about my sexuality and finding other LGBT people, to suddenly be in a huge majority, to see so many people, so many shapes and ages and so forth. It's not that I never felt alone again, or that I didn't already know in theory that there were loads of us out there. But the physical thing, being there, seeing it, it still has so much power compared to just being told.

[hgf33]

I have anxiety, so I'm really nervous but extremely excited! I'm a huge supporter of the community, and would be one even if I wasn't bi. My biggest problem though, is I'm not "out", at least not entirely. My good friends know. But I've had boyfriends all my life and have one now, so as much as I'd love to just openly be myself and proud, I feel like it's unnecessary hurt to my family to tell them. They are very accepting, but still. So my problem is flying the bi flag and ending up on the news or in pics... it's at the capitol so there are news cameras everywhere!

And then there's another part of me that says "fuck it, I don't care, and for all they know, I'm just supporting friends!"

But either way, thanks for all the input! I can't wait, it's going to be so much fun!!!

...I need to go shopping! LOL! :bipride:

[ChicagoNormalGuy]

Yes. Chicago has a great Pride Parade and events the whole weekend. It gets very crowded down on Halsted St. but still lots of fun. Unless there is something more important going on, I am there.

[mikey3000]

Same in Toronto. We have awesome Pride festivities and I go every year. Over a million people attend the parade every year.

[elian]

I went once or twice to the local one here, it was nice to just be around people who seemed open. Had the same experience at a few counter-protests - mostly people standing up against intolerance and just celebrating diversity. The part of PA between Philly and Pittsburgh (Pennsyltucky) is pretty conservative so it's nice to know there are some MODERATE people here too.

Of course being in the closet to some folks I'm always on the look out for cameras, usually any news coverage is on the late, late version of the news. This year the city can't seem to get their act together with permits so there probably won't be a parade. They close a few blocks of one of the city parks near the river and isolate it for the festival. Good friends of mine make a point of standing outside between the festival and any religious protesters - they don't say a word, just stand there and hold up huge rainbow golf umbrellas.

I am a member of a UU church, very liberal spirituality, so the one year I was happy to help staff the information tent at the festival. We were next to a tent of belly dancers on one side (every 20 minutes or so you'd here a lot of tambourines and some whooping and yollerin' but I wasn't brave enough to go in.) The tent on the other side was for a magazine promoting cross dressing men who just liked to wear feminine clothing but were not interested in same sex relationships.

Peculiar thing is that every year I think about going but usually something else comes up, friends want me to visit or family get together - and so it's been a few years since I've attended.