Pride, day 1

This may seem like an obvious observation, but it hadn't occurred to me until being in DC for these past few weeks. Having a huge non-straight population means that there is not one "gay community," but many smaller (not small) communities. There is even some resentment between the groups. Middle-aged gay white males are certainly the most visible such group in DC. They seem in general to be quite well-off, and have bought up old row houses in Dupont Circle and Adams Morgan, restoring them beautifully and, dare I say it, contributing to gentrification. There is some feeling among other groups that these men have basically won. Now that their lives are quite comfortable financially and socially, they're not committed to helping out those who are still struggling to gain acceptance. I didn't notice this segmentation in Tulsa, although it probably existed to some extent. I guess in smaller populations, you don't have the luxury of surrounding yourself with others exactly like you.

This year, due to conversations with my housemates, I became interested in the Dyke March, which happens on the same day as the Pride parade. The Dyke March is a response to and protest of the corporate sponsorship and consumer-focus of Pride events. On principle, they never obtain a permit or publish their route beforehand (they're lucky that DC has a cooperative police department that helps control traffic once the march starts). The Dyke March was much younger, and much more female, than the Pride parade. (note: the femaleness might be expected given the name of the event, but the organizers make clear that the march has expanded to include everyone who feels they are not represented by traditional Pride events).

I did go to the Pride parade, but the Dyke March definitely colored my experience of it. I noticed that people cheered the loudest for floats and groups that were tossing free crap into the crowd. And I do mean crap--Mardi Gras beads and stress balls and other stuff that you keep for a year and then throw it out, wondering why you ever got it. It all seemed so wasteful and pointless. One woman in particular really bothered me. She was probably in her mid-sixties, which made her behavior even more surprising (although maybe it shouldn't). Every time another float or group came by, she would push her way in front of everybody else, holding them back with one arm while literally demanding "gimmee. GIMMEE!" to the people holding the beads or stickers or candy. As soon as they handed her something, without even saying thank you or smiling, she would run back to her spot on the sidewalk and add to her pile of crap. I actually wondered, at one point, if she had some kind of mental problem that would cause her to behave like this, but I don't think so. She was with people who were apparently her family, and they were all laughing about how cute she was. Finally, when a float came by with several black men wearing assless chaps, she made a huge show out of holding her nose and waving her hand back and forth as if to clear the air. "QUE FEO" she kept saying. At this point, I seriously considered going home. But instead I just abandoned my spot and moved further up the route to get away from her. I wish I had moved a lot sooner.

So I've spent a lot of electrons on this "worst moment" of Pride, and I should say that there was some good, too. In particular, as was true last year, the family-related marchers like PFLAG made me cry. And then I got sunscreen in my eyes so I couldn't stop crying. But I still count that as a good moment. And the moment that made me smile the most came near the end of the parade. There was a mom walking with her two year old son. The woman was holding blowpops in her shirt and handing them one by one to her son to give out to people on the sidelines. The kid was really enjoying this. He had the biggest smile on his face. But he got a little too excited, as kids will do, and took about three running steps up to a guy sitting on the curb and HURLED the candy at his head, grinning the whole time. It's okay for me to say I enjoyed this, because luckily the kid missed by a couple of inches.

Went to a late lunch after the Dyke March with the Asian/Pacific Islander and South Asian groups ("the brown contingent") and really enjoyed it. I had an interesting conversation with Amrita about how disappointing it is when people fighting for their rights feel the need to distance themselves from other causes in order to advance their own.

Now I'm sitting in the living room of my new house. My housemates here are different from the ones I just left, but I think I will like them, too. They've been very nice so far. Tomorrow is the street festival, which I may or may not write about, depending on how interesting it is. This year I'll wear sunscreen.