On my recent trip to visit him, I was lucky enough to be able to attend PrideFest 2008. It was an incredible gathering of incredible people who were there to celebrate diversity.
I could NOT have had a better time. I was loud and I was proud!
The photos that follow were taken at the parade held on Sunday, June 22 in beautiful downtown Denver.
I cried a dozen times during the 10 hours we were in downtown Denver, hanging out with my son and his friends.
I cried for joy at the beauty I saw, the hands of the young lovers entwined...the parents marching in support of their gay children...the children marching in support of their gay parents...the mothers and grandmothers arm in arm...all of those things made me cry.
Other things made me cry too, but not for joy: the words of my son's roommate who said Pride weekend was the one weekend of the year that he could hold hands with his lover in public without fear of being mocked...the people holding rude signs and chanting "repent sinners" as the parade passed by their "church", and most of all, I cried when I thought of all the young gay men and women who had to move from states like Montana and Wyoming to find a modicum of acceptance in the big city.
I wish I was a poet, or even a writer...I'd have profound words to say...words that would make a difference, but I'm not and I don't and I can't.
Next year Pridefest will be held on June 27th and June 28th in downtown Denver and I'm going to be there. Once again I'm going to be loud and proud.
23 comments:
Thank you for posting this mom. Now you have me crying too.
Wolf
Thanks for sharing the photographs. I'm sure it all the colors and pageantry were even more amazing in person.
Good for you.
Great shots. I loved the 'got drool' float. I think you are a writer and your words do make a difference. I am with you on the sadness of young people having to leave rural environments and go to cities just to find acceptance and, sometimes, safety. I will never understand why some people think the mere existence of people who are not just like them is some kind of threat to their well being.
It's so important to have supportive family members be out and visible!
Wolf (aka best son in the universe), you make me so proud, and I love you more than life.
Thomas, it was amazing...it really was.
AC, it was good for me! LOL! I highly recommend it.
Seventh Sister, I loved that shot as well. The dogs were amazing. I also really liked the Coors float...if I drank beer, I'd switch to Coors.
Abigail, thanks, you are so right!
If you drank Coors, I'm not sure you would actually be drinking beer.
Coors sponsors the event so we pretend its a real beer.;)
Wolf
Our city's Pride Fest is coming up in about a week--and I am very proud to say that our church has a booth at the Fest. And the purpose of the booth is NOT to say rude things but to be welcoming and accepting.
thank you for standing up.
when we all stand up with each other, the bastards can not get us one at a time.
Sister and Wolf...ha ha ha!! You two are so funny!!
KG, that does not surprise me at all. You are such a good person.
And there were several churches that had booths at Pridefest and they were very warm and very welcoming. I should have included that in my tears of joy paragraph, thank you so much for mentioning it!
Ur-spo, you are SO RIGHT!
I loved reading this post. There are so many negative things out there these days. I can only wish there was a celebration like that over here so I can go and support all my gay friends.
Menchie, hopefully you will have your Pridefest one day. I can imagine you leading the parade!
Thanks, dear girl.
Hugs,
Laurie
Little Pea, thank you!!!!!
I'm so pleased that you were able to join Wolf for the Pride Fest. Grand Rapids had their big thing at the zoo this year and last. I didn't make it to those. I went to the one a couple of years ago when I lived downtown, and it was also downtown.
We also have Diversity teams where I work. It's a pretty conservative area so some of the folks were uncomfortable during June when there were tent cards on the cafeteria tables and a running display on the computer in there. Even the the computer only showed white words on a black screen with a man quietly talking about the still-existing legal prejudices against gays, people kept turning off the monitor. So childish.
It's going to be a long time before being gay is not going to be considered "diverse". But it's also come a very long way.
Thanks for the post and the pictures.
Sorry, didn't mean to write an essay.
;-)
Hugs!
Thanks for the pictures, it looks like a terrific parade. You are a terrific mom and I am proud to know you.
Hi Laurie: I just spent last Monday with my gay friend Ted and his partner. They are from California and had come East to be with relatives. Ted has been a friend for more years than I can count...almost 50...so my husband and I have traveled that rocky course with him.
So glad your son has your support.
Laurie,
This is a wonderful tribute to our gay society. I never understood, and still don't understand the naysayers.
Gay men and women are the best friends. Totally honest and clean.
You just love them, that's all.
Mary
Poetry doesn't have to be words that rhyme, Laurie. Words said in love that make the heart beat will do it every time.
And these words do it. And the pictures do it. And the feeling does it.
Your words are in fact very profound, Laurie....and I absolutely love the pride you have in your son -- your love for him is IDENTICAL to the love I have for my boys -- constant, unwavering, profound.
Thank you....
Toronto has one of the biggest and best pride parades. It has become an establishment institution in which even the politicians feel the necessity to participate.
Of course, their are some prominent politicians, provincially and federally who are involved in same sex marriages.
It seems like Denver did itself proud.
I'm just reading this now, a month later, but it makes me so happy to hear that you love your gay son. So many parents reject their gay and lesbian kids. Bravo!
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