Another year, another Gay Pride weekend…I say weekend because it just so happened that I celebrated Pride on both Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday I got my hair cut on the Hill and when I walked out I could feel the entire street of Broadway buzzing. I ran into friends soaking up the sun and drinking margaritas on an open patio. Turns out the alternative, keep-pride-on-Broadway, parade was happening in a mere hour and I found myself sitting on the curb waiting for it to began. I found it to be exactly what I hope for in a Pride parade: short, fun, and shocking. I actually gasped out loud when the two topless fat women in a cage went by–that’s the way I want my parade! More topless people! A man in the most fantastic S&M gear ever dragged a carriage carrying a woman with whips and chains. The naked cyclists from Fremont Solitice fame even had their moment, as they wheeled their ten speeds in concentrated figure eights wearing nothing but body paint.
I have to say, I was expecting an equal amount of shock and excitement the following day when I attended the (newly moved to downtown) Seattle Pride Parade. After attending a very nice brunch with friends, a bunch of us took taxis to the Seattle Center where we snagged end of the parade route seats. It was scorchingly hot, the crowd was huge, and the parade was unwieldly. At one point the gap between floats was so big, the crowd actually started to leave thinking the parade was over. Fifteen minutes later, half of the parade appeared on the horizon, tooting their horns and walking quickly in the hopes of catching up with the other half. Three hours into it we left the parade and headed out to the Seattle Center where it was jam packed with people. Josh and I peaced out pretty quickly, and after navigating our way home on two city buses we collapsed in a fit of heat exhaustion. Some fun pics of the parade:


WE LOVE GAY PEOPLE!