Hi All. I hope you had a happy Pride. I had a good weekend. I spent Friday at a dance and burlesque party (Grown & Sexy Pride)
organized by my favorite queer party planners, Shannon Blowtorch,
Nadine DuBois, and Sweetpea. The party was at First Avenue instead of
Hell’s Kitchen, which gave people plenty of room to move around. I have
to say I missed Hell’s Kitchen a little bit. I’m not sure why I like
being packed into a bar like a sardine but I (mostly) enjoy it. All of
my Minnesotan counterparts were much more comfortable at First Avenue,
where they didn’t have to touch and they had a better view of the
burlesque. (It was nice to have a better view of the burlesque) If you
click on the Grown & Sexy link you can see a few photos of the action.
Sunday I saw the parade. No matter how many years go by, I still love
going to the parade. I remember when I was a gay teenager and didn’t
know a single gay adult. Other than Ellen, who explicitly came out, I
thought pretty much everyone was straight. Even people like Elton John
were straight as far as I knew (seriously). Back then it was pretty
mind-blowing to see so many gay people in one place. Even though I have
plenty of GBLTQ people in my life these days it still feels really
life-affirming to see all the people who come out to celebrate.
After looking at a slideshow of Pride Parades Around the World
on the Daily Beast and wishing it included more places in the world, I
thought I’d put up a few pictures from the Minneapolis Pride Parade. It
felt like a good turn out year for the parade. Minnesotans United for
All Families was out in force telling people to Vote No, and things felt
a little more political in general this year. I think people are
energized to kick this amendment’s ass.
It was pretty awesome to see the huge turn out of volunteers from Minnesotans United.
Sisters of Perpetual indulgence catch a ride in a Pedi-Cab
These Zebra Bikes represent at all kinds of events around the Twin Cities and I’m always happy to see them.
Go Flamingos!
Target seemed to be back in people’s good graces this year after their fundraising efforts for GLBTQ families.
Last
but not least, a guy walking by himself wearing boots and some
underwear. One complaint about Minnesota Pride is that it is almost
obsessed with being family friendly, so Man-In-Underwear, cheers to you
for being almost naked! I hope you didn’t get a sunburn.