Pride

Sunday is the day when gay folk come out to play. A city of 500,000 swells to three million as people come out set gay progress back 50 years.

A & E took me down to watch the parade and what a sight it was. We got there a little late so only saw the second half but that still took an hour and a bit. My feet were hurting by the end so goodness knows what the huge drag queens in high heels must have been feeling like after marching from Embarcadero to Market.

After hearing some stories about the hedonism that is apparently rife at such events the whole thing seemed rather tame. The parade floats were very well done and there was a moderate amount of nudity (mainly female) but it was all very tasteful. Memorable slogans included:

Rodeo is bucking gay, if it’s done right (California Rodeo Riders Club)

Get the hard facts on sex education before you fill in the holes (SF sexual health)

Libertarians – pro choice on everything (Libertarian party)

We’re here, we’re queer, we’re Buddha (SF Zen Centre)

Hikers do it camp (Sierra Club)

Google had a very large group marching, while curiously Northrop Grumman had a few people marching. They received a warm round of applause like everyone else, despite being a weapons company. There were many churches with marchers, even a Catholic one, which was a pleasant surprise.

We all went home and stocked up on water and suncream and then I headed down to the Dog. Fell in with a group and we talked football and Formula One before heading across the road to fill up on sausage and sauerkraut. All in all a very good day.