Tales of Gay Pride Festivals

Well, this week-end marks the kick-off of Gay Pride events in Southern California! Beautiful Long Beach, California. On the water, across from the famous Queen Mary cruise ship. So, let's tell some Gay Pride Festival stories... I'll start. Two years ago, I was just recently single by one month. I was sad, and had no direction, so my friends told me to volunteer to keep busy, and meet some nice people, because "nice people volunteer". I signed up and volunteered for OutFest and had a ball! I met so many great people. I got hit on my a woman who told me her "wife was out of town, and that they had an open relationship". What the HELL? Do I have *****easy piece of "week-end" ass written on my forehead? Ah, NO! Keep walking, girlie!!! So the next month, I volunteered for Gay Pride Los Angeles. I was so excited! I was gonna be assigned to booth that served alcohol. That should be fun. I went to my assignment in the country/western tent. I walked in to check in with my supervisor. She was sitting at a table taking the "time cards" from the volunteers. I walked up, and she looked up at me. HELLO!!!! We're gonna have a problem here! She's a hot dyke, and I've now lost all concentration. My name? Uh, uh, uh... My time card? Am I suppose to have a time card? Oh, here it is. Sorry. Little did I know that at that same moment, she too had felt the spark! I found out in about 1/2 an hour. The main boss came and took me away from her sending me to another serving area. She told me that I was having an affect on my supervisor, and that she wasn't able to concentrate with me around. Shortly thereafter, I found my way back to the country/western tent. I mean, really, I'm a volunteer, I can't get fired! I was only half kidding going back there, but she let me stay! We've been together ever since. Check out our photos on my profile...

Janet and I were marching in Austin's Gay Pride Parade one year. I can't remember what year, but it must've been before 1999 because Emily wasn't born yet. Suddenly, there was a camera in our face and a reporter asking questions relentlessly. I felt like we were being baited, so I wouldn't talk, just kept on walking. Well, we marched all the way to the Capital, listened to all the speeches, visited with our friends ~ just generally had a great time. Fast forward to later that night. We're hanging out at home, minding our own business when the phone rings. It's one of my cousins. He says turn on CNN. I do. And, there we are on CNN!!! The phone rang all night long. When I got to work the next day, I had people coming up to me, saying, "I saw you on CNN yesterday." It's a good thing that I am VERY out with my family and at work/school. I have to admit, it was kinda cool being on the national CNN loop. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!!! Sharyn nurse2b

That was your opportunity to say, "Lesbians are GREAT kissers!" LOL

*slaps forehead* Now, why didn't I think of that? Sharyn nurse2b

What a great story! I love your pics! Rachelle

That is such a sweet story! I'm going to take Pride to the next level and tell a story from the March on Washington back in 93. I was pretty young, and I was traveling with one of my first girlfriends and a group of her friends. We had rented a van, and I believe that there were about seven of us altogether. Being young and broke and not planning very far in advance meant that there was no possibility of getting a hotel room for the event. Instead, we camped somewhere in Maryland just to be near enough to DC to drive in. The night we arrived, we drove into DuPont Circle just to get a sense of what was going on. There were literally people walking in the streets everywhere I looked. People were being very friendly, greeting everyone they passed. It was a party atmosphere that night, but there was definitely a larger agenda at hand. The next morning, which was the morning of the big march (there had also been a fabulous Dyke march the previous day) we went out to breakfast at a gay-owned restaurant on an outdoor patio. It had rained for some time the night before, but the weather was beautiful that morning. The patio had clear plastic drapes that could be rolled up or down. I don't remember what we were trying to do with the drapes, but we were trying to adjust them in some way. What we didn't know was that a bunch of water had collected in the rolled-up drape the night before. The water came pouring out of the far end of the drape and landing in a large quantity on a table full of young gay boys that we didn't know. We were horrified! The great part, though, was that everyone was just so ecstatic to be there, that they weren't even angry. The sun shined on them, they dried off. It was a great day. ...There's more to that story, but that's one of the more entertaining parts. Z

Hi Z, I enjoyed your story so much. With how you described everything, I felt like I was right there with you. It also reminded me of how my ex and I were on a plane to Florida to see her parents, and how very much, we were saddened that we couldn't be in Washington with everyone else. 1/2 of the plane was going to DC! I'm going to DC next Wednesday. My sister is having foot surgery, and I will be there to help her with things. She won't be able to walk for (3) weeks. She now lives within walking distance of Dupont Circle. But when she first moved to DC, she lived on the corner of 17th and R Street. The Gay Pride parade when right by her apartment!

We happened upon a parade in P'town in August called "Carnival" if I remember right. It was the first gay parade we had seen, being two older ladies from the midwest. We didn't know they made all those leather things.....hmmm! Quite a surprise! Years later we went to San Francisco to see the gay pride parade. Other than a bad sunburn we had a great time! Connie

Connie, If you were surprised to all those leather things in P'town, you should sometime go to the Folsom Street Fair in San Francisco. I think it's in September. The streets are all blocked off, and ANYTHING goes! Full nudity, leather, latex, chains, whips, ponies. Every fetish you could imagine. Just short of public sex. It is unbelievable. Attendees must be over 21 years, and police are there only to make sure the attendees are safe and not harassed by looky-loos who are not participating, but clicking pictures like mad. It's CRAZY! Oh, I used sunscreen : - D