PRIDE! PRIDE EVERYWHERE!
So. Pride! Pride was awesome! I'm still very much in the honeymoon stage of my relationship with the queer community, and I love just being there, being in a place where all the assumptions are reversed - where I'm queer until proven straight/cis, instead of straight/cis until proven queer.
I spent the day with
sophia_sol, our friend Elizabeth, and Jessica, a girl I know from my university's queer and questioning community centre. The theme of the parade was "dream big", so on Jessica's suggestion we decorated our sign with a lesbian in military gear, riding a unicorn. Because that was a dream we all agreed we'd love to see come to fruition. *grin* Also, when I say "we" decorated it, I mean "Elizabeth", 'cause the rest of us can't draw worth beans.
And now I'm going to focus on the parade, because it was a very long day with many awesome things (thai food! using many mens washrooms and occasionally getting yelled at by security guards! an impassioned speech by a very drunk man about how lesbians are lucky because we can poop out our own babies!) but the parade was THE AWESOMEST. It started getting awesome before we even arrived; we headed to the route with the marching contingent from my university, and we were so big that it was like being a parade all of out own. We were getting honked at and cheered and people shouted "happy pride!" and an extremely gay man in a giant kiwi costume complimented my stockings and it was awesome. Then we split off from the group to watch while they marched, because it was the first Pride for all four of us and we wanted to watch it at least once before participating. And it was just - sometimes I was laughing for no reason, and sometimes I was almost in tears, and it was just perfect on every possible level. There was just so much emotion, I just couldn't even - it was perfect.
The parade cops completely won me over with their awesomeness! Not only were there tons of cops in the parade itself, but the cops who were walking the edges keeping everything (more or less) orderly were wonderful too! There was a lady cop near us who just seemed so genuinely thrilled to be there, and a gentleman who never seemed to smile BUT who did seem to have yet another string of mardi gras beads around his neck every time he walked past. I saw cops laughing as marcher soaked them with squirt guns (there were squirt guns EVERYWHERE), cops with rainbow flags, same-sex cop couples holding hands... it was epic. It must have been awesome for the cops, too. IDK how closely you guys follow Canadian politics, but Toronto cops have been taking some serious vitriol thanks to what went down at the G20 protests. I don't care to make any judgments on either cops or protesters at this time, but - after all that, it must has been nice to get unconditional cheering from such a gigantic crowd.
There were SO MANY QUEENS in the parade, and can I say for the record that I love Queens an incredible amount? Queens with makeup trowled on two inches thick and who just TOTALLY DO NOT GIVE A FUCK WHAT YOU THINK! Middle-aged queens, who clearly started out in the 80s and are SO CAMPY THAT MY LOVE KNOWS NO BOUNDS! Queens who are so incredibly and genuinely gorgeous that the VERY lesbian Jessica was VERY INTERESTED! Half-assed Queens who I'm pretty sure just woke up this morning and thought FUCK IT, TODAY I WEAR A DRESS WITH SOCKS STUFFED DOWN THE FRONT AS BOOBS! BECAUSE THIS IS PRIDE, DAMMIT! Every Queen I saw was fierce and fabulous and I just wanted to tell them all that they were wonderful.
TNT (Totally Naked Toronto) was there, and (beyond my bemusement as to how they managed to dodge the public decency laws) I mostly just found it to be a fascinating study in comparative male genitalia. I honestly hadn't realized they came in so many different shapes! One gentleman's was wider than it was long, which I really did not think was possible. It was also interesting to me how incredibly non-sexual the nudists were, regardless of gender. There were plenty of people at that parade who practically were sex, pure and distilled - and mostly they were actually wearing quite a bit of clothing. The nudists just seemed quite comfortable, thanks very. The naked and near-naked marchers from all the different groups ran the full gamut of age, gender, and shape, and it was delightful. There didn't seem to be any pressure to be young and pretty and skinny; people just wore what made them happy.
There were a lot of church groups marching, which made me happy, and I made a point of giving a good solid cheer for all of them, because on the whole they didn't get a lot of love from the crowd. I gave the United Church an especially loud holler, because a) I was raised United, and still have a soft spot for them, and b) they were being led by a minister in the most kick ass rainbow robes I have ever seen! *laughs* I ALSO made a point of cheering for the atheist and humanist groups, and was quite pleased to see them marching as well.
The leather pride people were of interest to me primarily in that they surveyed the crowds, zoned in on Sophia, and singled her out as the person who ought to be handed a pamphlet, invoking much flustered laughter. *laughs* I think her totally kick-ass skirt + vest + fauxhawk ensemble probably had a lot to do with that? It was definitely an outfit that looked like it would have been happy with a bit of leather. *grin* (PST SOPHIA - MY CAMERA IS STILL DOWN, PLS TO BE POSTING PICS ASAP?)
There was an ace contingent there, which was EXCELLENT. Sophia and I flipped out when we saw them, and I think the people in the crowd around us were a bit confused, but - asexuals! Marching in the parade! One of the girls was actually from my school and had been on the bus with us, so I made a point of striking up a conversation with her when we all met back for the evening. She was shy enough to make me look outgoing, but we still had a nice chat, and it was super cool to meet someone ace (aside from Sophia, obviously) in real life. I can tell you right now that we are definitely marching with the ace contingent next year, because there's no way I can say no to Sophia when she looks that happy.
The big controversy of the day was, of course, that Rob Ford (the mayor of Toronto) was absent. There were a lot of "hi rob" and "fuck you, rob" signs, and someone had made an handed out a SHITLOAD of Rob Ford masks. There was one in almost every contingent, and I must say it was a source of great amusement to me, all the places people put their masks. Suffice to say very few of them were actually on people's faces. To put Rob's absence in perspective, a quick lesson in Canadian politics:
Here in Canada, we have five political parties that actually win seats sometimes, eg five parties with any political power on the federal level. The party in power at the moment is the Conservative party; obviously they went unrepresented at the parade. The official opposition right now is the NDP; they sent a huge contingent that included their party leader, Jack Layton. The Liberal party, the next most powerful party, lacks a leader right now for a variety of stupid reasons, but still sent a huge marching contingent - bigger than the NDP, I think! The Bloc Quebecois only exists in Quebec, so they didn't participate (although I'll be curious to see if they come out for Montreal pride?). The Green party, who only have ONE seat in the house right now (eg a tiny wee foothold into federal politics) sent a huge contingent AND their party leader, Elizabeth May, who actually lives on the opposite side of the freaking country.
So the two federal parties who could send their leader, sent one; all three parties that could participate sent huge delegations. And because federal parties = provincial parties, that covers the two upper tiers of the system. The third tier is municipal. Since municipal governments don't have parties, the currently elected mayor is really the only leader you can send. And in Toronto, the Mayor comes to Pride. It's an expected thing that mayors do. And Rob Ford chose not to come - because he wanted to spend the day at the cottage with his family. Am I conveying what a HUGE deal this is? He couldn't have slapped the queer community in the face harder if he tried. Our federal leaders can fly across the country to join the parade, but Rob Ford decided he preferred a day at the cottage. *flail of rage*
AND I think that's all because this post is ridiculously long and also probably full of typos. (I will edit them out as I catch them, promise.) Time for me to do PRODUCTIVE THINGS! (Like write more fic, ohgod. SO CLOSE TO THE END, guys!)
crossposted from Dreamwidth |
comments on original post
I spent the day with
sophia_sol, our friend Elizabeth, and Jessica, a girl I know from my university's queer and questioning community centre. The theme of the parade was "dream big", so on Jessica's suggestion we decorated our sign with a lesbian in military gear, riding a unicorn. Because that was a dream we all agreed we'd love to see come to fruition. *grin* Also, when I say "we" decorated it, I mean "Elizabeth", 'cause the rest of us can't draw worth beans.
And now I'm going to focus on the parade, because it was a very long day with many awesome things (thai food! using many mens washrooms and occasionally getting yelled at by security guards! an impassioned speech by a very drunk man about how lesbians are lucky because we can poop out our own babies!) but the parade was THE AWESOMEST. It started getting awesome before we even arrived; we headed to the route with the marching contingent from my university, and we were so big that it was like being a parade all of out own. We were getting honked at and cheered and people shouted "happy pride!" and an extremely gay man in a giant kiwi costume complimented my stockings and it was awesome. Then we split off from the group to watch while they marched, because it was the first Pride for all four of us and we wanted to watch it at least once before participating. And it was just - sometimes I was laughing for no reason, and sometimes I was almost in tears, and it was just perfect on every possible level. There was just so much emotion, I just couldn't even - it was perfect.
The parade cops completely won me over with their awesomeness! Not only were there tons of cops in the parade itself, but the cops who were walking the edges keeping everything (more or less) orderly were wonderful too! There was a lady cop near us who just seemed so genuinely thrilled to be there, and a gentleman who never seemed to smile BUT who did seem to have yet another string of mardi gras beads around his neck every time he walked past. I saw cops laughing as marcher soaked them with squirt guns (there were squirt guns EVERYWHERE), cops with rainbow flags, same-sex cop couples holding hands... it was epic. It must have been awesome for the cops, too. IDK how closely you guys follow Canadian politics, but Toronto cops have been taking some serious vitriol thanks to what went down at the G20 protests. I don't care to make any judgments on either cops or protesters at this time, but - after all that, it must has been nice to get unconditional cheering from such a gigantic crowd.
There were SO MANY QUEENS in the parade, and can I say for the record that I love Queens an incredible amount? Queens with makeup trowled on two inches thick and who just TOTALLY DO NOT GIVE A FUCK WHAT YOU THINK! Middle-aged queens, who clearly started out in the 80s and are SO CAMPY THAT MY LOVE KNOWS NO BOUNDS! Queens who are so incredibly and genuinely gorgeous that the VERY lesbian Jessica was VERY INTERESTED! Half-assed Queens who I'm pretty sure just woke up this morning and thought FUCK IT, TODAY I WEAR A DRESS WITH SOCKS STUFFED DOWN THE FRONT AS BOOBS! BECAUSE THIS IS PRIDE, DAMMIT! Every Queen I saw was fierce and fabulous and I just wanted to tell them all that they were wonderful.
TNT (Totally Naked Toronto) was there, and (beyond my bemusement as to how they managed to dodge the public decency laws) I mostly just found it to be a fascinating study in comparative male genitalia. I honestly hadn't realized they came in so many different shapes! One gentleman's was wider than it was long, which I really did not think was possible. It was also interesting to me how incredibly non-sexual the nudists were, regardless of gender. There were plenty of people at that parade who practically were sex, pure and distilled - and mostly they were actually wearing quite a bit of clothing. The nudists just seemed quite comfortable, thanks very. The naked and near-naked marchers from all the different groups ran the full gamut of age, gender, and shape, and it was delightful. There didn't seem to be any pressure to be young and pretty and skinny; people just wore what made them happy.
There were a lot of church groups marching, which made me happy, and I made a point of giving a good solid cheer for all of them, because on the whole they didn't get a lot of love from the crowd. I gave the United Church an especially loud holler, because a) I was raised United, and still have a soft spot for them, and b) they were being led by a minister in the most kick ass rainbow robes I have ever seen! *laughs* I ALSO made a point of cheering for the atheist and humanist groups, and was quite pleased to see them marching as well.
The leather pride people were of interest to me primarily in that they surveyed the crowds, zoned in on Sophia, and singled her out as the person who ought to be handed a pamphlet, invoking much flustered laughter. *laughs* I think her totally kick-ass skirt + vest + fauxhawk ensemble probably had a lot to do with that? It was definitely an outfit that looked like it would have been happy with a bit of leather. *grin* (PST SOPHIA - MY CAMERA IS STILL DOWN, PLS TO BE POSTING PICS ASAP?)
There was an ace contingent there, which was EXCELLENT. Sophia and I flipped out when we saw them, and I think the people in the crowd around us were a bit confused, but - asexuals! Marching in the parade! One of the girls was actually from my school and had been on the bus with us, so I made a point of striking up a conversation with her when we all met back for the evening. She was shy enough to make me look outgoing, but we still had a nice chat, and it was super cool to meet someone ace (aside from Sophia, obviously) in real life. I can tell you right now that we are definitely marching with the ace contingent next year, because there's no way I can say no to Sophia when she looks that happy.
The big controversy of the day was, of course, that Rob Ford (the mayor of Toronto) was absent. There were a lot of "hi rob" and "fuck you, rob" signs, and someone had made an handed out a SHITLOAD of Rob Ford masks. There was one in almost every contingent, and I must say it was a source of great amusement to me, all the places people put their masks. Suffice to say very few of them were actually on people's faces. To put Rob's absence in perspective, a quick lesson in Canadian politics:
Here in Canada, we have five political parties that actually win seats sometimes, eg five parties with any political power on the federal level. The party in power at the moment is the Conservative party; obviously they went unrepresented at the parade. The official opposition right now is the NDP; they sent a huge contingent that included their party leader, Jack Layton. The Liberal party, the next most powerful party, lacks a leader right now for a variety of stupid reasons, but still sent a huge marching contingent - bigger than the NDP, I think! The Bloc Quebecois only exists in Quebec, so they didn't participate (although I'll be curious to see if they come out for Montreal pride?). The Green party, who only have ONE seat in the house right now (eg a tiny wee foothold into federal politics) sent a huge contingent AND their party leader, Elizabeth May, who actually lives on the opposite side of the freaking country.
So the two federal parties who could send their leader, sent one; all three parties that could participate sent huge delegations. And because federal parties = provincial parties, that covers the two upper tiers of the system. The third tier is municipal. Since municipal governments don't have parties, the currently elected mayor is really the only leader you can send. And in Toronto, the Mayor comes to Pride. It's an expected thing that mayors do. And Rob Ford chose not to come - because he wanted to spend the day at the cottage with his family. Am I conveying what a HUGE deal this is? He couldn't have slapped the queer community in the face harder if he tried. Our federal leaders can fly across the country to join the parade, but Rob Ford decided he preferred a day at the cottage. *flail of rage*
AND I think that's all because this post is ridiculously long and also probably full of typos. (I will edit them out as I catch them, promise.) Time for me to do PRODUCTIVE THINGS! (Like write more fic, ohgod. SO CLOSE TO THE END, guys!)
crossposted from Dreamwidth |
comments on original post