This weekend I celebrated Pride with my people in Denver. Apparently Denver has one of the biggest Pride Parades in the nation, up there with San Francisco and NYC. It is epically long, so much so I’ve never sat through the whole thing.
There are always some gems in the parade but I do wish it consisted more of floats and marching bands, my favorite parade participants. Here are a few of what I found delight in over the few hours I watched:
To start the weekend there was a protest that moved around the area. They were in support of trans rights and pro Palestinian. It was really wonderful to see:
As I was entering into the area I was met with cops on motorcycles zooming all around in their effort to contain the protest? Or keep the protesters safe? I can’t reconcile the police and their ever present relationship with queer people. Whatever their purpose, they themselves were creating terrible chaos by shutting down roads and in their helpful manner, not communicating with drivers what to do. It was such chaos that as I looked for a parking spot and was trapped by long lines of cars turning a two way into a one way, I had to park wherever I could snag a spot. Subsequently, three days later I wondered my area in search of my car because I couldn’t for the life of me remember where I tucked it in haste. I found it!
It is important to use our voices to be visible and celebrate our queerness. When I go down to Pride Fest it is incredible to see all the different ways queer people show up. This year I saw so many trans people and some of them had had top surgery. For someone like me, seeing my self reflected in my community gives me courage to keep going.
The event is completely overwhelming though. I go because my loved ones enjoy it and I want them to feel supported in their celebration of Pride. Someday though, I’ll find my space to celebrate Pride and hopefully not burn out. I will say this year was more manageable because I stayed on the fray under a lovely tree and spent my time reading and drawing.
Today is the last day of Pride Month. I thoroughly enjoyed wishing all my neighbors a Happy Pride. I think a lot of us feel more passionate about this holiday than we do Christmas, or is that just me? Ha! I know for me I love the month of June far better than the Christmas season. I don’t have any of my childhood family in my life to celebrate the winter holidays with and it feels like a big open sore how lonely I get in longing for a family to love and accept me. But Pride? That is where all my real family lies, we get to celebrate one another and gather with so much joy.
On that note, Happy Pride. It was a great month. Let’s go forth and be unbearably queer for the rest of our days.
A Good Cunt 
Leave a comment