Pride 2010

[mellowtigger]

Minneapolis is said to host the largest non-gated Pride celebration in the USA.  I was intending to skip Pride celebrations again this year because I have mixed feelings about them, but then I got an email asking for help to attend a table for Outwoods. I agreed to work Sunday morning. I figured most people would be in downtown Minneapolis to watch the parade. I was right; the park didn't get crowded until the parade ended.

I wore my very old and somewhat ratty "Every kiss is a revolution" t-shirt. I worked the 10am-noon shift with Dan, another Board member (I think) for the group. Afterwards, we walked around the park to see the other booths. There were free photo booths set up by Target, so we stopped in for a quick photograph. The booths even had email capability within the park, so the images were waiting for me in my mailbox when I got home. Very convenient.

The place where I work, Animal Humane Society, also had a booth at Pride.  They had some great t-shirts there. I picked up the one that said "You had me at Woof" with the AHS logo. I took it over to the Bear booth to make sure they knew that there were still some XL sizes available. I'll try to remember to wear it to Bear events, so I can let people know that I can get more for them if they want to buy one.

I see that even Livejournal is getting into the holiday spirit this year by adding a Pride banner this weekend:


I often have mixed feelings about Pride celebrations.  More than once, back in the times before Diagnosis Day, I would leave Pride hurriedly without fully understanding why. The last time I dated someone, I had an especially bad meltdown moment when I abandoned zhem at Pride (that would have been 1997 in Austin, Texas) so I could get away as quickly as possible from all the people, the talking, the social networking. *guilty sigh* Post-autism-diagnosis, I think that I am even better at understanding my emotional limits and moderating my stress.

Another issue that makes Pride celebrations wonky for me is the realization that there just aren't as many guys around that are my age.  I see older. I see lots of younger. I don't see many males my age. I know why, of course. I wish Pride celebrations insisted on displaying a portion of the Quilt at every event.  It worries me that people forget and that we may end up with another lost generation.

I am proud, of course, that the gay American reponse to AIDS succeeded in changing the whole world. Everyone learned from us to stop whispering about poor health, to stop submitting to professionals for choices of care, to stop accepting mediocrity from the government that we pay taxes to support. Everyone learned from us to take control of our treatments, to educate ourselves so we can make our own treatment decisions, to demand better personal care from our doctors and nurses, and to demand better response from our government medical institutions.  No longer do people whisper with sad expression, "She has cancer"; now, the announcement is stated with determination, "He's taking chemo to fight his cancer."  Good for us!  There's reason to be proud of our contribution to our culture.

I think it was great to see so many children at Pride. I hope that I'm reasonable to interpret their presence as a reassuring sign that the next generation have a little easier time growing up. It would be great if they (gay) have fewer of certain hardships to face because life offers enough difficulties without hatred and violence being added to the mix, and it would be great if they (straight) have wider perspectives on the world and the joys of finding their own special place in it.

Comments

[mellowtigger]

There are efforts underway in Minnesota to extinguish the shame (the urge to hide) depression and mental disease. It still has a long way to go.

I credit (as a good thing) our influence over "Jerry's telethon". It's acceptable now to offer awareness, to solicit financial help to continue the struggle, but it is not okay to paint a bleak picture of someone else just to evoke pity. Diseased and broken is not the same as helpless. Save the pity for the truly helpless.



I think it's not just the Poz population that made the difference. The Quilt is a national monument built by those affected who were left behind. Some people wove their own panels, but most of them were made by lovers, friends, and family who survived. I don't know a more eloquent response to neglect, abuse, and disease than that tapestry woven with such love and loss. I think non-violence proponents throughout history (like Ghandi and MLK and Mother Teresa) would have approved of it too.

HIV is a virus. AIDS is a disease. We didn't create either of them. But "we" helped shape the human response to them. We did good. The call is not over.