ST Pete Pride was great.

[imdjh]

I don't know where it ranks over all, but St Pete Pride is huge. It's ranked as the "largest Pride in the Southeast" but it's bigger than any Pride I have attended with the definite exception of NYC and SF. It is decidedly larger than Washington DC.

Part of the beauty of St Pete Pride is that you see people you just don't see at any other venue or event, and we actually have a fair number of events.

I didn't take pics/vid this year, because I got there late. Still I got to see the crowd booing down the street preachers, which is always fun... actually I laughed outloud and the cops walked away because they were laughing too.

They say that there are 60,000 people at St Pete Pride and I don't doubt it. The parade is over two hours long.

For those of you who haven't been to St Pete, let me explain the lay of the land. The parade begins behind the MCC on Third Avenue North, travels south three blocks to Central Avenue and then proceeds east on Central toward downtown St Pete. That's the reason it looks so small townish and low rise, because it's over two miles away from the highrise offices and condos of downtown. It has a small town feel even for a city of 300,000 people.

http://www.stpetepride.com/var/spp/storage/images/media/images/2009-arial-photo/20609-1-eng-US/2009-Arial-Photo_medium.jpe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfeL1SLV8XQ&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Estpetepride%2Ecom%2FNews%2FHighlight%2DVideo&feature=player_embedded

[Deja Q]

1. Thx for posting, but sometimes these parades get too OTT and lose their focus.

About the festival: I saw a prominent coca cola booth... that's bothersome as while they are pro-GLBT in America, their workers' rights record in other countries is pretty bad. (google finds a lot to say on that issue. Shouldn't human rights support be equal, or are we really just walking wallets to them?)

I didn't care for the parade once the fancy dress nonsense started. The media presents those bits as being a major part of us, and I disagree with that (nor does it help promote equal rights, civil rights, you name it, because these shows don't.)

These parades used to be a demonstration show of support. Now it's little more than a lewd circus, to look and act as outrageous as possible. I cannot, in good conscience, support THAT. (being flashed at in the 2005 parade was the last time I went to mine. A nice penis, yes, but it's not helping anybody's cause... especially once the media jackals arrive.)

Others can disagree all they like. They should also stop asking why we're not taken seriously and not getting anywhere with civil rights.

Flame away.

[imdjh]

2. St Pete Pride is actually very tame on the scale of pointlessly outrageous.

People don't generally do drag for kicks when it's 85ºF and threatening to rain, most of those participants are professional show people. The Thai drag queens are there representing a Thai Restaurant which is very cool.

You can't please everyone. There was also barbeque for sale, and probably other stuff that some people would find politically unacceptable.

I too have complained about the lack of cohesion and seriousness in Pride parades, but I have always said that if you are a professional drag queen or go go boy, then you should be free to show up in your uniform as would be a nurse, a cop, or a minister.

[xchrom]

3. ...

:eyes:

[Lyric]

4. Your premise that we must refrain from flamboyance

in order for people to take us "seriously" is, frankly, naive and insulting.

It smacks of the condescending attitude that certain types of bigots often express, like this one that is parroted so often:

"If young black men would just dress nicely, get away from the rap culture, and stop wearing all of that 'bling' they'd be able to get jobs and be responsible citizens instead of criminals and thugs."

Basically, both YOUR attitude and the one expressed above presume that the victims (blacks and gays) are somehow contributing to their own oppression by refusing to adhere to society's norms, and therefore at least partially "deserve" it. It's like bitching about the leaky roof when there's a flood rolling through the front door. Our manner of dress is an excuse that bigots use to prop up and justify their bigotry--nothing more. We could all wear business casual 24-7 and they'd just find a new crutch to lean their hatred on. Matthew Shepard wasn't a flaming nelly queen, and look what happened to him.

Blaming the victims for not being "normal" enough for people to take our civil rights "seriously" is an irresponsible and cruel choice to make, IMHO.

[xchrom]

5. +1

[mtnester]

6. Thank you, Plus 2

[FreeState]

7. + 3 n/t

[GodlessBiker]

8. "Not getting anywhere with civil rights"? The number of states which now...

allow gay marriage went up dramatically this year.

We are making progress, and there is no reason why we should be Uncle Toms to some Quaker orthodoxy in order to make progress.

These parades are not just about "the cause," they are about celebration within our community. For years, these celebrations largely were among ourselves, until people realized they could make money off us. Now they (you) want us to change how we celebrate? No fucking way!

[imdjh]

9. St Pete Pride is billed as a family friendly event.

It's part of its appeal. While I have never heard of anyone being ejected, we don't have the suspension of the public decency enforcement that some other cities appear to have. You won't see nude or lewd here as a rule. And I like it that way. That's not Uncle Tom or Quaker orthodoxy, it's simply that the rules which apply to everyone else apply to us.

Of course, this is coastal Florida, so we see a lot of skin around here on a daily basis. We don't see a lot of vulgarity and I don't actually see the liberation factor in that anyway.