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enismirdal!!PIC HEAVY POST!!
So...Pride...
This was my third year at Pride London and was, as ever, a blast - even if many of the people I'd normally go with ended up unavailable. Still, all 3 flatmates came, as well as an acquaintance of American Flatmate, and the sun was shining gloriously.
Pride seems to mean different things to different people. The amazing people who battled for equal rights for LGBT people right from Stonewall onwards have my eternal respect and gratitude, and of course for them it still has strong political associations and an element of rally or protest. For me, being privileged enough to grow up in a time when being not-entirely-heterosexual is relatively acceptable and discrimination is generally not so common, I guess I see it more as a celebration of the diversity and beauty of human beings. There is still prejudice both outside and inside the LGBT community, towards some queer minority groups either because they're an "odd" type of queer or because they're minority in other ways, e.g. black and LGBT or whatever, and that's unacceptable and needs to be stamped out. Pride is special to me because it's full of people who are so very different and all strikingly unique, and cool and exciting. It's a day when people are free to express themselves as they are, whatever that includes, and just be...well, rainbow people!
No episode of Dr Who on the big screens in Trafalgar Square this year (meeple!), but some other stuff of coolness. I ended up buying myself a rainbow sarong and little rainbow heart earrings, so that was exciting.
Sarah Brown, the Prime Minister's wife. I am not the biggest fan of the Right Honourable Dr Brown, but Sarah has always seemed to conduct herself with dignity, so much kudos to her. I think it was generally seen as a nice gesture that she turned up to join us.
Brian Paddick was along again, this time marching with the older LGBT folks. (For those not in the know, he used to be in charge of the Metropolitan Police, and ran as Mayor of London at the last Mayoral elections (as the Lib Dem candidate), losing out to Boris. Seems like a nice bloke.
And of course, Boy George. I was wondering when I saw he was on the schedule what he'd be looking like, given that most of the recent pictures I've seen showed a middle-aged, balding, rotund, disgruntled bloke either on the way into jail or on the way out of it. Which, you know, basically he is, but I think when I look at him I'll always see the beautiful, beautiful creature from 1982.
There were, of course, protesters. There weren't very many of them this year, and as usual they were fenced into their own enclosure. I went to coo at them being all cute and angry for a couple of minutes before wandering back to our parade watching spot.
Flatmate squeed at the number of LGBT Christian groups along, being LGBT and Christian herself!
The rainbow flag was very long...
...and went on and on! (I love the way it lit up the pavement in a rainbow too!)
Pretty people...
One for all you straight girls and gay boys: Gentleman advertising Calvin Klein with a certain lack of subtlety!
And from the front...
Sometimes I wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but I think that's part of the fun!
This made me smile...
So did this - the world is full of LGBT people!
People of a variety of religious persuasions were there, including some of the more eclectic ones:
Raëlians...
...and Hare Krishnas - I'm never entirely sure what to make of these folks!
I think everyone who went to Pride ended up getting a photo of this guy, judging from the number I've seen on the interwebs. Well, he seems to enjoy posing so go him!
These guys were great! I popped over in between floats to ask if they would pose for photos and they let me pose with them! Unfortunately I'd left my camera on full zoom (kind of need it at parades sometimes) so the shots were a bit head-and-shoulders rather than capturing me plus the whole group of them. They were very sweet and friendly and lovely!
Abbreviated version for people on slow connections, the lj-cut averse and people who just don't have the patience to scroll down:
Pride was pretty and colourful and fun and exciting. I posed with some friendly S&M guys, enjoyed cute gay families and people from all over the world, and the Rainbow Flag of Pride was, as always, very very long.
Phew, that took a few minutes.
Torchwood tonight! YAY!
So...Pride...
This was my third year at Pride London and was, as ever, a blast - even if many of the people I'd normally go with ended up unavailable. Still, all 3 flatmates came, as well as an acquaintance of American Flatmate, and the sun was shining gloriously.
Pride seems to mean different things to different people. The amazing people who battled for equal rights for LGBT people right from Stonewall onwards have my eternal respect and gratitude, and of course for them it still has strong political associations and an element of rally or protest. For me, being privileged enough to grow up in a time when being not-entirely-heterosexual is relatively acceptable and discrimination is generally not so common, I guess I see it more as a celebration of the diversity and beauty of human beings. There is still prejudice both outside and inside the LGBT community, towards some queer minority groups either because they're an "odd" type of queer or because they're minority in other ways, e.g. black and LGBT or whatever, and that's unacceptable and needs to be stamped out. Pride is special to me because it's full of people who are so very different and all strikingly unique, and cool and exciting. It's a day when people are free to express themselves as they are, whatever that includes, and just be...well, rainbow people!
No episode of Dr Who on the big screens in Trafalgar Square this year (meeple!), but some other stuff of coolness. I ended up buying myself a rainbow sarong and little rainbow heart earrings, so that was exciting.
Sarah Brown, the Prime Minister's wife. I am not the biggest fan of the Right Honourable Dr Brown, but Sarah has always seemed to conduct herself with dignity, so much kudos to her. I think it was generally seen as a nice gesture that she turned up to join us.
Brian Paddick was along again, this time marching with the older LGBT folks. (For those not in the know, he used to be in charge of the Metropolitan Police, and ran as Mayor of London at the last Mayoral elections (as the Lib Dem candidate), losing out to Boris. Seems like a nice bloke.
And of course, Boy George. I was wondering when I saw he was on the schedule what he'd be looking like, given that most of the recent pictures I've seen showed a middle-aged, balding, rotund, disgruntled bloke either on the way into jail or on the way out of it. Which, you know, basically he is, but I think when I look at him I'll always see the beautiful, beautiful creature from 1982.
There were, of course, protesters. There weren't very many of them this year, and as usual they were fenced into their own enclosure. I went to coo at them being all cute and angry for a couple of minutes before wandering back to our parade watching spot.
Flatmate squeed at the number of LGBT Christian groups along, being LGBT and Christian herself!
The rainbow flag was very long...
...and went on and on! (I love the way it lit up the pavement in a rainbow too!)
Pretty people...
One for all you straight girls and gay boys: Gentleman advertising Calvin Klein with a certain lack of subtlety!
And from the front...
Sometimes I wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but I think that's part of the fun!
This made me smile...
So did this - the world is full of LGBT people!
People of a variety of religious persuasions were there, including some of the more eclectic ones:
Raëlians...
...and Hare Krishnas - I'm never entirely sure what to make of these folks!
I think everyone who went to Pride ended up getting a photo of this guy, judging from the number I've seen on the interwebs. Well, he seems to enjoy posing so go him!
These guys were great! I popped over in between floats to ask if they would pose for photos and they let me pose with them! Unfortunately I'd left my camera on full zoom (kind of need it at parades sometimes) so the shots were a bit head-and-shoulders rather than capturing me plus the whole group of them. They were very sweet and friendly and lovely!
Abbreviated version for people on slow connections, the lj-cut averse and people who just don't have the patience to scroll down:
Pride was pretty and colourful and fun and exciting. I posed with some friendly S&M guys, enjoyed cute gay families and people from all over the world, and the Rainbow Flag of Pride was, as always, very very long.
Phew, that took a few minutes.
Torchwood tonight! YAY!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 6 Jul 2009 20:45 (UTC)I has rainbow cat at least!
no subject
Date: 6 Jul 2009 21:44 (UTC)Yay rainbow cat! :D
no subject
Date: 6 Jul 2009 20:56 (UTC)no subject
Date: 6 Jul 2009 21:44 (UTC)no subject
Date: 6 Jul 2009 21:07 (UTC)Looks like another great Pride!
no subject
Date: 6 Jul 2009 21:45 (UTC)no subject
Date: 6 Jul 2009 21:47 (UTC)no subject
Date: 6 Jul 2009 22:06 (UTC)I always love your Pride parade piccies! :D:D:D
no subject
Date: 11 Jul 2009 15:46 (UTC)no subject
Date: 7 Jul 2009 03:00 (UTC)You, my dear, are gorgeous!!
no subject
Date: 11 Jul 2009 15:46 (UTC)no subject
Date: 7 Jul 2009 20:31 (UTC)no subject
Date: 11 Jul 2009 15:47 (UTC)no subject
Date: 9 Jul 2009 15:45 (UTC)no subject
Date: 11 Jul 2009 15:49 (UTC)no subject
Date: 10 Jul 2009 19:16 (UTC)Abner
no subject
Date: 11 Jul 2009 15:48 (UTC)no subject
Date: 12 Jul 2009 16:40 (UTC)Were the flag carriers from the relevant countries or had they 'collected' the flags (not in the Jonathan sense of the word I suspect)?
Abner
no subject
Date: 12 Jul 2009 16:47 (UTC)*nods* You're right about the culture, I'm sure, and even a progressive government is presumably going to take a while to try and moderate some cultures. On the other hand I think in some cases the people of a country are a lot less nuts than the government in charge.