"HOMOS FOR CUOMO"

NYC Pride Parade 2011

     Sunday was Pride in the city and it was ab-so-LUTE-ly nuts!! The parade started at noon, but since Dee and I had only gotten home five hours before, we didn't make it into Manhattan to meet Jeff and Drew until about 4:00. By 5:00, the parade the still going on. One police officer we talked to said that it was the longest that the parade had ever been. 

This past Friday, New York became the largest state to approve Gay Marriage, and as a result, Pride was extra prideful! It was an amazing atmosphere. It reminded me of Mardi Gras in St. Louis, except on steroids and just intensified. The parade was mostly through and around Greenwich Village. It was packed, everyone was happy and excited--it was electric. Each float in the parade was playing good music. Most of them were playing either PitBull and Ne-Yo's "Give Me Everything," Beyonce's "Who Run the World," and Lady Gaga's "Born This Way"--naturally. But some of the floats were a sight to see!! The queens were out in full drag, while some people were out in barely anything. But every homosexual there was OUT and proud, and it was beautiful. 

Age, gender, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status; none of that mattered. This sounds so cheesy and so corny, but at different points I would see a couple kiss, or just see people so excited, or  overhear people talking about being able to get married and it gave me goosebumps, because it was so perfect.

 One float came through playing Jay-Z and Alicia Keys' "Empire State of Mind," and when the chorus says "there's nothing you can't dooooo," a guy on the float was pointing at his ring finger and it was so perfect! 

                     
Seeing so many people being proud to be who they are, regardless of society and what others may think was empowering. Granted, at some points, it looked like some people were a little too free and comfortable--like this old man who barely had a piece of cloth covering his goods, but it was awesome. 

After the parade, we went to a pier by the Hudson, and there were still just a ton of people out and around there. It was a pretty perfect place to just sit and people watch. The weather was nice, and the sun was glistening against the Hudson behind us. It was a pretty cool moment in time, just sitting there watching people being happy and content. By that time of the weekend however, I was dead. I'm used to spending the better part of my weekends on my couch, so I was strugglin' hard to keep going. So I headed home while the other three went to dinner and drinks.