Jump into the thread and let’s discuss something I often ask my guests on my podcast:What is the best pride or queer event you have attended? What made it so memorable?
2SLGBTQIA+ readers and our allies, this thread is for y’all! Let’s spread some queer joy! 🌈🌈
ANNOUNCEMENT COMING SOON! Pride in Vancouver is about to have a lot more of Lauren in it 😎
I told you one of my Pride stories on the podcast, but I'm gonna break out a whole new surprise for you here.
In the mid-200s, I got involved with my first ever Pride event.
And because I never do anything by halves, I did this by joining the event planning team, doing the first Pride in a while, in a pretty big city, and wound up in charge of organising the entire marketplace - all the stalls and all the food.
I had never dkne anything even vaguely approaching this, and I have no idea how or why I wound up in charge of it. But it did let me sneak in some discounts and a couple of freebies to small businesses.
And ofc, I then had to be out there at the arse end if dawn, and spent the entire day running around the arboretum park checking on a million things, fixing stuff when someone got pissed, and ensuring all was well.
I legit forgot to eat, or sit down, til I almost fell down in a faint (oops).
It would have to be my first Pride event that I stumbled upon on my first trip to NYC with my cousins. We'd planned a trip for the end of June because most of us were educators and that's when our schedules opened up. We were young and dumb and had no idea what a real metropolitan city looked like (though I live close to DC, it doesn't really count since no building can be as tall as the tip of the capital building).
We loved it! The colors, the flamboyance, the people living their best unsuppressed lives made an impression, and it's one that has stayed with me though the trip was over 20 years ago.
I think the best pride event I attended was my first one...it wasn’t as big as later ones I attended in San Francisco, but it was special to me because it took place in Indiana, where I grew up, and I was with some close friends. I wasn’t out then, but it was (and still is!) meaningful to me to see the queer community celebrating &thriving in such a conservative place...it felt like a moment of personal hope, an “Oh, maybe someday I could be out like this too, even if this state & culture makes it so hard to do so”.
I told you one of my Pride stories on the podcast, but I'm gonna break out a whole new surprise for you here.
In the mid-200s, I got involved with my first ever Pride event.
And because I never do anything by halves, I did this by joining the event planning team, doing the first Pride in a while, in a pretty big city, and wound up in charge of organising the entire marketplace - all the stalls and all the food.
I had never dkne anything even vaguely approaching this, and I have no idea how or why I wound up in charge of it. But it did let me sneak in some discounts and a couple of freebies to small businesses.
And ofc, I then had to be out there at the arse end if dawn, and spent the entire day running around the arboretum park checking on a million things, fixing stuff when someone got pissed, and ensuring all was well.
I legit forgot to eat, or sit down, til I almost fell down in a faint (oops).
But damn that was a good day.
Damn, it was a good day - and your efforts made it a damn good day for others too! 🧡
It would have to be my first Pride event that I stumbled upon on my first trip to NYC with my cousins. We'd planned a trip for the end of June because most of us were educators and that's when our schedules opened up. We were young and dumb and had no idea what a real metropolitan city looked like (though I live close to DC, it doesn't really count since no building can be as tall as the tip of the capital building).
We loved it! The colors, the flamboyance, the people living their best unsuppressed lives made an impression, and it's one that has stayed with me though the trip was over 20 years ago.
I can picture this! How amazing, thank you so much for sharing this memory 🧡🧡🧡
I think the best pride event I attended was my first one...it wasn’t as big as later ones I attended in San Francisco, but it was special to me because it took place in Indiana, where I grew up, and I was with some close friends. I wasn’t out then, but it was (and still is!) meaningful to me to see the queer community celebrating &thriving in such a conservative place...it felt like a moment of personal hope, an “Oh, maybe someday I could be out like this too, even if this state & culture makes it so hard to do so”.
Beautiful. Thank you.
'It felt like a moment of personal hope' is such a wonderful thing to read.