There have been many amazing Pride celebrations all over the nation this June, but the cities with those that fell on this particular weekend saw one major difference: marriage equality! Last Friday, when same-sex marriage was legalized nationwide, the country went crazy. In a mostly good way too, so that's what we'll be focusing on! New York City in particular became vibrantly alive from the moment this life-changing news arrived. Celebrations burst out every which way and didn't stop until Sunday night - though to be fair, some of those celebrations are probably still going on. There's no completely accurate way to capture the beautiful insanity of Pride, but I - your friendly neighborhood lesbian - attempted to give it a shot!
This would be me:
And this would be Stonewall Pl. on Friday night after same-sex marriage was legalized:
Yet, the craziest line wasn't to any of the bars but instead to Big Gay Ice Cream Shop. I'm also pretty sure this wasn't even half the line. Ice cream first, party second.
Now, of course, Stonewall Inn - home of the original Stonewall Riots - was the place to be. To pass some time in the epic line we had to wait in, we chatted with Liz, who shared with us some of her feelings on this particular occasion:
"To me the most important thing about equality is that we are mainstream. We are no longer fringes, we are no longer considered - the sociological term is - 'deviant.' We are mainstreamed, we are married, we have kids. And I just think that in generations to come...to the young people it'll seem ridiculous that gays couldn't get married. I came out in the early seventies, which means right when it was all beginning, and I've seen the development from us being fringe, crazy ladies, bra-burning, political to different phases and...we broke the mold so that people younger than me could come into it and feel empowered."
Stonewall Inn was a frantic hub of celebration, JELL-O shots, and history. Before heading out for the night, we also caught up with this friendly fellow, Ryan, who shared with us what equality means to him:
"The basic human rights of food, shelter, clothing provided for all and a mindset of recognition that every human is fundamentally worthy of love."
After such an epic night of partying and meeting some truly cool people, it was time to call it a night and gear up for another day of Pride. See you soon, Stonewall!
The Saturday of Pride Weekend brought a completely awesome surprise in the form of a good friend scoring standing room tickets to Fun Home on Broadway! This was both of our fourth times seeing the show, and the third time together! You truly can never visit Maple Avenue enough. Also, check out these rockin' rainbow Playbills. Such a bonus for this beautiful show!
And of course, it's not a trip to the Fun Home without saying hey to my pal and fave Tony nominee, Medium Alison star Emily Skeggs, who was rockin' a Pride necklace herself in honor of the occasion!
Fun Home was such an emotional experience that it was time to take a breather and focus on preparing for Sunday's parade experience. My cat decided she should probably be preparing for the parade as well.
Sunday finally arrived! And it was time to head to Christopher Street to catch some of the parade with my awesome friend Victoria. It was super gloomy and raining, but no one was letting that stop their spirit!
But really, it's just about impossible not to feel super-psyched when there are rainbows abounding!
Some of our favorite floats included the Gender and Family Project, which supports gender-expansive children and transgender youth.
And SAGE, which stands for Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders. Also, by this point the sun was starting to come out, so we know this one was awesome.
We've also got to give three cheers to Walmart, for rainbowing it to the max this year.
Post-floating it up for a bit (alas, we could not find the Orange is the New Black/Netflix float, which was somewhere), we decided to chat with some of the rockin' people we caught around the parade.
This is Ashley and Nicole. When asked what equality means to them:
"It's the best thing ever? It's the best thing ever."
Feel parched during the parade? No problem! These kiddos set up a homemade lemonade stand. The verdict? Gay pride lemonade is the best lemonade.
Next we ran into handsome husbands Chad and Paul. When asked what equality means to them, Paul replied, "I think it just means that we're all just treated the same. That we treat each other the way we want to be treated ourselves." It's always nice to see wonderful people in wonderful get-ups on Pride!
Anna and Sharisse were enjoying a momentary rest when we spoke with them. When asked why they were excited about this particular Pride this year, Anna responded: "Well, I think I really love the energy of this year's pride. I think there's a lot of people who have been waiting for this weekend, this day, this decision. And I'm really happy for the families, the ones that have been fighting to help out their kids, their partners. So the energies really cool!" And Sharissa chimed in with, "For me, personally, my experience is great because I finally have a community of queer women around me."
Anna did add before we parted ways, "I'm really interested in seeing if (the people who fought for gay marriage) will keep fighting...I hope we start fighting for our trans brothers and sisters. But this is a good day." Agreed on all accounts, Anna.
Thea, a hostess at one of the most popular bars located right in the heart of the parade, on the pros of working such a crazy day: "Getting to see so any joyous people! And money. The best part is definitely money."
Kellie and Sue were definitely in the running for the best outfit award. And what does equality mean to them? "That everyone gets the same opportunities. It's up to you what you're going to do with them. But everyone should have them."
It was then time to depart the parade because I'd made an appointment to get my first-ever tattoo in honor of Pride, marriage equality, and endless years of gayness! Fun fact: it didn't really hurt very much at all! Must be all the comfort of pride and love and equality.
This little token was the perfect way to end a perfect pride weekend!
Now let's all continue to have pride year-round! Happy marriage equality and happy Pride Month!
