Capital Pride 2009

A lyric in one of my favorite songs asks, “What have you done today to make you feel proud?” As a member of the GLBT community in Maryland, I was fortunate enough to answer that question in many ways today as I celebrated Capital Pride with my queer peers. Five or so blocks along Pennsylvania Avenue were blocked off for a street festival where vendors sold pride gear and attendees could learn of a variety of ways to get involved in their communities through volunteer opportunities, or writing a letter to their Congressman asking for equal rights, just to name a few. The United States Capitol sat in the background of every picture I took, a constant reminder of how far we have come in our struggle for equality, and also of the work that is still left for us to do. I attended with my partner and three of our friends. Our small group was diverse in itself. My partner was using her wheelchair that day, two of our friends there were gay, and another friend was a lesbian who was visiting us from Tampa and wanted to celebrate DC Pride while she was here. Aside from our group, there was much diversity among the crowd. I always feel like the GLBT community is full of diversity, mainly because we know what it means to be discriminated against and are thus open minded and accepting of alternative ideas. This was only my third pride festival, so I am still learning about the subcultures of the GLBT community and the lingo that applies to them. The drag queens entertained us throughout most of the afternoon, and I particularly loved hearing the Gay Men’s Chorus sing songs from their current show “Gay to Z.” I had so much fun being involved in the life of my community that I forgot to stay hydrated and even had heat stroke! All in all it was a great day, and I can’t wait for next year.
So what have I done today to make me feel proud? I donated money to the Human Rights Campaign, pushed my partner around DC in a wheelchair so that she could participate in every festivity that she wanted, and signed up for a ton of mailing lists for local advocacy groups. But the most important thing I did, and the reason that makes me the most proud on this pride day, is that I was there. I simply showed up, and was counted as a member of my community. I think it was the most powerful thing any of us could do today – show up and join together in fighting for the causes that are so near and dear to our hearts.