Gay Pride Parade

During the long weekend the first week of August is the Vancouver Gay Pride Parade. This year there was an estimated attendance of 180,000 souls. I love going to this parade for many reasons.
First it's the only parade in Vancouver where this many people go. There is a Remembrance Day parade to which I've never gone, and a new Christmas parade that happens sometime in November when it's cold, rainy and miserable and all the "Surrey" people show up. And it isn't that good anyway.
Second, I like that it is a family affair. There are kids, couples, singles, groups of friends, old people, etc.
Third, some of the floats and customs are very creative and fun; though must of the floats are very basic and you can tell not much money went into the and I find that cute.
It's hot, and eventhough the sun was very, very hot, it's nice to be out on the streets, dancing, singing, clapping, laughing and trying to collect the endless amounts of give away junk.

There are dozens of organiztions that participate, from govenrment bodies to banks, clubs, bars, gyms, public services like Firemen, First Aid, teachers, parents, native groups, churches of all denominations and all sorts of organizations and associations.

That is something I love about this city, something that makes me proud. I like to live in a city where there is acceptance for people of all walks of life, it's a city of Intersections. It always moves me when the Associations of Parents and Grandparents of Gay and Lesbians walk down with their children (yound and old) ; when different churches are open about ending prejudice about homosexuality; when the bankers, or Starbucks employees, or teachers or firemen, old and young, canadians/mexicans/brasilians/koreans/indians/or any ethnic gorup you can think of, can walk proudly without having to mask who they are. Some people say: but so what, if they are gay/lesbian who cares....in a way that is true. Personally, I don't care one bit about sexual preference, I care about the quality of the human being in question. But, it is a fact that homosexuals are marginalized, critiziced, demonized in Vancouver, in Canada and the rest of the world. I really don't understand the "fear", in my opinion is just judgment that comes from ignorance.

Knowledge breeds tolerance, and tolerance spawns good will, so when I see hundreds of thousands of people celebrating the differences amongst us, in peace, in fun, in an effort to foster good human relations I think it's fantastic. Bea and I were talking about all the children that were there, we were saying, these children will grow up without prejudice about homosexuality, thus they will be more open minded, more tolerant, more peaceful... we think, we hope.

So, I leave you with some photos of the flamboyancy and crazyness of this parade. Looking forward the next one.