40th Atlanta Pride Festival

Today I went to the gay pride festival with my roommate Cheri-chan (who walked with the Atlanta Lolita chapter), and tried out my interviewing chops on some of the participants. Events like this are terrific, because I get introduced to dozens of organizations all at once, and they're only too happy to offer up information about themselves.

The Oakhurst Baptist Church group of Decater boasted that they'd been kicked out of the GA Baptist convention for refusing to get rid of their gay Assistant Pastor. "And we're proud of that," they added. "God loves and welcomes us all." They were only one of several religious groups to show their support. In fact, there were seemed to be more religious groups supporting the parade than there were religious groups protesting.

Angel Action developed to protest messages of hate against gays, such as those who choose to protest at funerals. Wearing large cloth wings, the Angels stood blocking the sight of the anti-gay protesters at the trial for the murder of Mathew Shephard, victim of hate crime. "This parade is very much about celebration, but we want to send a message of solemnity." True to form, when they encountered hate groups along the parade route, they took up position and blocked them from view with their massive wings.

On a lighter note, I met the charming Sister Monica Muffdiver, or "Muffie", of the dramatically decorative Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. Their float was very sparkly.

And of course the Lolis were out in force. Most of them chose deco-loli (an excessively sugary style) to show their support, although Cheri-chan of course went her own direction. They took great pleasure in flashing their petticoats at the protesters. I'll post more about the Lolita group int the area some other time, after I attend one of their meetups.

Some of the participants I haven't provided pictures of included : faeries with huge butterfly wings, Delta's "plane cars", a guy riding a fake donkey while riding a segway, a Lady Gaga impersonator, a Charlie Brown float, the Dikes on Bikes, and a gardening club with little toy mowers.

I think what I found most surprising was the sheer number of companies that were not only willing to openly support the cause, but even brought their own floats. Not just small businesses either; Delta, Chipotle, and Macy's made appearances. You would never have seen that 10 years ago. Relish Hair Salon, however (their float shown above), is openly gay owned. They claim that, if anything, this has actually increased their profits, rather than being a detriment.

While watching the parade, I stood next to a woman whose little boy was gleefully scooping up the candy being tossed to the crowds. But she had to snatch one particularly flat and round packet away from him. "It's not candy," she explained. Then she had to make up a "wearing a helmet to ride a bike" analogy to answer his further questions.