It is Monday after Pride and I’m exhausted! I must say this was the best pride ever for me. It started on June 19th with the incredible show “Fresh meat productions”. Fresh Meat productions is a collection of performances by gay/lesbian/trans/queer artists. Sean Doherty is incredible! He is one of my favorite performers. His choreography and story telling is something that should be experienced and enjoyed by all.
www.freshmeatproductions.org
No pride month would be complete without the Frameline film festival. It is wonderful to see that queer film making is getting better and better…not just in the US, but all over the world. “A new world” was a great film from France about a lesbian couple having a baby. “Dolls” was a brilliant Czech film about coming of age and friendship. My favorite documentary, sponsored by HBO, was “When I knew” …a collection of short clips of people describing the moment in their life that they knew they were queer.
www.frameline.org
On to Dyke march on Saturday…
K and i put on our matching outfits consisting of tank tops with “love conquers all”, black and red, matching belts and with great excitement took off on the motorcycle to the Eagle. The Eagle is a “leather” bar where Dykes on Bikes (now a registered trademark!) hold their Pride event. The day was filled with great music, food, and community. This year was especially festive since Dykes on Bikes won their 4 year battle for trademark registration. Brooke Oliver, the attorney for Dykes on bikes, was presented with a special honor ….GREAT JOB!!!
Brooke Oliver at the Eagle
Brooke Oliver wears the registration symbol on her jacket
After the eagle, we head over to Dolores park for Dyke march 2008!
I have never seen so many people at Dyke march. The park was completely filled with women..it was an incredible sight. We tried to walk around, but there were so many people it was hard to move. We met up with K2 and tried to find the “Russian lesbians”…we called each other a few times, but with so many people we had no luck spotting each other. We did spot a few adorable bitches….cause you know…Dykes got dogs!
you know the vegetarian Dykes must have hated this outfit, but I loved it!
adorable Boston Butch terrier in leather vest and pink skirt…
she was humping a Pug…she’s certainly a Top!
It was getting close to 7pm and K and I headed over to the motorcycle area. This is one of my favorite parts of Dyke march. All the motorcycles line up on 18th Street and wait for the March to start. While waiting, people talk and laugh and check out the bikes. There is a slew of photographers both pro and amateur. You can feel the excitement build. I get emotional looking at all the women around me. You truly see a rainbow…a rainbow of colors, shapes and sizes!
cool, calm, and relaxed before the ride.
And then you hear “Ladies start your engines!!!” and the roar of the crowd. The ground starts to shake from the motorcycles and the air is filled with jubilation.
We ride up to Market street and into the Castro where the party begins. We park the bike and decide to have some food at Barracuda. Yummy sushi!
We spend the rest of the night dancing in the streets with what seemed like a million people! I have never seen the Castro so packed on Pink Saturday. As we walk around the street we can’t help but see the enourmous rainbow flag and the Pink triangle covering the hill. We even ran into the Russians…in such a crowd…who would have thought?
dancing in the Castro
K always called the Pink triangle “the pink vagina”, but today I learned the real meaning of the Pink triangle. During the war, the Nazis would use pink triangles to identify gay/lesbian prisoners in concentration camps….just like they used gold stars to identify Jews.
Sunday June 29th…The Parade!
For the first time we woke up early for the parade. Each year we race cross town to make it on time to line up for Dykes on bikes. This year I set the alarm and we were up bright and early…well…just early. It was a cold and foggy morning in San Francisco. I was feeling such a wave of excitement. We were on our way.
There is something to getting there early. It gave us a chance to walk around, check out the GORGEOUS bikes and to socialize.
As always, the roar of the bikes and the crowd brings up so much emotion and tears to my eyes. It is such an indescribable feeling of solidarity and community….sisterhood….pride.
As I sit on the back of the bike, we ride along Market street. I wave the Victory sign with my fingers for as long as I can..until my arm feels numb. And then I wave some more. We roll up to Civic Center to enjoy the festivities. The ride gave me such a sense of euphoria!
Of course the morning was cold and foggy and I skipped the sun screen. We walk around Civic Center checking out the booths, food and “Leather alley”. We go to the Smirnoff stand to get me a Cosmo. The handsome gent is commenting about the sun finally coming out. I respond “Even the sun has come OUT today”…we all laugh.
K and I go to the main stage because according to the schedule Charo the Coochie Coochie Coo is supposed to show up…followed by Cyndi Lauper and Margaret Cho. Now I remind you…I have no sun screen on and we’re waiting for Charo. Waiting and waiting and waiting. My fair forehead is starting to sizzle, No Charo! Everyone in the crowd is grumbling. WTF?
In the mean time our hunk of a mayor, Gavin Newsom, gives a little speech…followed by Margaret Cho…
We love you Gavin!!!!!!
Margaret Cho on stage at Pride 2008…you got skinny girl!!!
As far as Charo, no show…#%@& you!
Cyndi Lauper rode in the Parade without ever cracking a smile. She looked like she was hung over and desperately bitter. She never showed up to the main stage. That girl was NOT having fun.
As far as the rest of the day went…we decided to go to Leather Alley and watch a few demos on BDSM. The schedule stated the following demos : bondage, fisting, piercing, and caning…what a lovely way to spend Sunday afternoon. And to think some people were still in Church. To our dismay the “fisting model did not show up” and we were too exhausted and sun burned to stay for the next show.
In all…it was a fabulous Pride in San Francisco.
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