| Palm Springs for Gay Men: Gay Pride 2005 |
As scheduling has it, sometimes the election comes before our Gay Pride, and sometimes after. We will never know why, but they say that the calendar has something to do with it. And they are probably right, because they also say that falling in love is wonderful, and that is totally correct.
| Updated 11/8/05 |
If our Gay Pride comes before the election, then the Parade is sure to be packed with candidates, and this year the Palm Springs City Council was on the ballot. Most candidates sat in their convertibles and smiled and looked as if all this were more fun than writing memos and listening to opposing views. But two of them surrounded themselves with troupes carrying balloons and posters, and they genuinely seemed to like it all. Those candidates were John Williams and Ginny Foat, both in our camp. (At this writing the election has not ended, so we don't know how they did, but we voted for the balloons and posters, of course, as our thanks for spicing up our Parade.)
Will there be politics next year in the Gay Parade? Only the calendar knows for sure, and it ain't talking.
The weather always plays a role in our Gay Celebration festivities, and just like last year, this Saturday was glorious and warm and wonderful, and the Sunday was a bit iffy. However, last year it was much iffier than now. It was overcast most of the time, but the sun came out now and then, and it was decently warm all day. So we saw tons of barechested men this year. Which is reflected in the Festival pictures. However, we certainly felt that there was much fewer bare chests in the Parade - but maybe we are just dreaming. Anyone who counts chests and can give us a correct comparison?
Are we the only ones who felt that the parade was quite tame compared to earlier years? We have been accustomed to the roar of motorcycles (dykes on bikes), earshattering music from the floats with wildly dancing boys and girls, and live bands interspersed with the cars and floats. Is it the shadow of Bush and his lack of joie de vivre that is mirrored in how we behave in our small way? The Parade did all the right things, but it did not celebrate as much as report. Thinking of it, maybe there is not that much to celebrate these days. Let's do something about that!
As always, we present our pictures to you in two parts: first the Parade and then the Festival. We don't try to tell you what is what, partly due to the fact that the paraders were identified so discreetly. So we just show them in the order they appeared. Everything floated quite smoothly, no empty stretches and few tie-ups = well directed. Only one "incident" was observed by us: right where we had our camera post, a barebunned leatherman was summarily wiped out of the Parade by a horde of bored cops from the group of Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence where he was marching - the Sisters hollered and some followed the poor culprit to his crucifixion. The crime of bare buns, created by Sonny Bono, our mayor of yore. Anyone remember him?
The pictures from the Festival are not arranged completely willy nilly - they are posted in time-sequence, just as is the Parade. All pictures were taken on Sunday. Look for yourself - if you were there, chances are that you will appear here for eternity.
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THE PROUD PARADE
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THE PROUD FESTIVAL
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