Every year for the past decade when the Pride Parade rolls around, I want to go, but then I think, "Since I'm not personally proud to BE gay, I'd only be going just to gawk at the fabulous gays, and that's not kind."
Then I saw that TeddyJ as a company was marching in the parade, Gary read that more straight people march in the Pride Parade than gays now, and when I found out Planed Parenthood had a contingent (being a gay parent probably does take a lot of planning), I decided that the Pride Parade had been commercialized by straights and that I should go before it became completely appropriated. When we got there we realized that ship had sailed.
Then it became a quest to find anyone gay and fabulous. We were there an hour early, so we wandered past the Gay Purina Pet Food float and the Gay Local Electric Company float and finally got off the main drag, to a side street where (possbily) Gay Fredbird was waiting to march, and then finally we rounded a corner to the staging area for the Balloon Brigade.
There are people inside those balloon wads! Non-corporate dancing gay people! It takes them a solid day to blow up all those balloons. We had a nice conversation with one man who confirmed our fears that we'd missed the real Pride Parade. He told us about the time and money they personally invest and then pointed out FedEx's devotion to the cause was taping a tatty sparkled banner to the bottom of a van minutes earlier. I felt bad, because all I did was wear a colorful shirt. Lame.
I also felt bad because the parade reminded me that on April 1st I made an April Fools' joke and I had still not gotten my payoff.
On April 1st we were discussing on Facebook that the creator of the Rainbow Pride flag had died. I commented, "I thought Mr. Roy G. Biv created the rainbow flag," and I bet some of you just remembered that ROY G BIV is the acronym you use to remember the order of he colors in the spectrum, and perhaps you laughed.
Friend #2 (Hot Mom) did not remember, and did not laugh, and suggested that maybe Roy ripped off the rainbow flag creator instead.
I countered by suggesting that anyone unfamilar with.Roy G. Biv's work should go visit Wikipedia right now, because I didn't want to end what was turning out to be an April Fools' joke with "HAHAHAHA STUPID." That's no fun.
But Hot Mom didn't go to Wikipedia. April Fool's came and went. However, Friend #3 got the joke, and added the next Monday that she was familar with both Roy and the work of his cousin, rapper Bell Biv DeVoe.
Unbeknownst to me, that Monday Hot Mom heard our snickering and finally went to Wikipedia, remembered that she was familar with Roy G. Biv, but said nothing. Instead she made me wait until I asked about it two months later after the Pride Parade. She'd better watch out next April Fools'.
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