Pride!

Today was the SF Gay Pride Parade and it was definitely like nothing I’ve ever seen before in St. Louis.  The most prevalent things I saw were: 1. Shirtless men, 2. Drag queens, 3. Men wearing briefs or hot pants, and 4. Topless women.  Despite the nudity, I had an absolute blast and thought everything was hilarious.  My friends and I really didn’t fit in with the crowd today, though, as we were all wearing our normal attire and everyone else was wearing tutus, feather boas, rainbows, or glitter, all with as little clothing as possible.  Here are some pictures from the fun day!

The busiest I’ve ever seen the BART station

Crazy crowded downtown near the Civic Center

A collection of Drag Queens:

A collection of shirtless men:

My favorite- the men of the “Miler Lite Bare Chest Calendar”

A collection of clever signs/shirts:

Lady Parts Automotive Servies!

Self explanatory

We’re Here, We’re Queer, We’re Buddha

Once again, the picture says it all

Whole Foods employee tees: “Ohh Baby, we like it RAW.  Wanna taste?”

Gay Astronaut Association sign: “Next Mission: Uranus”

Hey look, it’s Nick Verreos from Project Runway Season 2!

The festivities continued after the parade

All in all, today was so fun, but it made me think.  I wish the LGBT community could have the same rights as everyone else in America and were accepted in more parts of the country.  I understand why so many gays and lesbians live in San Francisco now; they’re not viewed as outcasts and everyone seems so supportive of them.  I wish that St. Louis and other areas were more welcoming to the LGBT community.  Today was so eye-opening and I saw first hand how fun, free-spirited, confident, friendly, and loving gays and lesbians really are.  I mean, everyone there had at least their midriff showing!  I would be way too nervous to walk around in some of the outfits I saw today.  And I saw so many loving gay and lesbians couples; a lot of them together for decades and with children of their own, which I think is so amazing.  It was so cool to see companies like Google, Bank of America, and Whole Foods, celebrities, and politicians come out to support Pride.  I really hope that some day everyone will have equal rights, including the right to marry.  I support equal rights for LGBT and I can only hope that those reading do, too!