After spending the past couple of hours doing yard work
in 90 degree temperatures, I started thinking about outdoor LGBT pride
festivals/parades. Lexington’s Pride
Festival is next weekend, and I think it’s about time we gays got together to
rethink this whole hot mess.
I’m a huge proponent of Pride demonstrations. Although attitudes are changing, there is
still a great deal of fear, hate, and stigma towards my people. I fully support large gatherings of
gays. But do we really have to do it outdoors
during the summer time? I know, I
know. June is Pride month, because at
the end of June back in 1969, gays finally started fighting back during the
Stonewall riots. I respect and revere
our history. But back in 1969, the
average person wasn’t acclimated to a controlled climate. In 1960, only 12% of homes had air
conditioning. It was hot inside, and it
was hot inside – so no big deal. It’s really hard for me to feel proud about who I am when
I’m sweating buckets. I feel like Mother
Nature is committing the ultimate hate crime every time I venture out for
Pride. Do you know how quickly a lesbian
can have a flannel-induced heat stroke?
 |
| Too hot to feel proud |
Here’s my proposal:
Let’s move Pride festivities to October, sometime on our around National
Coming Out Day. After all, October is LGBT
History Month. And, more importantly,
the average high temperature in October in Lexington is a flannel-friendly 68 degrees (compared to a lesbian-liquefying high of 83 degrees in June).
Let’s vote on this at our next group meeting, please.
