Before the Event

Since I missed the big Pride event last year, I vowed that I would attend this year.

Then, the current governor of Florida decided to make some changes. Changes that included criminalizing drag, and banning LGBT+ discussions in classrooms. No one is completely sure what the extent of these actions will be, but that’s what tends to happen when you aren’t clear with your wording in the bill. For the drag thing, it’s allegedly about keeping kids from seeing sexually explicit material, which is valid. But, there’s a difference between taking your 10-year-old son to a Hooters, and a modestly dressed drag queen reading kids a story at a public library. Guess which one of those things is frowned upon?

Shit, when the biggest LGBT+ organization in the country issues a travel advisory for your state, maybe you should reconsider some things.

But, I digress.

The point is, the recent changes made to the state legislature made me nervous about attending. I was expecting to be yelled at for the shirt I was wearing while I was gassing up my car.

I was expecting protestors saying the festival-goers were going to hell or were groomers.

Part of me was very worried that someone was going to start shooting.

At the Festival

When my friends and I got to the festival, we saw that a long stretch of road was blocked off. There were booths and restaurants all along the sides of the street, and the center was blocked off to make way for the parade. We went along the sides of the street, and got plenty of goodies from vendors and organizations.

I have way the fuck too many little rainbow flags and tote bags now.

Music was blasting from the bars and stages. There was dancing and booze and banana hammocks everywhere! Allegedly, a couple got caught fucking in a porta-potty. (Why there?!) And, of course, there were drag queens.

Later on was the parade. We managed to get a spot relatively close to where the start was. Unfortunately, it wasn’t covered by a tent. And since it was raining on and off the whole day (and my big umbrella broke a few minutes before it started), we got soaked. Still, we saw everyone rainbowed the fuck out and making their way down the street. The police, the fire department, the local bears club, the local chapter of the 501st Legion of Stormtroopers…

It was definitely interesting to see. I would have to say the worst part of the day was wading through the crowd of people trying to get back to the parking lot. One of our friends started to have a panic attack, and someone in the group next to us was fainting. Crowd crush conditions were forming, a 10-minute walk ended up taking 30, and we were about to throw hands. But, considering what other bad things happen at large events, it wasn’t the worst that could have happened.

Ultimately, I had fun. Not only was that my first pride anything, that was the first time I had actually gone to that part of town. I discovered some cool places to check out later, which is always a bonus. I’ll definitely attend next year, weather and law-changes permitting.