"Noho Pride 2008!!!"

This past Saturday was my 5th Northampton MA PRIDE and once again I had fun. I did miss 3 of my friends who were very sick and it was a little sad to not have them there. It's truly fun to share experiences with your friend but these 3 were not available today. C'est la vie! I guess.

There was an opening parade and I always march in it. I marched with the Trans Pride group and we got the crowd going really good a couple of times with our chant "Hey hey! Ho ho! Transphobia has got to go!" We chanted that over and over and it built up this incredible rythym and drove the crowd wild! People were cheering and smiling and dancing and it was awesome!!! I love to march in a PRIDE parade and get people wound up!!! It is sooo wonderful expressing yourself!!!! One of my sick friends later told me that we were on the local TV news and the local paper and they made note of our chant. Hee hee!! I was the one who started the chant! Call me a PRIDE motivator!!!

But the parade did end and I had to scurry back to be at my Trannie goup's table. After all, the crowd was looking to check all the vendors/participants out!

So I ran the UniTy site all by myself. Lots of peeps came by to scope out what freebies I had to give away. Since one of our benefactors is big on Aids prevention I was given two good sized bags of "One" condoms. The design on the condoms were pretty cool and there were several different designs. Plus the package itself was round, not square, and they were rather attractive. I received lots and lots of compliments on my "cute condoms". Hee hee!!! I was making jokes like "No, these are too pretty to open up. I'd rather go without sex then to tear these little pretty thingies open!" or I said "These are so pretty I'd hang them up on my wall!" Or "Maybe I should wear one as a button?" Hee hee! I am such a happy, playful child!
It was fun and I loved my colorful giveaways!!!

But there was one semi awkward moment. You see, there were two little girls, about 6 yrs old or so, who's eyes were caught by my table of colorful condoms. I watched them look through the colorful varieties and they were happy and smiling. I don't think they knew what they really were, they just liked the "pretty little circle thingies' that I had. One of the little girls looked at me with the cutest eyes and asked me "Can I have one of these?"...

Um, I was like "Yikes! She wants a condom! What do I do?" But she looked so sweetly and I always have trouble saying "No." to a child so I said "Okay." Her and her friend each took 2 each and they were happy with their little colorful, cirle treasures. I'm sure there was a lively discussion with their parents later on... Oh well!!!

I saw a lot of peeps I know and I saw hundreds of new faces who stopped to chat with me. I also passed out notices for an LGBT Prom for the High School kids. It's just like any other prom except this is designed for LGBT kids and their allies. Girls can go with girls and boys can go with boys and crossdressing is permitted. It's a really neat idea as it gives the young LGBT folk a chance to really enjoy a prom instead of trying to appear straight and feeling awkward. I will be a chaperone like I was last year. It's so cute to see the kid's smiling faces and the young Trannies are so cute in their gowns and tuxes! It's a wonderful idea and a lot of fun!

As PRIDE Day wore on and the weather was chilly it was time to retreat to a restaurant. In the restaurant was tables of Lesbians and Gays and we had our little Trannie table. Hee hee!!! Of course I engaged in conversations with the adjacent Lez tables and found there were friend connections bewtween our two tables. Then another Lez came up to me who recognized me from last summer when we were both at P town. I suppose that i am kind of an unforgettable type of person being 6'2" and being an MTF with a low voice and a smile and a spirit that just shines. Hee hee!!!!

So the NOHO PRIDE has come and gone and once again I had a blast attending, participating and being a part of this wonderful event. And the smiling faces, the laughter, the happiness that PRIDE brings justs fills my soul right up to the tippety top! I still smile when I think about it!