Pride 2024 – Episode Two

Yes, I attended another Pride celebration over the weekend. It was fun.

I and a couple of friends traveled to a smallish town about an hour northeast of here to attend this celebration. It started off with a fairly tame parade, unlike the big city Pride of a couple of weeks earlier. There were a lot of young families at this celebration, which warms my heart. The parade participants were throwing out candy to the many children lining the route. Someone brought a (probable) Vietnamese Pot-bellied pig in a stroller, and walked in the parade. Like the candy, the pig was a big hit with the kids.

Also unlike the prior event, there was very little open kink present. As someone who is kink-friendly, I missed that presence. I understand though, as it’s probably a bit much for the small town mentality. The whole event was “wholesome”, or as much as Pride can ever be. It was a much smaller crowd, which made it easier for me with my autistic social anxiety.

But let’s be clear. It’s a small city, and it definitely had a “Christian” hate contingent present. The protest was small, and not particularly loud. They were across the street from the park where the event was being held. They stayed on the sidewalk with their hateful signs about Hell, and Sin, etc. The counter-protest group (yes there was one) didn’t confine themselves to the sidewalk. They took to the street with rainbow umbrellas, and large pink cloths. They largely blocked attendees view of the hate protest. I love my community.

Speaking of loving my community: Several children approached me (with parents present) to say nice things, or inquire about the tiny Blåhaj hanging from my purse. Well, technically, since it’s not from IKEA, it’s not really a Blåhaj. Still, it represents, and it’s a lot more carry friendly than the IKEA product. I even had one (apparently teenage) young woman stop me just to tell me how beautiful I was in the dress I wore on Saturday. Yes, I’ll include photos of me in the dress later. Chill.

We wandered around the booths, took in some great performances on the main stage, and just generally enjoyed being among our people. Food was more reasonably priced here than the prior event too. We were approached by folks collecting petition signatures for a couple of worthy causes. We were, however, not residents of their state, so didn’t sign.

After a bit over three hours at the event, we’d seen pretty much all we wanted to. The “big” events were still hours off, and we were getting a bit tired. So we decided to head home. We also agreed that this was a more pleasant, and for us at our age, less stressful event. We may very well do this one again next year.

“Wait,” you say, “what about those photos you promised?” Well I only took one selfie at the event, and it’s seated while waiting for the parade to commence, and really doesn’t include the dress. I also took one (full length) the night before while deciding what to wear. Sadly, it’s a bit out of focus. You can still get the general idea. It was my first time wearing said dress “out and about,” and I really liked how I looked.

So without further ado:

Tags: Actually Autistic, Pride 2024, trans, Trans Joy, Transgender