NYC Pride

"In New York. Concrete jungle where dreams are made of. There's nothing you can't do, now you're in New York. These streets will make you fell brand new, the lights will inspire you. Let's hear it for New York, New York, New York!"

After a 5 hour bus ride, Jeff and I arrived in the big city! The Executive Director of Log Cabin was also in the city for a conference so once off the bus, Jeff and I met him for cocktails. We hauled our luggage from the bus stop 20 blocks to a great little gay bar to hydrate ourselves. Luckily this was at 5:30, Happy Hour!

We checked into our hotel shortly after. It was down in the business district and next to Ground Zero. The tragedy is still under construction but we were able to see from high above on the 36th floor down into the zone. That evening we headed to Lucky Chang's, a famous and quite crazy drag dinner show. I had been there before during another weekend in New York with my friend May. It is an eye popping show, with never a dry moment and anything can happen and does! Monica, a friend from home, is interning in New York outside of the city and joined us for the weekend, we met up at dinner. We then had an entertaining rest of the evening and it's true, New York is the city that never sleeps!

The next day we got up and walked around Times Square, Central Park, and 5th Ave. We met up with Molly a friend and now KU alumna, she recently moved to New York to work. She took us for cocktails and then we headed to Mamma Mia, the Broadway Musical. It was a great show and it was great to see a show that was we already knew the music to, thanks to Meryl Streep! After the musical, we went out to an eventful evening in the gay West Village. You think you have seen it all, then you go to New York!

Sunday was our last day in NYC and the parade was in the afternoon, so we headed over early to ensure great standing area. The streets filled quickly as attendees lined the New York sidewalks. The parade was led by Mayor Bloomberg (only after we left, did I figure out there was an open invitation to walk with him from the New York Log Cabin chapter! Thank goodness that these opportunities aren't stopping) After the Mayor marched, the three Grand Marshalls led the parade; the mother of Matthew Shepard, the gay teen that was brutally murdered, the lesbian teenager from Mississippi that was disallowed from Prom because she insisted to bring her girl friend, and the famous soldier, Dan Choi, that was discharged because of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. The parade had politics, supporting members of the churches and communities, bars, and simply proud GLBT peoples. It was a long and crazy parade that will I will remember for lifetime. The crowds were insane and so many people were in attendance, with many allies present. We even met up with another friend from KU that transfered to a cooking school in NY. After the parade, Monica headed back to her area of the state and Jeff and I caught the bus back to DC.

I am so thankful that I am out and not living a lie. I have pride in who I am and what I believe in. There were several religions present and numerous politicians from both sides. Diversity was definitely visable and it enriched the atmosphere. The GLBT community is a diverse one with many types of people and many different ideas and opinions. I am fortunate that I am comfortable about who I am and have many supporters in life. I want to work continuously to ensure that everyone can be prideful and have others accept them in our country without discriminating against anyone. Thank you to Jeff and Monica for a great weekend of pride!

Lesson Learned: Bus trips are long and hot with a rank odor, but like anything in life, if you have a fabulous friend next to you it's pretty hard to complain!