PRIDE
Submitted by sandi on Sun, 09/06/2009 - 19:38
Here it is September and for 2 months I have been wanting to write about my experience having participated in the San Diego Pride parade in July. Where does the time go?
The word pride means so much more to me lately than ever before.
There is Personal Pride – Do I look presentable? Can I carry on an intelligent conversation with others? Am I a good mom? I own my own home and like to keep in relatively clean and neat. I am an adequate cook; certainly not on the same level as my son, but I can hold my own against some folks. I have always been one to give 100% to the companies I have worked for and now I am giving everything I have to my own greeting card business. Did I do something worthwhile today? Do I treat others well? Can I look myself in the mirror and feel that I am an OK person?
There is Parental Pride – I love my son. He is very intelligent, accomplished, kind, generous, loving, responsible, fun, witty, and handsome. Did I have anything to do with all of that? He has been in a committed relationship with his husband for over 16 years; one year going together, 15 years as domestic partners and 1 year married on the 27th of this month! I don't know that I was much of a role model for him in the area of marriage, so I am especially proud that he has found a way to engage in a marriage that has lasted all this time and is still going strong. How did he ever find out how to do it? Maybe he can teach me.
There is Family or Ethnic Pride – I come from a family of Italian descent and am proud of it. I love my family, sister and brother-in-law, brother and sister-in-law, nephews, niece, great-nephew and great-nieces, aunts and uncles, cousins – you name it. I love our family traditions. I also have 2 sisters-in-law with their own gang of sons and daughters whom I also love and respect. Family has always been important to me and always will be.
There is National Pride – I am an American and proud of it. Do I think our country is perfect? No. We certainly have a lot of things we can do better. Our economy is suffering. We are in a war that we never should have engaged in and lives are being lost. We need to reach out and help our fellow American citizens in these tough times in areas of providing health care, sheltering the homeless, feeding the hungry, educating our children, helping people find employment and keeping their homes that they worked so hard to get in the first place. And we need to assure that all American citizens have equal civil rights – like the right to be legally married to the one you love.
But, that being said, it's still a great country and I wouldn't really want to live anywhere else. We have so much here. The abundance is staggering. Many of us who are working or at least have an income have the funds to go out to dinner in lovely places to the degree that we actually get BORED with what is there for us to choose from. Imagine that. Go to any third world country and see how bored they are with their choices. We throw away food, toys, electronics, furniture, clothes, cars, books, shoes – whatever we are bored with or just no longer want. We have that luxury. OK, many of us don't actually THROW that stuff away. Maybe we will donate it to a good cause. I hope so. But still, we are so fortunate to be living in these United States.
But after my experience in July, I now feel I better understand Gay Pride!
Never before have I experienced anything like what I felt as I marched with my fellow members of the San Diego PFLAG Chapter. This was the first time I actually participated in Gay Pride festivities. In the past I happened to be in San Francisco visiting my son and son-in-law during Pride weekend and had the opportunity to see the Lesbian Parade that took place in front if their apartment and to see the big parade on TV the next day. I found it interesting and enjoyable. But certainly had no idea how it would feel to be a part of it all.
First of all, it was HOT. I mean the weather was hot, hot, hot and really humid. This is not typical for San Diego (the humidity I mean). And yet, there were hundreds of people marching in that parade and having a great time doing it. Second, the joy and excitement was electric! So many people celebrating and partying. People got to dress any way they wanted, they got to dance in the streets and just BE themselves having fun. It was extraordinary. It was estimated that there were 160,000 people lining the streets to watch the parade. They cheered and clapped and waved.
Every time it was announced that the San Diego Chapter of PFLAG was passing by the crowd gave a huge cheer and shouted out things like “Thank you PFLAG!” and “We love you PFLAG”, “Yay PFLAG!”. It brought a lump to my throat and tears to my eyes. As a matter of fact I feel that way right now as I write this remembering that time. It just showed me how much the LGBT community appreciates that we are in their corner; that we support them and will stand up for them. I felt that I was among thousands of people who are so used to being rejected, hated, shunned, neglected, abused and discriminated against. And here we come - PFLAG – maybe 40 people among us marching in the parade and the LGBT folks are thrilled to see us. They are praising us and cheering for us. They know that most of us are straight moms and dads, friends and family members, some of us are gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender, but all of us are here for them, working toward understanding and educating the public. We support them. We love them. We are proud of our LGBT friends and family members.
I am very proud to be a member of PFLAG. I am proud of my son and son-in-law. I want to be proud of the state of California some day when they finally legalize same-sex marriage for good! I will be an even more proud American when more and more states see that marriage equality is a matter of civil rights and will legalize same-sex marriage. And any time I can help to make that happen, I will be proud of myself for being an agent of change in our society on a matter that is so sorely in need of change.
So, I create and sell gay friendly greeting cards. I want to offer cards that a mom would feel comfortable buying for her son & son-in-law or daughter & daughter-in-law. I want to offer cards to the LGBT community that are tasteful, subtle and elegant. I would love to see my cards in mainstream shops and card stores so that a grandmother could easily find a card for her gay or lesbian grandchild and just buy it without having to go through all kinds of hoops of fire just to FIND one. I see it as a small way of leveling the playing ground. Why should 10% of the American population be so discriminated against that you can't even get a simple greeting card to send them?
The word pride means so much more to me lately than ever before.
There is Personal Pride – Do I look presentable? Can I carry on an intelligent conversation with others? Am I a good mom? I own my own home and like to keep in relatively clean and neat. I am an adequate cook; certainly not on the same level as my son, but I can hold my own against some folks. I have always been one to give 100% to the companies I have worked for and now I am giving everything I have to my own greeting card business. Did I do something worthwhile today? Do I treat others well? Can I look myself in the mirror and feel that I am an OK person?
There is Parental Pride – I love my son. He is very intelligent, accomplished, kind, generous, loving, responsible, fun, witty, and handsome. Did I have anything to do with all of that? He has been in a committed relationship with his husband for over 16 years; one year going together, 15 years as domestic partners and 1 year married on the 27th of this month! I don't know that I was much of a role model for him in the area of marriage, so I am especially proud that he has found a way to engage in a marriage that has lasted all this time and is still going strong. How did he ever find out how to do it? Maybe he can teach me.
There is Family or Ethnic Pride – I come from a family of Italian descent and am proud of it. I love my family, sister and brother-in-law, brother and sister-in-law, nephews, niece, great-nephew and great-nieces, aunts and uncles, cousins – you name it. I love our family traditions. I also have 2 sisters-in-law with their own gang of sons and daughters whom I also love and respect. Family has always been important to me and always will be.
There is National Pride – I am an American and proud of it. Do I think our country is perfect? No. We certainly have a lot of things we can do better. Our economy is suffering. We are in a war that we never should have engaged in and lives are being lost. We need to reach out and help our fellow American citizens in these tough times in areas of providing health care, sheltering the homeless, feeding the hungry, educating our children, helping people find employment and keeping their homes that they worked so hard to get in the first place. And we need to assure that all American citizens have equal civil rights – like the right to be legally married to the one you love.
But, that being said, it's still a great country and I wouldn't really want to live anywhere else. We have so much here. The abundance is staggering. Many of us who are working or at least have an income have the funds to go out to dinner in lovely places to the degree that we actually get BORED with what is there for us to choose from. Imagine that. Go to any third world country and see how bored they are with their choices. We throw away food, toys, electronics, furniture, clothes, cars, books, shoes – whatever we are bored with or just no longer want. We have that luxury. OK, many of us don't actually THROW that stuff away. Maybe we will donate it to a good cause. I hope so. But still, we are so fortunate to be living in these United States.
But after my experience in July, I now feel I better understand Gay Pride!
Never before have I experienced anything like what I felt as I marched with my fellow members of the San Diego PFLAG Chapter. This was the first time I actually participated in Gay Pride festivities. In the past I happened to be in San Francisco visiting my son and son-in-law during Pride weekend and had the opportunity to see the Lesbian Parade that took place in front if their apartment and to see the big parade on TV the next day. I found it interesting and enjoyable. But certainly had no idea how it would feel to be a part of it all.
First of all, it was HOT. I mean the weather was hot, hot, hot and really humid. This is not typical for San Diego (the humidity I mean). And yet, there were hundreds of people marching in that parade and having a great time doing it. Second, the joy and excitement was electric! So many people celebrating and partying. People got to dress any way they wanted, they got to dance in the streets and just BE themselves having fun. It was extraordinary. It was estimated that there were 160,000 people lining the streets to watch the parade. They cheered and clapped and waved.
Every time it was announced that the San Diego Chapter of PFLAG was passing by the crowd gave a huge cheer and shouted out things like “Thank you PFLAG!” and “We love you PFLAG”, “Yay PFLAG!”. It brought a lump to my throat and tears to my eyes. As a matter of fact I feel that way right now as I write this remembering that time. It just showed me how much the LGBT community appreciates that we are in their corner; that we support them and will stand up for them. I felt that I was among thousands of people who are so used to being rejected, hated, shunned, neglected, abused and discriminated against. And here we come - PFLAG – maybe 40 people among us marching in the parade and the LGBT folks are thrilled to see us. They are praising us and cheering for us. They know that most of us are straight moms and dads, friends and family members, some of us are gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender, but all of us are here for them, working toward understanding and educating the public. We support them. We love them. We are proud of our LGBT friends and family members.
I am very proud to be a member of PFLAG. I am proud of my son and son-in-law. I want to be proud of the state of California some day when they finally legalize same-sex marriage for good! I will be an even more proud American when more and more states see that marriage equality is a matter of civil rights and will legalize same-sex marriage. And any time I can help to make that happen, I will be proud of myself for being an agent of change in our society on a matter that is so sorely in need of change.
So, I create and sell gay friendly greeting cards. I want to offer cards that a mom would feel comfortable buying for her son & son-in-law or daughter & daughter-in-law. I want to offer cards to the LGBT community that are tasteful, subtle and elegant. I would love to see my cards in mainstream shops and card stores so that a grandmother could easily find a card for her gay or lesbian grandchild and just buy it without having to go through all kinds of hoops of fire just to FIND one. I see it as a small way of leveling the playing ground. Why should 10% of the American population be so discriminated against that you can't even get a simple greeting card to send them?
