Nothing says "Gay Pride" like Turkey Legs

AOL's CityGuide says this of Denver's PrideFest: "A grand show of unity and unabashed celebration, Denver's annual PrideFest parade and festival ranks among the nation's top 10 largest gatherings of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people."

It gets so tiresome hearing psuedo-Christian assholes telling us about how th' homos are evil and how allowing equal marriage rights would "destroy the institution of marriage" and all that bullshit...so it's nice to go wander around PrideFest and see all the drag queens and Dykes on Bikes - and, of course, just ordinary, average folks not terribly different at all from you or me out on a summer afternoon in T-shirts and sandals - being who they are and having fun.

And that's where I think the gay community really has it all over the anti-gay-rights crowd. They're so much more fun! The homophobes of the world are so angry all the time, they yell so much, they're so gloom-and-doom. The gay community has plenty of reason to be pissed and dour, too - being told by a small but inordinately loud portion of the population that they're inherently evil and sinful, being at the center of a bafflingly huge socio-political controversy becasue they want to have the same rights as straight people. It's gotta be a downer, and I imagine that a lot of gay people do spend some amount of time being angry and depressed. But PrideFest isn't angry, it isn't all shouting and vitriol. It's fun. It's a gathering of people who have every right and every reason to be angry and it's a perfect opportunity for them to vent their rage. But they don't. PrideFest is about exactly what its name says: pride. And you can't have pride without joy, right? Well, you can't if you're any good at it, anyway. There's music and dancing and overpriced beer and mirth and laughter and, of course, grilled turkey legs. God forbid there should ever be a public event or festival in this country where you can't get a grilled turkey leg for nine tickets, because then there'll be hell to pay.

In the end, I think those of us who support equal rights will ultimately win. First and foremost because, goddammit, we're right, just like the people who fought for women's suffrage were right, and the people who fought against segregation and Jim Crow laws were right. Call me a starry-eyed optimist if you must, but I really do believe that the power of being right about something is overwhelming and will always win in this country, given enough blood, sweat, tears and toil. But beyond that, there's a fundamental difference between the people who are at the heart of of this issue, and it's this: the Fors have more life, spirit and joie-de-vivre than the Againsts with their dour "God Hates Fags" doomsaying can possibly imagine.


Mmm...turkey leg...