savage25 | Pride Month...

bearpawly made a post asking about Pride month. It brought back feelings of before I knew what Pride month was... and before I was "proud"...

I used to think, "I'm never going to be one of those flag-waving gay men in a parade or anything. I'm just going to keep to myself and be a nice, quiet gay-guy." In fact, when I first came out to people, I would often say specifically, "I'm not a flag-waving gay or anything." I was ashamed of who I was... even though I was strong enough to come out to friends and family, I still wasn't strong enough to stand against the world.

Then I walked in the New York City Pride Parade in 2001 with a group from work... 5-miles of cheering spectators and gay pride everywhere. Literally millions of onlookers. I kissed my boyfriend-at-the-time in the middle of 5th Ave in front of the Empire State Building. It was electric... something inside of me changed at that moment... I had kissed a man (full-on-lip-lock) in front of a couple thousand strangers... and it felt good... it felt empowering.

The parade changed my outlook on things a little... Made me proud that I'm an individual and shouldn't be ashamed of my feelings and attractions. And it made me happy to realize that I'm not alone.

To me, Pride month is about camaraderie and letting others know that we are just normal people -- friends and neighbors. It's not about waving a flag in someone's face... it's about waving a flag with millions of other people and feeling a part of something.