Motorcycles and Pride Flags are only the beginning.

“Inside every gay man is a stronger man capable of the unimaginable”

With Pride month beginning in just a few days, it is usually a time for some of us to remind ourselves of what’s important, what we’re proud of. For many people, Pride is Thanksgiving for the gays and lesbians; it’s a time to pay homage to those kids of Stonewall Inn for fronting their courage and strength. I have two words for those solders: Thank You! Who knows where the LGBT community would be standing today if the Stonewall Riots or the Mattachine Society or the Daughters of Blitis never happened. Would we be in the same boots as Uganda is right now or would we be just the same as we are now? There are no “what if” questions in my philosophy in life, only facts of what has happened in the past and an imagination of what is yet to come. Come on, I’m an artist!

Last year I moved to Seattle just in time for the Pride Parade and the Pride festivities at Seattle Center. I’ve “been there” and “done that” and granted the rumble and rage that “Dykes on Bikes” delivers at the Parade, this year is somehow shaping up to create a different pattern in my experience for the month of Pride. Throughout the years of Prides, we’ve come to be taken by the glorious Pride flags flying around: traditional pride, leather pride, and bear pride. There is also all sorts of memorabilia from Pride that hoards our homes throughout the year and this month I decided to do some spring cleaning. Why? I don’t need those materialistic items to show the people around me that I’m proud of who I am. It’s in my blood, my heart and my soul.

For Pride 2011 - Juju will be gracing our lives, once again.

So! This should really be about growth from all the major steps we’ve taken throughout the year as a community.

We’re used to saying, “In the words of Gloria Gaynor, or Madonna, or Cher”. I have a new sentiment:

“In the words of Lady Gaga, JUST DANCE!”

Tags: B.Michael Peterson, Pride 2011