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Taking Pride in Boston

Beehive hairdo in Boston Pride parade

Aside from a brief and not very heavy spot of rain, it was a perfect day for the annual Pride parade from Copley Square to City Hall Plaza.

We stationed ourselves on Charles Street. By the time it was all over, the kidlet had built up quite the collection of beads.

One of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence:

Pride Sister

He's got wings!

Pride wings

There was dancing:

Pride square dancing

These tots were part of an impromptu pre-parade warmup: Before the parade started, their parents stood them in the middle of Charles Street to pose for photos - prompting applause from everybody else:

Pride tots

Politicians not on the ballot at the Democratic state convention in Worcester were out in force, including Elizabeth Warren, who took time to pose for photos with parade goers:

Pride Elizabeth Warren

Giddyap!

Pride Horsemen

Woof!

Pride dogs
Ad. More photos below.


Pride Jewish queers

Anybody know what this thing was?

Pride thing
Pride queer
Pride superheros
Pride dignity
Pride Frank N. Furter
Pride marching band
Pride purple
Pride motorized shoe

After the parade, we strolled towards the North End, pausing briefly near Park Street, where a Jesus guy was trying to convince a crowd of Pride people that God didn't create homosexuals and that "gay" doesn't mean "homosexual." He was not winning when we continued on our way.


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Comments

Did Charlie Baker march?

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No, but the Libertarian Party did. "We support your right to marry and your right to carry", said their banner.

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At least, I didn't see him come down Charles Street (and we stayed to the end - where a cop was shooing us off the little ledge by the garage entrance, where we were sitting, so the street sweepers could do their thing). Doug Bennett, on the other hand, was there.

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Oh, you mean this Doug Bennett! :

We all know that standing up for what is right and speaking out to defend others is the right thing to do, yet for many it is the most difficult. Not so for David J. Breen, Clinical Associate Professor of Law at Boston University, current Fenway Health Board Member, and former Board Member of the Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus. David was the only one in a packed house who chose to publicly confront Candidate for Boston City Council, District 3, Doug Bennett, for Bennett's multiple transphobic references at DotOUT's Candidate Forum at the Ledge in Dorchester last Monday night.

knowthyneighbor.org 9/1/11

Also from the same piece:

But what transpired between David Breen and District 3 Councilor Candidate Doug Bennett took for me center stage. Bennett, the only of the ten candidates to NOT fill out DotOUT's Candidate Questionnaire (which by the way included as its first question Support for Transgender Rights), began his Transphobic Demonstration by declaring his support verbally for "The Bathroom Bill." I kid you not. The room remained without reaction. No other candidate corrected or admonished him, nor did any of the room full of LGBT Dorchester voters or politicos such as Felix Orroyo, Suzanne Bump or Sonja Chang-Diaz. And at Bennett's first go around, neither did moderator and BayWindows Editor, Sue O'Connell.

Doug Bennett! Friend of the gay!

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He supported the bill you support but called it the wrong thing?

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Doug is clueless on pretty much everything. His positions on issues are frequently incomprehensible. So he supposedly supported the bill, but probably had no clue as to what the bill was really about, and used the buzzword of the opponents of the bill to describe his "support".

Since he is really a Republican posing as a Democrat, that shouldn't be a surprise.

Just look at his juvenile finger-painted signs. That's all you need to know about Dougie.

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These comments by Doug don't surprise me. He was making speeches to Teabagger rallies not too long ago. Now he claims to be a Democrat. He tried to shake my hand at the parade and I refused to extend my hand. He is a truly odious individual.
The more you know about Doug, the less likely you are to vote for him.

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Arturo Gossage was on Boylston Street.

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The two folks dancing were actually dancing a 2 Step. In addition there is gender free Contra Dancing. What is Contra? It is a folk dance where everyone lines up and proceeds to dance a series of steps which leads to another series up and down the line. The every other Saturday has live bands playing fun and exciting folk music that fits the dance.

The early part of the evening is easier for new dancers and the dances become progressively complex for more experienced dancers.

What to experience an old fashioned New England Saturday Night folk dancing extravaganza? Come to the Gender Free Contra at the U.U. Church in J.P. at the Monument. It's a low down, high energy stompin', clappin' hootin' and hollerin' evening of dancing.

And tonight's gonna be a sizzling hot!

Now, on a more serious note: Many folks may wonder what the h is Gay Pride about? In the late 70s and early 80s the daddy of Gay parades in New York City was the Christopher Street Day Liberation Parade which commemorated the 2 nights that homosexuals of various sorts said F you to the police, mafia and entire society of homo haters. It has morphed in to Pride because Pride is one word. But Pride also represents the rejection of shame that the homo hating world has always heaped upon Gay men and women.

So Happy Pride all!

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Thanks for the explanation!

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I watched the parade at the foot of Beacon Street, where it makes its final turn onto Tremont/Cambridge Street, before ending at City Hall Plaza. More surprising to me than anything in the parade itself, was the total absence of police; I could not spot a single uniformed officer anywhere in that area! Even when U.S. Senator Ed Markey came through (he was actually dancing in the street) there was no ominous security presence surrounding him.

The only time I saw any police was at the very end of the parade when a handful of motorcycle officers came through to clear people off the street so the squadron of Pelicans could do their cleanup job. In past years, there seemed to be policemen everywhere, watching the crowd and keeping people out of the parade's path. And of course last year, especially so!

I'm very grateful for all that the Boston and MBTA Police do to keep our city safe. These days, the large visible police presence that accompanies most public gatherings unfortunately serves as a reminder of sad things that have happened in the past. Maybe they were monitoring it all from behind the scenes, and/or maybe they were all in plainclothes (whatever "plainclothes" is for this event), but there was certainly no trouble at all during today's parade!

I sure it reflects much upon the nature of the Pride Parade itself, and the crowds who fill the streets to watch it; positive, welcoming, and supportive of everyone. It was a wonderful parade!

IMAGE(https://elmercatdotorg.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/flag.gif)
June 14th = Happy Flag Day too!!!

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Yes!! I loved that Ed Markey was dancing to the music from the folks in front of him. It was hilarious! Where was Elizabeth Warren? I don't remember seeing her.

Gee I wish I had known AdamG and a few others were going I would have walked over. I was at Berkeley and Chandler (i was going to the block party after)

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As in the Pride Committee was able to spend funds other than on police details if the new mayor didn't insist on them?

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The tots are so stinkin' cute!

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I have to say I was completely turned off by the instantaneous street sweeping. No sooner did the last float go by, than we were being shooed off the sidewalk. Is that typical for Boston? I've never seen that in any other city I've been to. And I love me some parades! But jeez. Give us at least a few minutes before you break out the heavy machinery, eh?

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yeah a lot of people were upset about that. Literally seconds after the last float went by the DPW was there cleaning everything up. Sheesh..

And no its not typical.. years past they've waited a little bit as people used to match with the of the parade to the common (or now Gov't Center)

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..protesting.

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As best as I can recall, when I went to Mardi Gras in New Orleans, street sweepers went out somewhere around 4-5 AM, except when Fat Tuesday became Ash Wednesday. It wasn't very long after midnight when they went out, then again, it had been a very long week. Yeah, they are as effective at clearing a street as horse mounted police. Agree that they shouldn't be deployed too soon after public events.

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Elizabeth Warren should have been with the Village People. Right at home with the other fake Indian.

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I think the depiction of a construction worker is offensive to some actual construction workers.

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For anyone scratching their head at this comment, this is Markkk making a joke.

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Fun fact for those with more brains than UHub's second-rate Ray Simpson:

Felipe Rose, the founding member and inspiration for the Village People, was not a fake Indian. His father was Lakota Sioux (his mother was a Puerto Rican dancer at the Copacabana). The elements of traditional dancing costume from his own heritage that he wore to discos (as well as the skills he developed in formal ballet training) inspired the recruitment of the rest of the band. He's raised millions of dollars for charity and is well-respected in Native circles.

But don't let reality stop your trolling, Fishy.

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