Stand Up, Stand Out, Stand Proud
by
Cheri Rosenberg
On June 27,
2004, I attended the 35th Annual Gay Pride Parade in New York City on
an exceptionally beautiful, sunny day. I was among 1.5 million
spectators attending the parade, enjoying a colorful,
entertaining, politically charged, extravaganza of solidarity for the
whole community. Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transgenders, and
Straights, all joined together to show support for equal rights—human
rights—for all. There were a few religious fanatics with their signs of
protest against homosexuality, but they were inconsequential, and
surprisingly, kept a low profile. Few people paid attention to them. In
my humble opinion, it is better to disregard ignorance than to stoop to
its level. Education the key to acceptance.
Organizations,
businesses, and ordinary people did an outstanding job of putting on a
parade that included most of the issues LGBT’s face. Everything from
same-sex marriage, gay parenting, AIDS funding and research,
politicians for gay rights, celebrities such as Harvey Fierstein and
Carson Kressley, endorsers including Altoids, Stonewall Bar and Bistro,
SAGE, PFLAG, GMHC, NYPD---so many were represented. It was no surprise
that same-sex marriage was the topic of the day.
I was
caught up in the excitement and festivities. It was essential that I
attend this year’s parade for many reasons. Two of the most important
reasons being, first, I wanted to show my support for gay rights, and
second, it enabled me to further research an important part of my
upcoming novel. My main character is a straight, married, mother, who
supports the gay community. In my story, she convinces her husband to
attend the 34th Annual Gay Pride Parade, only to discover her married
brother-in-law, whose wife is expecting his fourth child, is not only
marching in the parade, but that he is gay. They discover the secret
life of their close family member quite by accident. Further problems
arise when the media captures his picture and his wife sees it in the
local paper. 
Basing
descriptions on the actual event helped me make my story more
believable and real. By taking pictures of the parade, I didn’t have to
rely on memory when writing my narrative. I feel any author who wants
to enrich content, should visit the places or events they are writing
about in order to get a feel for the types of people who live there,
and a general sense of what the place is really like. As a straight woman, I couldn’t possibly know what it feels like to be a part of the gay community and know how it actually feels to be gay. I know about gay life from friends, books, movies, television, and the media, but I needed to attend the parade for my own education in gay culture. If I hadn’t been to the last two pride parades, I wouldn’t have been able to accurately describe the feelings of the day. I hope the descriptions in my novel will bring back fond memories for those who have attended pride parades and for those who haven’t, hopefully, it will inspire them to attend their first gay pride parade.
I hope you enjoy the pictures. Happy Pride!
