As planned, I went to Atlanta Pride parade on Sunday.  I went to this parade several years ago, and was pretty disappointed  in the quality of the parade. I seemed too low-key and not nearly celebratory enough to be a celebration. After enjoying several Vancouver Pride parades in the last couple of years, I decided that this year I would give Atlanta another shot. I’m glad I did.  This year, Atlanta Pride, the largest pride festival in the southeast, was a lively, fun celebration of diversity.

The parade started out very slow and solemn, and frankly, I was afraid it would fall flat. There were also long gaps between marcheing groups, and those could have been filled with the Dykes on Bikes, who were in the front end of the parade, riding around in circles and lightening up the I was surprised and really pleased with the number of churches that were marching, inviting everyone to worship with them. That was refreshing, especially given the small groups of closed-minded bigots and homophobes that were protesting the festival. Also celebrated was the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” YAY!!!!

The parade  still has lots of room to grow and develop. I’d like to see more “OUTrageous”  floats and revelry, but, hey, this is the American South, so I’ll take what I can get.

For a history of the 40-year old pride movement in Atlanta, see this link. Unfortunately, as luck would have it, my camera battery died before I got the first decent picture. These pics are compliments of an old Sewanee pal, John Bently. Thanks, John!