Pink Saturday, part deux

Do you like movies about gladiators?


I know these guys were handing out something, but can't for the life of me remember what it was...



Largest mirror ball I've ever seen, and I've seen my share. I've also whacked my head on my share, but that wasn't going to happen with this 10' diameter, crane suspended behemoth.



Some twink climbed up on the street light. Cool image for gay pride in the Castro. I played with the image a bit in Photogene.



People who live on Castro Street often hang out their windows, offering to toss plastic party beads in exchange for a "show" from the passers-by. I used to live in the building just past the neon sign on the left; I wasn't in a Castro-facing unit, so I would just go up on the roof for parties like this.




Some of the entertainment. I love how enthralled the audience is.




Every year a group of volunteers goes up on Twin Peaks and builds a huge, illuminated pink triangle above the city. This year there were some fireworks launched around midnight.

(For readers who don't know where the pink triangle comes from, it was used by Nazis to identify gays, much as the yellow star was used to identify Jews. We've embraced the symbol and in the embracing of it, have robbed it of it's former negative power.)

The Pink Party this year was very fun. As a community and personally we've been through a lot since the last pride. We saw our first, state-sanctioned same-sex marriages (including my own), and then we saw the state vote with a slim margin to classify me and my people as second-class citizens -- a vote that was upheld by the California Supreme Court. The "fierce advocate" for the GLBT community who occupies the White House has yet to act on his promises to end the worse than useless "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and the hateful "Defense of Marriage Act." He's done damage to us, too...

Despite these setbacks (and probably in no small part because of them), the community has come together in a celebration filled with joy and love.

I'm a little embarrassed to say that I'm reminded of that old Chumbawumba song, with a minor alteration:

We get knocked down, but we get up again. No, you're never going to keep us down.

Happy pride!

-- Post From My iPhone and all photos twere aken with it, and edited using the iPhone App, Photogene.