Tacoma PRIDE Festival Report

Edward, Lisa (LGBTQI allies) and I attended the Tacoma PRIDE Festival yesterday for a couple of hours until it got unbearably warm. It was a lot of fun, and I got some extra buttons, some rainbow and trans flags, and a red cape from the BECU booth that reads FREE TO BE. They were all free.

 

I spotted a leather, many-logo bag that I really wanted, but it was $65. I will get it next year if they still have them. It looked like a man bag and it was large enough to hold an iPad, I think (although I don’t own one now, I expect I will some day; it’ll for sure hold my Kindle Fire).

 

I wore one of my newest trans t-shirts, the one that reads, “I’M THE SCARY TRANSGENDER PERSON THE MEDIA WARNED YOU ABOUT.” It got a lot of laughs and positive comments; several people asked if they could take a picture of me in it. I said, “Sure! Fire away!”  No one else had this shirt, which surprised me, and no one was selling it at the event, so it was really a rather unique coup!

 

There were several people there from last year and there were trans people and lesbians I met during the year this year at various LGBTQI-affirming venues (churches and activist groups). It was good connecting with them again, even though the hellos and hugs were brief.

 

I didn’t take any pictures this year (drat!) but one of the women I met who asked to take my picture said she will send me the images she took–she was very actively taking pictures. When I get them, I’ll post them here and on my Facebook page (with her permission and attribution, of course).

 

There were some stunningly gorgeous trans women there (or drag queens; not sure which, as I didn’t interact with them–they were surrounded by people taking their pictures) and a lot of people, young and old, being themselves in glorious ways. It was a 100% family-friendly affair. If you’ve never been to a Pride Festival, you’re really missing out on meeting a lot of creative, amazing, wonderful people!

 

Several LGBTQI-affirming churches had booths there–Methodists, Catholics, Presbyterians, Unitarians, and Lutherans: I was delighted to see that again. More affirming churches join every year. I’m going to attend some of the local ones and see if I get enough of the right vibe from any of them and their parishioners to attend regularly…

 

I’m trying to think if there was anything unusual or report-worthy to add…

 

Oh! A couple of the trans folks verified that they, too, were at recent rallies in Tacoma protesting the Trump administration’s policy of separating asylum-seeking refugees from their children at the border. Lisa and I attended the rally at Wright Park a couple weeks ago. It was well-attended and the speakers were terrific; some were advocates and attorneys for the incarcerated, and one of them was in tears as she reported the conditions and anxieties that prevail at the local ICE detention center here in Tacoma.

 

She implored people to stay on the front lines–especially white women–because women of all colors need to be heard from and seen, even though the majority of detainees are Hispanic people of color. This administration is about as anti-women as it can get, trying to restrain women from owning their reproductive lives, getting equal pay for equal work, and more. You’ll notice that most of the protesters on this issue are women, but there are plenty of male feminists, too. It was great to see so many of them at the rally.

 

The good news was that there was not ONE image of the Charlatan in Chief at any of the booths or in  the crowd of attendees. It was like a Trump-free zone. The Republican Party was nowhere to be seen, either. By contrast, there were at least two DEM booths, both of which I gave high-fives for being there to show their support for marginalized LGBTQI folks. I plasterer their stickers to stand in as little arm patches to show my appreciation for their presence there.    They read: “You hold the key! VOTE!” 

 

People at a half dozen non-political booths made sure to ask us, “Are you registered to vote?” We assured them we are, and we will! I was glad to see the question being asked. There were booths registering voters at the event. I’m sure had we said we weren’t registered, they would have directed us to the registration booths or pulled out their own paperwork to register us.  That’s the proactive spirit!!!