From today’s b, the paper

•••• THENICEGUY1985 comment on bthesite.com
Pride, it means something different for everyone, and at 23 years old it’s still something that gets me excited. Yes, I am that sappy guy that can take a minute to look around a pride celebration with a parade, drag queens, men in leather chaps, dykes on bikes, silly high heel races and any other kind of GLBT craziness and then feel warm and fuzzy about it. It sounds silly but I feel lucky and proud of my community. We are not perfect, but we don’t make excuses for what and who we are. It’s a great weekend of being with friends and family, knowing you can be out and yourself. Happy Pride weekend everyone, enjoy yourselves.

•••• Anonymous comment on bthesite.com
Most large cities in this country are now host to many pride events — from San Francisco, which draws millions, to the more conservative Salt Lake City to Baltimore. If everybody were tolerant and accepting of the LGBT community there would in reality be no need for pride other than to raise awareness of issues peripheral to the community. Still, any festival that promotes tolerance should be embraced — everybody, regardless of sexual orientation, should accept that! My favorite past time of pride is to sit outside and wait for the drag queens to trip as they walk between the Hippo and Grand Central. The combination of booze, heat and five-inch stilettos usually does them in.

•••• Becky comment on bthesite.com
My first Pride I went with some single girlfriends. I was the only married one and I caught a packet of condoms and a dental dam from the Methodist Church float. Simply. Awesome. But I took my booty and split it with the girls. It isn’t good to be so greedy. Besides, I got lots of candy too! And my picture with the hairy winged Mercury.

•••• Jason Constantino, 24 Station North
I attended my first official Pride festival last year. What makes Baltimore Pride special and distinctive is that the festivities are a celebration of Baltimore and its LGBT close-knit community. Walking around, you run into your hair dresser from Zena’s, your friends from Central and your neighbors and their kids — all greeting you “Happy Pride.” It is also day to be proud and unashamed of who you are, whether this means walking with your partner holding hands while pushing the kids’ stroller or strutting down Charles Street in your new faboo leather chaps.

•••• Josh Tabaka, 26 Columbia
I guess since I was new to Baltimore last year, my first, and one of my best memories was the high heel race down Charles Street. The whole Pride experience last year in Baltimore and this year at Capital Pride has been amazing. It’s not only a time to have fun with your friends, but it’s a time to realize how lucky we are to be able to be out and proud of who we are.

•••• Ryan comment on bthesite.com
My first Pride experience was in Gay Mecca: San Francisco. I have to admit that as a closeted 21-year-old college student from the rural South, the whole ordeal churned up mixed feelings. On one hand, the atmosphere of acceptance was definitely unique and had a liberating effect. On the other hand, I was actively wrestling with my own inner demons and was unwilling to accept my similarities with “those” people. Little did I know that as I left the street fair at City Hall that day, with my goodie bag chock-full of free lube packets and flavored condoms, that I had taken one small but powerful step toward accepting my sexuality by attending my first Pride event.
That day was five years ago and now I am eagerly anticipating my sequel Pride in Baltimore. Since then, many experiences have had a transformative effect on my life perspective and my acceptance of myself and my sexuality. I have come out to my family, I have expanded ties with the gay community and I have made many friends in this charming city I’ve called home for the past year. I’m not convinced that Pride needs to be philosophized and it obviously means very different things to different people. But as I enjoy the events this weekend, I hope that the crazy combination of rainbow flags, unbridled self-expression, camaraderie and ridiculous fun that we call Pride will have an impact on someone in the crowd the same way it did for me back on Market Street in San Francisco.

•••• YCKTR comment on bthesite.com
Pride is a unique event for plenty of reasons. For the most part it’s about visibility and unity with the queer community. However, Pride is also one hell of a good party. The best is that you people at pride who don’t come out to gay spaces at any other time during the year. That’s pretty important in my opinion. Sure it’s a freakshow on some level … and I love that — dykes on bikes, boys on other boys, trannies on god knows what. But it’s also an opportunity to see that mainstream people are queer too. This will be my 12th pride. I haven’t actually seen the parade in years … because I’m usually in it. This year will be no different.

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