June 26th, 2011
New Yorkers were celebrating the passage of marriage equality on Friday night, on the eve of that city’s massive Pride celebration commemorating a raid on a gay bar on Christopher Street in 1969. Local police got in on the fun by staging a modern day raid on a gay bar on West 28th Street:
An unannounced inspection that several agencies carried out at a gay bar in Manhattan on Friday night occurred at nearly the same time that patrons were celebrating the passage of legislation in Albany legalizing same-sex marriage.
…”I was on the roof deck, smoking a cigar and having drinks with friends, and all of a sudden, the police showed up and started shining flashlights in everyone’s face and offending everyone,” said Thomas J. Shevlin, a financial markets researcher and the treasurer of the Stonewall Democratic Club.
…Along with flashlights being shined in people’s faces, lights were turned off and patrons were forced to empty their pockets “without probable cause,” Mr. Shevlin said.
And then there’s this in Chicago:
In what could be a hate crime, dozens of tires on floats headed for Chicago’s Pride Parade were cut with knifes just hours before the Parade Sunday.
Chuck Huser, owner of long-time Pride float provider Associated Attractions at 4834 S. Halsted on Chicago’s South Side, said the floats were fine when he left 8 p.m. Saturday night, but when he returned 5 a.m. Sunday to start preparation for drivers to depart, he found two tires punctured each on more than 30 floats.
“This is catastrophic,” he told Windy City Times at 8 a.m. June 26. “This has never happened before, and we have been doing this since 1989.”
And finally, some truly tragic news of a fatal accident that led to the cancellation of Anchorage’s Pride parade:
A convertible carrying the grand marshal in Saturday’s gay PrideFest parade struck and killed a man just as the event began in downtown Anchorage, police said. Police late Saturday identified the victim as 50-year-old James L. Crump of Anchorage. Crump worked as a registered nurse for the city’s Health and Human Services department and was walking in the annual parade, police said.
…”It’s a pure accident,” Frank said. “(The driver) just panicked and kept hitting the accelerator and it kept jumping forward.”
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Rob in San Diego
June 26th, 2011
Wow, truly sad news at a time of great celebration. I can’t wait for the day that we have marriage equality here in California.
Désirée
June 27th, 2011
I can’t wait for the day we don’t have Pride celebrations… that they are seen as absurd as having a left-handed pride celebration
Timothy (TRiG)
June 27th, 2011
Désirée,
Gay people are a scattered minority. Most gay people don’t have gay parents. For that reason, I think that even when full equality is achieved, there will still be occasion for gay people to come together. Besides, Pride Parades are fun!
TRiG.
Priya Lynn
June 27th, 2011
I agree Trig. I was just noticing how hugely popular the Toronto pride parade has become amongst heterosexuals. Its reason for being has gradually shifted from one of gay support to simply a huge party. Long after LGBT people achieve full equality people will still love a big party, need little excuse for one, and Pride will probably go on for a long, long time.
Timothy Kincaid
June 27th, 2011
Desiree,
Perhaps, instead, wait for the day when a Pride parade is comparable to a St. Patrick’s Day Parade. A time in which people with a common bond can celebrate their culture, but one in which all of the community feels welcome.
I think that day is not that far away.
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