Happy Pride!  I just got back from a fabulous trip to NYC for their annual Pride celebration.  If you didn’t know, June is official Pride month.

I travelled to New York City with my husband, Matt, and my boyfriend, Bill.  It was my first time traveling to NYC for pride, though I always make sure to participate in local pride here in Rochester.  Of course Rochester pride is in July with the festival taking place on July 21st and 22nd.  I’ll be marching in the parade and taking part of the festivities then too.

But what does pride mean to me?  I think this year’s slogan is certainly a big part of the meaning of pride.  Defiantly Different.  Yes its just like it sounds.  We are proud of who we are and will not be shamed into the closet.  We won’t be ashamed of who we are or our love.  We are proud of our contributions not only to our lives but to society.  We are defiantly different.  We are diverse.  We are conservative and liberal.  We are gender fluid.  We are religious, we are not religious.  We are poor, we are rich.  We are defiant in love and won’t let society dictate how or who we love.

Pride always makes me so proud to see the contributions of our diverse community.  Watching the parade and seeing the diverse hundreds of thousands out in support makes me feel stronger.  That we won’t be stopped.  That history will continue to bend towards justice and equality.  I encourage everyone regardless of your gender, orientation, or background to come out to their local Pride and show their support and to bask in the teaching rays of tolerance.

The icing on the cake this year certainly was Kylie head lining Pride Island.  Kylie Minogue, a gay icon for decades, did a fabulous show despite the rain.  She performed hits like Can’t Get You Out of My Head, On A Night Like This, and Spinning Around.  Newer tracks off the new Golden album where also performed.  Encouraged by the crowd, she performed Slow a cappella.  She finished the show with a rousing rendition of All The Lovers, one of my favourite tracks with a music video that was inclusive of the LGBT community.