Pride

Yesterday I got on the interwebs because I wanted to see when the Utah Pride Festival was happening. I don’t really know much about Pride and I want to understand what it’s all about. I do know that it involves taking pride and standing up for who you are as a LGBT person. This is something I’m trying to improve about myself as I get my act together. Someone at one point had told me that Utah Pride was in June and I thought I might go check it out. I found out that it’s on June 4-6. I was a little disappointed; I have a family party on the 4th and am run/walking a 5k on the 5th so I won’t be able to attend the festival.

Here’s a link to their website: Utah Pride Festival 2010

But, while I was looking yesterday I saw that there was a movie being screened last night to start the festival off called Beyond Gay: The Politics of Pride up in Salt Lake. Here is the trailer:


Beyond Gay Trailer from Big Gay Movie on Vimeo.


After watching the trailer I decided that if I couldn't go to pride, I could at least see this movie and learn what it’s all about. I really didn’t know what to expect when I got there, but I felt like it was something I wanted to do. This would be my first time going to a public Gay event and I was very nervous. I wished I had someone to go with me, but being alone was not going to keep me from attending. When I got there I was even more nervous. My hands were shaking and my heart was racing. I scanned the room looking at all the people till suddenly I saw a familiar face. There was my friend Shawn from school. I saw him and decided to go say hello. Shaw has always been openly gay in our classes and he was surprised to see me there, and even more surprise to find out I was gay (he had called me out on it about a year ago. I was denying it to myself at the time so I denied it to him as well). Shawn was there with his boyfriend and invited me to sit with them.

The movie was amazing! It was so moving to see these people in countries where it is illegal to hold a pride event or even to be homosexual. Amidst all their struggles they are willing to stand up for their beliefs and hold pride events. The movie also shows the history of Pride and how it has evolved through time. It made me realize that there is more to Pride than I had thought. It’s far more political, and far more important for human rights than I had thought. After the movie screening there was a panel discussion with one of the producers of the film and the two directors of the Utah Pride Festival were they talked further about Pride and about Utah’s festival.

After the movie I decided that I need to show my support for Pride. Like I said before, I will not make it on the 4th and 5th, but that Sunday is when the Pride Parade will be happening, and I want to be there to show my support. I won’t lie and say I’m not nervous about going, and I’ll probably be going by myself again, but I feel that this is something important for the community as a whole and me as an individual. It’ll be fun, and I’m excited to see what it’s all about.