Marched in My First Pride Parade: What a Freaky Fun Fearful Frolic!
I felt like a deer caught in the headlights for a moment and then remembered to smile and wave
This was the first Pride parade ever held in my small little redneck middle-of-nowhere town.
I live in mega MAGA territory, where in elections the vote is, oh, roughly 90% for the Republican Party... and probably 5% for Libertarians. A sighting of a Democrat around here is like spotting a Bigfoot or a Jackalope.
This is a place of conservative values and churchgoers… and, therefore, crushing boredom, unless cake walks and quilting bees are your thing.
So, when I heard there would be a Pride parade here, my first thought was: “What? Three floats, two hound dogs, and a dozen people lining the street to stare at us?”
My second thought was: “This is crazy dangerous!”
After all, the hardcore MAGA conservatives think we LGBTQ folk are agents of the devil. They say we are predators plotting to capture children.
This fear of us is utterly irrational; it is born out of their weird imaginings, projections, and paranoia. The point, though, is that people who are afraid can be dangerous, especially if they seriously do believe we are a…
