Saturday, June 16, 2007

The Other Rainbow Bridge....


Today was the day for Sacramento's Gay Pride celebration downtown. The weather was perfect. Eighty-three degrees which was a real blessing, given that it was 102 just yesterday.

The great thing about Gay Pride Day is that you don't have to be gay to enjoy it. It is a collection of eccentric, fun people who all gather for one day to be in their glory. People like me! Everyone is friendly. There are no expectations. I didn't have to try to fit in!

What a relief that is on occasion! It feels like this one weekend, this one day each year, is the one time when I can feel totally at ease around others. No one digs around for social markers by which to measure someone else's acceptability. It is just one.. big.. crowd... of happy people!

If there was any downside, it would have been the prodigious gathering of evangelicals who found it necessary to remind everyone that they would be going to hell and that God finds homosexuality to be an abomination. Fortunately, most people ignored them. As it should be.

I hope they are not so naive as to believe they will change minds and hearts by chanting such hateful rhetoric on a beautiful, sunny, warm Saturday afternoon.

They would be sadly disappointed. Nothing could have ruined this day, not even a gaggle of small-minded bigots.


Peace,


~Chani

17 comments:

flutter said...

*sigh* That just makes me sad.

meno said...

The Gay Pride Parade here is next weekend. I will report back after i go.

Isn't it fun to have a day of love and acceptance?

crazymumma said...

i'm glad you went after all.

I think the peace would come in being able to ignore the small group of naysayers....

Anvilcloud said...

Unfortunately they have been told that it's a choice, and they believe that the gays have therefore chosen sin. They have been misinformed and believe one assumption superimposed on top of other assumptions.

Anonymous said...

It's a really bad idea to ignore what the Holy Bible says about things....it's like ignoring what the Owner's Manual to your car says. In the end what will you say about ignoring the Life Instruction Manual? Terri B

S said...

Chani:

Your enjoyment of the day practically leaps off the page. And I am so, so glad that it was fun for you.

Anonymous said...

Whenever I see protesters like those, I think of these folks. :o)

Christine said...

Sounds like a wonderful day! Wish i could have joined you. ;-p

LittlePea said...

I never could understand the idea of inciting hate and expecting people to want to join in. The Christianity I was taught in Sunday school was one of love and acceptance. Glad it didn't ruin your day.

BTW I so enjoyed reading about blogrolls and all the comments in your last post. It reminds me, I need to add a few to mine. I just link to whoever I'm reading regularly or whoever asks as long as it's not an offensive site. I don't expect or ask anyone to link to me but am happy if they do. There's a lot of cliquishness in the blog world that I don't really care for either....

thailandchani said...

Flutter, do you mean because of the evangelicals?

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Meno, yes... one day of love and acceptance. That is what it was like. I'll be curious to hear about yours, too.

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CM, the naysayers were really chasing their own tails. Everyone else was just having a wonderful time and ignoring them.

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Anvil, yes.. that was their gripe. The funny thing is that most of them were quoting Romans.. which if they'd read the entire passage would know that Paul finished the passage by saying that none of us should judge another since none of us have purity in the eyes of God. They really should at least make an attempt at theological education. I don't even belong to that religion and know at least that much!

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Terri, not going there with you.. but I will say this: Life with diversity is rich and textured, filled with color and joy. Life without it is bland and flat.

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SM, it was great.. as Meno said, one day of love and acceptance.

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Thomas, ROTFLMAO!!!

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Christine, you would have enjoyed it. I'm certain of it!

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MsPea, it didn't ruin even one second of it. Truly, I have a rather strong pity for people like that. I can't imagine holding a belief system that would incite anyone to hate another. I know Christianity is not based on that. Jesus himself would be appalled! But then, he was a theologian and had studied with Essenes and Buddhists and everyone else.

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Peace,


~Chani

Girlplustwo said...

I love these celebrations. the one is SF is of course, out of this world.

i read an article in TIME this week about how the right is ending up on the losing end of things in regards to homosexuality. that this generation of kids is being raised alongside gay peers and parents. that is it normal and that that alone proves victorious.

and if only somehow, that could be said for race relations, too.

i know there is still work to be done, but still, i loved the way the issue was framed.

and so glad you had a good time.

heartinsanfrancisco said...

If these evangelicals claim to believe in God, they should realize that we are all as God made us. Gay, straight, or benchwarmer.

It's wonderful to hear the delight in your voice over a beautiful day. I wish you many more of them.

Tabba said...

Ugh. Those evangelicals....I have a close family member entrenched in that..and that way of thinking.
And it really is disturbing.

Anonymous said...

When I was growing up, diversity was knowing people from a variety of backgrounds (ethnic) and jobs. I'm not sure when it became socially acceptable to be perverted and thus "diverse" and to think it perverted to be unacceptable. It shouldn't really surprise me, but it always does. In the end days -- evil becomes good and good becomes bad. It's so sad. Terri

Anonymous said...

Oh, and "that way of thinking"? By that, do you mean thinking anal sex between men is disgusting is a wrong way of thinking? That thinking two women doing it to each other is sick, is sick to think so? Because really, that IS what you are saying when you criticize evangelicals. Just because you feel something -- that's not the sin. The sin is in caring it out..and in condoning it in others, which you are certainly doing here. Terri

Anonymous said...

"A gaggle of small-minded bigots". That's charming. Think of it. Gaggle is cute. Small-minded only because they don't go along with the current trend of encouraging perversion and bigots? Well, that would mean they do what they are saying is wrong...which I really doubt. All I doubt about them is their ability to understand what a waste of time it is to do what they were doing. It's the same story now as in biblical times. No one wants to hear it now, and they didn't want to hear it then either. So POOF! Too late! Say goodbye to Sodom and that other city. Terri

QT said...

Chani - I am so glad you had a lovely day. I used to live close to where they had the parade in Seattle, so my sis and I would always go. And you are right - it is a day of acceptance, and most importantly, love.