21; Boston Youth Pride Parade & Festival, 2011

Clothing:
Top: Insight | Pants: Forever 21 | Jacket: Target (I'm so classy, I know) | Boots: Etsy | Sunglasses: Newbury Comics (staying classy) | Mala beads (bracelet): Ebay

Pictured: Me, Kathryn (fiancée), Molly (good friend), and a very fierce Lady Gaga drag queen impersonator (who said she loved my hair; I like pointing this out to people).

Latter four photos courtesty of SM Witherow.

[Lookbook] [Chictopia]

Yesterday was spent in Boston Common with Kathryn, her sibling Sarah/SM/Sam/Shraa (I've never figured out how to spell that latter alternative) and her/our mutual friend Molly at the annual Youth Pride parade-march-festival. There was free clothes, some very informative booths and great organisations, drag queens (one being someone that Kathryn and Sarah went to high school with, though didn't know personally), some awesome musicians, protesters, and best of all, gay/lesbian/bisexual/questioning/open teenagers who had the good fortune to make the day possible. Also, Jessica Wild from RuPaul's Drag Race was there to perform, as well as another queen whose name has totally escaped me, and a Gaga impersonator (whom you see pictured above) who...again, I've forgotten the name of.

We wanted to stay for the prom, but Kathryn and I were exhausted from dancing and had to show up for work the next day (aka, today), so we cut out early.

Kathryn and I got a surprising amount of 'congratulations!' from people who read the back of our jackets (and a lot of them asked for pictures of our backs). I didn't expect it, since 99% of the people there were teens, so I figured they wouldn't be so interested...but at the same time, a few commented on how much hope it gave them, which makes sense.

However, there were members of hate groups there who held signs in hopes of getting attention, one in particular who managed to aquire a press pass. They didn't start anything, but she kept lurking around with a video recorder in her hand. It was fairly irritating... I respect a person's opinion if they don't approve of a public gathering for LGBTQIA individuals, but it's annoying if they're going to show up just to take videos and pictures to post on their hate group websites and such. Alas, I suppose I can't complain: like I said, no fights were started, which was a huge concern on my mind. Being that nearly everyone was underage and had parents to go home to that night...well, I simply worried.

I also learned that androgyns (androgynes? It's how Sarah spells it) aren't recognised at these gatherings, which I find to be sad. Sarah/SM is androgynous, and is pansexual, but had no group to be included in. It was interesting to think about.


There's another celebration (Boston Gay Pride, not exclusive to youth, but more inclusive to adults) on June 4th, and a weekend-long parade and celebration the weekend after that. I'm really hoping to go, especially since it'll be warmer. Kathryn and I are thinking of going to the celebration on the 4th, but I need to double-check and make sure the dates haven't been moved. I did originally look them up in January, and in four months, things could have been moved around.

Also, if the quality of my writing is, to put it bluntly, crap...well, I apologise. I worked Friday, partied for five-six hours, and worked today. I'm a little worn out. ♥