Portland Pride 2019

Welcome back to Pride month here on the blog! Today’s post is going to focus on the experience my sister and I had this past Sunday at the Pride parade in Portland, Oregon. This was our first time at this particular parade, since the last time we tried to go, we accidentally ended up using the dates for the Portland, Maine parade. Who knew the two Portland’s had so many similar street names? Anyhow, this year was amazing and such a great time was had. The photos below are the ones I took during the parade that didn’t have identifiable faces of random people in them, which means there are not as many as I would like. Hopefully this week I will have a short video put together of the all the footage I got while at Pride to hopefully give a better feel as to what it was like.

Since it was Pride, there were a million flags everywhere in all the various patterns and shades that depict the different kinds of sexualities. There were also a bunch of takes on the traditional rainbow flag, as you can see in the heart patterned one above. My other favorite flag is the one pictured int the thumbnail image: a stormtrooper with the Pride flag. If you don’t think that is the most fun thing ever then get off this blog right now.

I am so lucky to have a little sister who wants to include me and my friends in her world and her celebrations. It is a beautiful community and we are lucky enough to get to be part of it sometimes. As allies, it is also important to make sure you know their boundaries and still let the community govern and set the rules for themselves. As an ally, it is your job to stand up for them when needed and listen to them, not to tell them what to do or how to live their lives.

It is a beautiful and amazing community, and that is baffling to me how anyone could hate them. Stand up for every marginalized group as often as you can. They deserve it.

Madey Lynch