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Busy weekend!

By Michael Mahler, on July 5th, 2009

On Friday, I went to the Erie County Democratic Party picnic, which was very nice. I visited with quite a few folks. They had a silent auction and I ended up winning a small chest. I had initially just dropped tickets on it semi-randomly, but then I realized that I could use it to store prizes that we give away for the contests at Erie Gay News, so that worked out very well.

I went out for a bit to Craze and then met up with Max at the Zone. We were out at the Zone for a bit.

The Millcreek 4th of July Parade was very nice indeed! We had about the same number of folks marching with us as usual, but there were some new faces. Lots of people smiled and waved back at us. Max heard a boo from the crowd, which struck him as wimpy. He just smiled and waved back.

While we were walking back, we saw a right wing float that ended up pushing for one man – one woman marriage and seemed rather out of place by being strident. I had previously told folks that Millcreek does not allow political campaigning/agenda stuff, so it would not be appropriate for us to have signs and etc pushing for marriage equality and passing PA HB 300, etc.

However, Deb thinks that she didn’t see a lot of people giving an especially enthusiastic welcome to the anti-gay float, so I feel like my first instincts were right. Just being there and smiling and waving is the way to go. The tone of the parade is fairly light and friendly, and I think that whomever decides to get strident about stuff probably hurts their cause.

Sometimes, just being there with other folks in a calm and non-threatening way is a powerful statement in and of itself. Some folks, gay and straight alas, think that any kind of gay presence automatically means the more controversial appearing members of the community will be there or will be the focus. I think that the people who make these claims usually haven’t bothered to check who actually shows up or viewed the local coverage. The GLBT contingent was quite innocuous and certainly nothing in the slightest edgy.

However, things ended on a nice note: when we had walked almost all the way back, we overheard a little girl walking with her dad, who said, “This was the greatest parade ever!”

Afterwards, Deb and I went over to Max and his his friend Mary’s for a picnic dinner, which was yummy and very friendly/relaxing. Alas, I seemed to have strained my hip or leg or something, and I was not feeling well. I came home afterwards and pretty much passed out until 2 AM.

Friends, GLBT, Politics
  • McCree

    You homo’s have no right to be marching in a family parade. It’s the “in your face” type homos like you that make it bad for the non-flaunting homos who keep their twisted and demented sexual preferences to themselves.

  • http://www.eriegaynews.com/mahlerblog Michael Mahler

    First off, you should be aware that there should be no apostrophe in the second word of your post. You meant plural and not possessive. (We will leave aside for now that using the word ‘homo’ in this contest is rude and offsensive, but let’s focus on proper English for now, shall we?)
    Secondly, if you had seen the actual contingent, you would have seen a very innocuous and in no way “in your face” display. We are members of families, just like everyone else. Many people smiled and waved at us, just as they did for the other units marching in the parade.
    I am deeply grateful that the unfriendly and mean-spirited folks are a definite minority. I most definitely believe that most folks are kind, accepting and fair-minded, if given half a chance.
    May I also point out that we carried no signs pushing a political position? This was the first year in the 4 that we have been in the parade that I have seen anyone pushing an agenda. We will continue to abide by the rules that the Millcreek Parade folks have set down. It’s a shame that some feel that they have to trash their fellow citizens rather than being appreciative of everyone who makes up the greater Erie community.

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