SF Pride Week (Take 1)

Yesterday had been a busy day with phone calls, which reminded me that vacation is over. I've set specific ringertones for certain people on my contact list and my cellphone literally came on every 5 minutes with different melodies for few hours. Let just say it's good to be back to sunny, warm, bluesky San Francisco after being in suffocating, rainy, sultry Hong Kong. Don't get me wrong, it was a wonderful time to be with family and friends, to catch up with old chums at the wedding. A friend of mine was taking all the pictures with my camera since I was part of the wedding party. Pictures would be up soon!

Lots of errands to do. I need to call up Dan - Turning 40 to follow up with AIDS Walk. I missed his organizational meeting last week and I have to sign up, join the team and start raising money! Pride week is here as I see many curious tourists and flamy boys pouring into the streets. Rainbow flags are flying along Market Street and all over the Castro neighborhood. On Sunday I'll be watching the parade with my friends at the Metro City Bar, a laid-back venue (probably not this weekend...ha) that perches on the 2nd floor above Market at Noe, a hot spot for people watching, though it's not as cruisy as Cafe Flore across the street.

I tend to be claustrophobic mingling in a crowd (especially a crowd of sweaty able bodies...hahahaha...) so I am not keen on watching the parade and serpentining the fair. It's always fun to take lots of pictures of the celebration because after all, it's a celebration of freedom, pride, and honesty. And honesty takes courage. It is about being who you are and without being fearful and conscious of what others think of you. I'm still flinching a little bit speaking to my father about my being gay and he tends to afford this "don't ask, don't tell" silence. It preys my conscience every time when I think how such demand of conformity and covering forces the gays to lie about sexual orientation.

I hope all of you, when you see that rainbow flag flying, take a minute to reflect on the long way we have gone as a movement, to reflect on your own life as a gay man. Thanks to Kelly for being an inspiration to create this series of posts.

About the picture. The rainbow flag celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2003. During the gay pride celebrations in June of that year, Gilbert Baker restored the rainbow flag back to its original eight-striped version and has since advocated that others do the same. However the eight-striped version has seen little adoption by the wider gay community, which has mostly stuck with the better known six-striped version. (See the Rainbow 25 website for more information).

To be continued...