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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13796
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NW and I met up with a Deej who was full of cold and a friend of Deej's who is not out so I will not name him.
I'll post some pictures after I've edited a few to make the fit here.
Two notable shots are of the Conservative Party's float, AWESOME for just being there, and Devon and Cornwall Constabulary who do not have a blameless record on gay matters.
And DAMN there was a hot blond on the Tory float. Droolworthy!
NW and I walked the parade route at the tail end. Deej and friend joined us for some of the way before skipping ahead (we assumed) to see the front of the parade. They'd arrived after the start.It felt special, very special. We had an officious steward try to spoil it, but the organisers already have his photo and an email suggesting education for next year 
The parade was rain free, well, 90% rain free. The skies opened in the park at the end. I strongly recommend this event whether you march or watch the parade pass
[Updated on: Sat, 01 August 2009 20:08]
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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There was one pleasant side-effect of the skies opening -- there was impromptu half-naked wrestling in the mud! (Sorry, I didn't take a camera with me, but I'm sure other people's pictures will turn up on the Internet in due course...)
It really was very, very wet -- at the end in large sections of the park there was no grass left at all, except in odd little patches where the stalls and ice cream vans had been.
David
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13796
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David, please post at least some of the very powerful email you sent to me. The message in it brought me to tears.
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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A very enjoyable day, despite the occasional heavy shower, and I'm glad I went. Having had to miss Pride London this year I needed it a bit: a refreshment of my emotional well-springs!
The "official" estimate is around 150,000 people on the march / in the Park, though these tend to be a bit erratic as people join and leave the parade at random throughout the route. Perhaps upwards of 200,000 people involved, one way and another. And not all LBGTQQ by any means - there were several (I assume from their activities)) straight young couples who marched alongside us for short periods. And, of course, of all ages, from the couple of lads in their mid-teens who were next to us as we we entered the Park at the end to the guy who we saw near the start of the parade - proclaiming himself "the oldest gay in the village".
There were, of course, reminders of the trials and occasional terrors that gay people face (of which what happened recently in Israel is an extreme example). I was pleased to see a small-but-determined group with placards reading "end homophobia in the beautiful game" reminding us that in the entire history of professional soccer in the UK there has been precisely ONE out gay player, who was hounded out of the game and eventually took his own life. RIP Justin Fashanu.
As always, then, for me a powerful reminder of how diverse people are, of my self-chosen identity as an "out gay man", and of the massive goodwill towards people of all sexualities and opinions that we felt from other marchers, from those who had turned out to watch, and from random tourists who unexpectedly encountered the parade. This year, seen to some extent anew by being in a different city, and by being in pleasant company (thanks, Tim). As always, finally, an affirmation of self and an expression of hope and belief for the future.
"The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. ... Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night devoid of stars." Martin Luther King
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People get some odd ideas about the Conservative Party... we've had openly gay officials working in the party and supporting our leaders even before Cameron came along and through out some of the more right wing nonsense from our policy platform. It was a gay man who got Boris Johnson elected as Mayor of London for example
The tories will be at Manchester Pride too this year, for the second year running, and this year the organisers have let us in the parade too. Conservatives, through their gay party association LGBTory have been ensuring gay tories are at most pride festivals in the UK for the last 3 years.
One of events at the Conservative Party Conference this year is Conference Pride. Its at Spirit Bar on Manchester's Canal Street.
Admittedly, I'm a younger gay, but I don't see why people are surprised about the Conservatives being at Pride. I've not been at a single tory party event and not seen gay people there. Conservative Future, the party's youth group had more active gay members at my uni than my university's LGBT group! It was also chaired by a gay man, with his boyfriend as the deputy for a year.
Personally, I'm a tory councillor, an elected official, and openly gay to both the party and the electorate. My boyfriend campaigned with me, my local Association got me elected, and I've not once met anyone in the Tory party who was unhappy for a young gay man to be representing them. I'm a gay tory councillor, but thats no big deal for me or for the party. There are plenty of other gay tory councillors, there are plenty of gay tory parliamentary candidates too.
Assuming we win enough seats at the next election to form a government, and taking into account the number of tory MPs standing down, we'll probably see as many as 150 new tory MPs on the benches in 2010. These will be a new, younger generation of conservative politicians, and one of the differences you'll note is that most of them don't give a damn about sexuality and a surprising number will be openly gay.
Oh, yeah, guess I forgot to mention that I got elected to public office since I last posted here... not a high office, but I'm hoping to move up the ladder in 2011.
I guess its now Cllr the Black Prince (Con, Great Boughton South)
Odi et amo: quare id faciam, fortasse requiris.
Nescio, set fieri sentio et excrucior
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Well done tBP! As a longtime LibDem I applaud your victory and hope you do well. If I'd lived where you do I might even have voted for you (unless the LibDems also had a gay candidate).
And here in Bristol West we have a gay LibDem MP!
Love,
Anthony
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It was just a quick email I sent when I got home last night (after 2 AM). But if you think it'll be beneficial to post it on-board here goes (with some very minor changes):
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Dear Tim and NW,
I'm just back from Brighton -- the event persisted despite very, very heavy rain at times until about 8 or 9 PM. The torrential rain brought everyone together in the party/dancing/bar areas under tents (massive crush but good fun) and caused unexpected behaviour such as impromptu half-naked mud wrestling. Also my friend ran into several friends of his, so non-stop activity all afternoon. Totally daunting at first, but managed to put some inhibitions aside by the end. Need to work on the rest!
It was a fantastically liberating experience simply to be among people that one can be confident won't judge. And it really doesn't matter if one is gay, bisexual, straight or any other variation in between. I need to stop worrying so much about finding a label. Determined to find some more gay people of around my age, in Reading and/or London -- somehow.
Tim, many thanks for suggesting it and extremely glad I went.
With best wishes,
David
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As a postscript, I'm unusual in that I'm sort of 'out' (in that I don't have any worries about people thinking me gay, bisexual or whatever, and don't pretend I'm not) but also thoroughly inexperienced with the gay 'scene'. I suspect that the vast majority of gay people in the UK who are my age are considerably more experienced than I. But my friend had not been to a pride event before either, and I am sure that there are many here who haven't. If you've not been to one before, DO: the sense of community is astonishing. And the place was also absolutely full of people from all walks of life (lots of straight couples too), so attending says nothing about you other than that you are a tolerant, open-minded person with a good sense of fun.
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Congratulations, Black Prince, on coming out.
Hugs
Nigel
PS - I've just realised I might have been misunderstood. Congratulations on coming out as a Conservative. I didn't mean as gay. You don't have to be gay to appear on the is board, but it helps.
More hugs
N
I dream of boys with big bulges in their trousers,
Never of girls with big bulges in their blouses.
…and look forward to meeting you in Cóito.
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13796
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I was just very pleased to see the float. I had not expected it. The other parties make a big thing about it. Well, obviously the BNP fascists don't!
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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It honestly amuses me to see the various parties fighting over the gay vote, with labour being increasingly hysterical over the fact that several polls over the last 2 years have shown that more gay people will vote conservative than any other party and the numbers steadily rising to their current figure of around 30%, up from 21%...
Labour can't seem to understand why this and have resorted to accusing the tories of being the party of hate (again) not quite understanding that their negative campaigning is one of the reasons they lost the last 3 parliamentary by-elections. People don't want to see labour making personal attacks on the other parties their staff and their candidates, they want to know what labour will actually do.
But that's really beside the point, gay people in my experience don't ever vote on gay issues alone. It might be a factor, but when polled gay people have the same concerns as anyone else, police state, security, economy, erosion of civil liberties, health care, public spending etc.
Besides, its not correct to say Labour have done wonders for gay rights in the UK, the last 10 years of gay legislation has come from 3 sources, ECtHR, ECJ/EU and Tony Blair. Blair was pro-gay, not Labour, and Gordon Brown's abysmal voting record on gay rights merely proves this.
*shrugs* I've met a surprising number of the current shadow cabinet, along with many of the parliamentary candidates in the North West, and if these people are representative of the next conservative government, I have no worries about a sudden gay backlash wants Cameron gets the keys to No.10.
Nigel, I actually have a T-Shirt from pride last year that says "I've come out, I'm a Tory!" in rainbow letters. It was LGBTory's campaign slogan.
Odi et amo: quare id faciam, fortasse requiris.
Nescio, set fieri sentio et excrucior
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13796
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Parties never get the point. When labour lowered the voting age to 18 they thought they would get all the 18-20 year olds. Not a hope. They got the usual proportion of fixed opinion and floating voters.
NO party can hope to govern based on a single issue. I may be queer, but my vote is about who will represent me best overall. They do not represent my dick. I will vote, if his other opinions outweigh homophobia, for a homophobe. THEN I will try to change his mind!
But in Brighton the cutest boys by far were on the Tory float. On Saturday they had my vote. You could tell by the drool!
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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ray2x
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Really getting into it |
Location: USA
Registered: April 2009
Messages: 430
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Could you teach my local conservative politicans on how to be more inclusive? It's quite horrible how much conservatives in Santa Clarita just do not give a damn about gays or minorities...well, they do give a damn about illegal immmigrants as for their campaign causes.
Raymundo
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