So you would have to be living under a rock in the depths of the ocean to not know that June is Pride Month. I have to admit to not having attended a lot of Pride Parades in my life, but the last couple years I have been trying to make it out to more of them so that I can bring a special young person that is very important to me, and whom I always want to support in every way that I can. This young person’s preferred pronouns are they / she and they are currently identifying as a bi romantic / demi girl which would require a bit more explanation than I am willing to attempt in this blog post. 🙂 But in the interest of education here is an infographic guide to some, but far from all, of the LGBTQ+ flags:

The point of the post is that this past Saturday we attended the PKGO Pride Parade and Festival in Poughkeepsie NY and it was a really beautiful experience. I was thrilled to be part of the march with my friend and a special friend of theirs’s. (I even got my photo on the Poughkeepsie Journal website twice Pics 29 & 31 in the link above!) There were hundreds of super friendly, welcoming, and accepting people there to support and celebrate each other!

Once the parade arrived at Waryas Park there was a small festival with food trucks, a bunch of booths with vendors, community support stuff, community friendly vendors and so much more. There was even a DJ and a bounce house for the kids!

One of my favorite parts was when one of the folks I was with was gifted with a binder and a “packer” for free! These items are normally fairly pricey so many trans kids are unable to get them, especially if their parents are low income or are just generally unsupportive of their gender identity. Our friend got really choked up and it was just an amazing gift for him. Very touching,

One of my other favorite parts was meeting a truly charming person in a very Victorian looking gown who could recite lines with a British accent from a bunch of different movies. In particular I loved the Maggie Smith Rant about tea from “The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” and it was done perfectly! 🙂

It was an absolutely glorious day weather wise and seeing so many people of all ages, ethnicities and identities enjoying a day together and celebrating their similarities and differences was really wonderful! No haters that I saw and no drama just joy and PRIDE!

And on that note I would simply like to add that I am ….