Chronicles of Lindsay: NYC Pride Parade and meeting new friends

Day two of the all parade weekend.

This year was the first year in the last five that I have missed the Chicago Pride Parade. Luckily I was able to catch the bigger (and gayer) NYC Pride Parade. Actually you could say I saw it twice in one day since I viewed it from to different locations that were 2-hours (parade time) apart so some of the floats were repeats. Okay that doesn’t make complete sense but oh well.

I met up with Tony to catch the beginning of the parade in Midtown. Practically every parade in Manhattan runs along 5th Ave. at one point. Usually 5th Ave. is packed ten deep for parades, but I guess the majority of the population opted to view the parade in the Village. Therefore, Tony and I were able to get front view spots which yielded awesome up close pictures of the dancing boys and dressed up queens. Okay I should put out the disclaimer….I am into men (straight men), but am fascinated by extravagant drag queens and really buff men dancing around in skimpy underwear (just because they like to take it in the butt doesn’t mean I can’t look). Nuff said.

After a couple of hours watching the parade from Midtown, I put on my fairy wings (Halloween costume) and headed down to the Village….or Gaytropolis as Rob calls it. Now that is where the party is. Rob lives in a prime spot along Christopher Street which is equivalent to north Halsted in Chicago (rainbow village). Anyway, he invited us over to watch the parade from his rooftop. The view did not disappoint since we were practically on top of the parade (it ran right next to his building).

We drank wine coolers (hey it was a hot day) and watched the parade. Since I saw the parade at the start and end (starts in Midtown and ends in the village), I got to see some of the floats twice. After closer

inspection, I noticed a lot of churches in the parade. Seriously, legit catholic churches with floats and marchers supporting the pride parade. Interesting? Another thing I noticed is that every “group” had at least one token drag queen. I guess it was a requirement. Some group’s token queen looked as if he was the unlucky (or lucky depending on point of view) one who pulled his name out of a hat and had to borrow clothes from his mother.

The sponsored floats were handing out standard issue parade items like candy, beads, and condoms….wait what? Yeah I guess Trojan sponsored one of the HIV floats (makes sense, use a condom, help prevent the spread of HIV, etc). Anyway, I was given a handful of condoms for just standing there (when I was in midtown). All of the condoms were magnums! Talk about wishful thinking. He he he.

While on the rooftop, Dana and I started playing “spot the straight guy” on the adjacent rooftop. Luckily some of

the men started making out so it narrowed down the field a bit to guess from. Anyway, they were not nice guys because they started chucking water balloons into the crowd and parade. Normally this would be funny but take into account that we were 9 stories up and the balloons hit the ground like missiles (now imagine what it would feel like to get beamed in the head with one). Anyway, they were targeting the float riders (I don’t know if they thought they could knock on off or something) but occasionally would launch one into the 10 deep packed crowd (the village was the place to be to watch the parade so the streets were lined with hundreds of people). The cops eventually spotted and busted them on their rooftop (don’t ask me how they got up there, but hey they are cops).

Since I was in the village, I decided to drop in on Ryan’s friend Jon who also is somewhat new to the city. We have been playing phone tag for months and he told me to drop by his apartment after the parade since he also lives in Gaytropolis. I did not get much background on the guy from Ryan, but here is what I learned. He is a Canadian and a total player (yeah oxymoron or what)! Seriously, while we were chatting to get to know each other, he got a text from a lawyer girl hook-up of his. I offered to go if he wanted to call her back, but he said “naw it is purely sex, I bet she texts me in a half hour saying she is coming over”. She evidently works 80 hour weeks and uses him as a release. I ask if they talk at all and he said “well yeah of course, you know for like two minutes, then the clothes come off, it is great she doesn’t even stay afterwards”. Okay help me out, is this every guy’s perfect girl? It reminds me of Sex in the City’s Samantha. While giving me the tour, the kitchen held the most laughs. The lone cooking pot on the stove had a layer of dust on it because he never has cooked. Seriously he eats out every day and therefore keeps his kitchen free of dirty dishes. He was proud that he stocks the mini-fridge (what is with Manhattan apartments and mini-fridges, am I the only one with a full side model?) with food just in case his shag buddy gets hungry. When I called him out on it and opened the door, I saw a box of cookies and a half gallon of milk. Okay what is she…Santa Claus? Anyway, I had to leave shortly there after because she did text him to let him know she was coming over in ten. Ah ha ha, relationships in the city.

Here are the pics from the parade:

Super Heros! (the sign says "together ten years blah blah blah"...awww)