Pride

"Y'all Means ALL" was this year's theme*

Today was Charlottesville's Gay Pride event. We usually miss it because we've usually been in the UK at this time of year. We were here this year and although Clay was working, I went. In the past it had always been held in Lee Park, now Emancipation Park, but it had outgrown the space and was held in the pavilion on the downtown mall this year. It was well produced and very well attended; I think it has to be considered an unqualified success. But it felt weird to me.

That's Felix in the center, Vince in the rear,
and Scarlett in front.

Every once in a while it occurs to me that we know very few gay people these days. As I was walking around the festival and thinking who I might run into, most of them were straight people. That's both good and bad. It's good that so many progressive straight friends would be in attendance, but bad that I knew so few people of my own tribe. Partly that's a sign of the times -- we are everywhere and we no longer need to live in a gay ghetto. Partly it's a function of age. I pulled out an old gay t-shirt to wear to the event. It was from the 1993 March on Washington. It is both older than my relationship with Clay and older than many of the people in attendance to today's event.

Fortunately, I did manage to run into a few of the gay people I know in Charlottesville. It's good to know them. Yes, I have friends I can call to help dispose of a body. But, say that some Nazi/christian/republican turns up dead on my doorstep. What I would really need is a soul sister to show up and drive a stake through the bastard's heart to make double damn sure they are dead and in hell before we dispose of the body. That's a job for the gay mafia.

Scarlett and Felix

I had another reason to be proud today, however, and it concerned my little girl, Maya. We've been boarding former foster Scarlett for a few days. She went home today but we took in former foster Felix to take her place for the next week. Felix is a sweet boy and I didn't expect any problem with him and any of our other dogs, with the possible exception of TJ, who can be a bit of a butthead with new male dogs.

I brought Felix in and introduced him to Scarlett, Vince, and then Maya. After Maya saw him and knew who he was, I brought in TJ. The boys started in with typical male posturing, but Maya told them both to cool it. TJ tried to hump Felix and I stopped it. Maya then humped Felix and I let her, so everyone knew who was in charge. After that TJ and Felix both made some more playful overtures towards each other and I think they will be fine. Most important, the two of them did not get into a pissing match all over my house.

Felix and Maya, with her tail held high and
fluffed out.

 My little girl is growing up. I couldn't be more proud.

That's TJ in the middle now.

TJ with his head over Felix's back.

Maya made everyone keep their cool.

She stayed between them, talked to them, and
apparently they listened.

Felix meeting Trooper (left) and Gigi (right) in the dog yard.

That's Theo in the middle now, Gigi in front, Felix in back,
and Sparky in the far back right.

That's Theo checking out Felix in the back, Max in front
with a piece of firewood in his mouth. 

This is a nice picture of Scarlett. She is an easy keeper when
she's here, but she's happiest when she's back home.

* This is the famous hat from this year's Pride. The story came out about a week ago that the vendor who had been asked to print the hats had refused, saying they didn't want to get involved in anything "political." It was quickly discovered that the same vendor had done a job printing a right wing logo, so it became obvious that they just didn't want to cause another hurricane by angering their stupid god like so many gay wedding cake bakers had obviously done. Progress is slow and uneven at times. As Martin Luther King, Jr., said, "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice." Yet so many still insist on proudly taking their place on the wrong side of history.