Drag Queens and Trains

Hello all! Here I am, back with more exciting tales, despite Blogger mysteriously turning my default language to Swedish. Go figure.

Having never been, or even considered going to a LGBT Pride event before (as a a straight guy, there just seemed to be rather no point) I had no expectations of how I would find Brighton Pride. I was slightly worried I would feel very much like a tourist and that it would be all rather alienating for me. Fortunately this could not have been further from the truth.

Arriving in Brighton with my girlfriend, all we needed to do to find the parade route was to follow the huge crowds of people all heading in one direction. The sailor outfits were a bit of a giveaway as well. After waiting around for a short time, the parade properly began, preceeded by a small army of frankly Del Boy-ish men hawking everything you could imagine with a rainbow pattern on it.

Fortunately the parade itself was not so opportunistically commercial, representing many local groups including the LGBT groups within many local public services, LGBT support charities, unions and sports groups. There were also the obligatory appearances from the local sections of political parties, unsurpisingly the Socialist Worker's Party were there, along with the Greens (very big in Brighton, much to my approval), the Liberal Democrats and the Labour party. No sign of the Tories though, not that this was very shocking. Amusingly, the Labour party's banner made the claim that "Only Labour can achieve equality", which in the light of a 13 year run of political dominance with no gay marriage and few advances in the way society treats LGBT people, seemed a little ironic to me.

The vast majority of the parade seemed to have very little to do with political allegiances and generally it had a very warm, very open and welcoming carnival atmosphere. The dancing and music were appropriately cheerful and the costumes were varied, imaginative and very often impressive. Even though I have a slight phobia of being in large crowds, I found myself feeling safer and more comfortable in those crowds than I had found in any others before. There was just an overwhelming air of inclusiveness and you got the feeling no one was judging anyone else.

Later on, when we had followed the parade to Preston Park, there was a genuine carnival in full swing, with myriad stalls catering to everything from sex toys to LGBT christians (and I am still not sure which I found more amusing). I was quite surprised at some of the wandering salesmen as they moved around the crowd shouting "Get your poppers here!". There was a caberet there, which we gravitated towards, with a number of drag queen acts singing old (and very cheesy) classics. The singalong to "Total Eclipse of the Heart" was almost deafening, though I must say I did join in. Liberal application of rum helped with this.

I must say that I enjoyed myself a great deal at Brighton Pride and would love to go again at some point. The only thing I think could perhaps make it better would be more toilet facilities as many people found themselves forced to go in the woods nearby due to overwhelming queues.

All-in-all and in conclusion (and other overused summing-up phrases) I feel very relaxed after my trip doon sooth (this usage is appropriate as I have noticed my accent get a good deal stronger down here).

I am writing this as I am on the train back up to Edinburgh feeling fairly prepared for reviewing twenty shows in under two weeks, though with a strong sense of not knowing what I have let myself in for. Which is all the fun really. Will hopefully be back online soon, presumably with news of my imminent nervous breakdown. Byeeeeeee!