I was suprised to hear someone ask whether this was on my list because I'm homophobic.
NO WAY!
This is on my list because I really admire people who can stand up and say, this is who I am. Whether that's gay, straight, white, black or whatever, I have real respect for people who don't shy aware from who they are.
I used to have a lot of gay friends in college. I don't really in NZ. I have a few, but not many and for awhile I thought perhaps it was the culture. NZ often feels like a throw back several years and it had crossed my mind maybe people weren't as open about it here. Certainly the only lesbian I know was out to friends, but did not publicise her orientation at work.
In any event, the thought that there wasn't a huge gay community was shattered here. The parade was packed! Tons of people.
My friend Megan went with me - she has been great about supporting me with this quest (so many people have).
We had a blast. The parade lasted for about 35-40 minutes and while there weren't a huge amount of floats, there were loads of people. Politicians marching, drag queens, teens in support, people in body paint and roller derby girls. The one that was the most inspiring was the soldiers who were marching for the first time this year in their uniforms.
Part of it was really awe inspiring. I mean here were people of all types, of all body shapes (and many of them on display) saying "here I am".
Here's some pictures from the event. And yes, they were all taken in manual mode on my camera and edited with photoshop.
And see more pics at http://plus.google.com/photos/104090773504255815550/albums/5848933534082961249 - click this link to see the photos"
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