Comments:

I felt much the same way after getting home today from our festivities in Denver. It all just leaves me a bit uninspired and feeling more empty. I'm proud of who I am without a carnival to celebrate it. As for the interactions with others, you're right on. A whole lot of smiles and some hugs, but generally not the quality that I seek in my life. Just like you, there were the few and infrequent moments when something struck me as sincere and worthwhile, but the rest of it... bleh. I was outta there by 12:30.

Draining? Yes. Carnivale-esque? YES. Purposeless? No.

I still have vivid memories of a time when I thought I was the only one. Even if, upon seeing the parade or news coverage of Pride for the first time, I thought that all of 'those people' were weird, freaky, even grotesque (much like my mouth-open, eyes-closed picture - thanks Aaron), I knew that there were thousands of people nearby who would not think twice about the fact that I wanted to kiss boys.

Of course I don't find the same comfort in that now, which probably accounts for the jaded, exhausted, disconnected, pissy feeling I left the weekend with. Still, regardless of each Pride-goer's motives in attending, I think the sheer number of us is powerful. And it means something to someone.

You touched bases with the one gay stereotype that I love to see smashed. "Gay men just go in and out of relationships and never settle down." Just the mere talk of a 10 year gay relationship leads me to believe that there is hope. I know I could do it, easily... I'm young and foolish, but I can't wait to find "the" guy and start a family. I'm weird for an 18year old, I understand that, but hearing about long-lasting relationships makes my heart flitter.

I agree Pride has some value to people who are newly out or live in more conservative areas, as Matt suggested. For them, I'm sure it's a good reminder that they're not alone. But as someone who's been out for a while and lives in one of the most tolerant cities in America, personally, I find it boring now.

Some people claim that it has political value, that is, it shows our numbers or sends some kind of message. That may have been true a decade or two ago, but in the Will and Grace era, I don't think it serves any purpose like that anymore. People should just see it as a good excuse to party, and try not to read much more into it.

I've felt a similar crankiness about pride to the one you describe. Like anything else, Gay Pride has been commercialized and turned into a way for corporations, politicians, and small businesses to market to gay people. It's hardly the radical protest it started out as in the early 70s.

Mostly I see gay pride as a chance to see people I haven't seen for a long time, to volunteer and get involved with staffing a booth, and to watch a (sometimes very interesting)parade of humanity walk by.

I also think that gay pride in big cities is still really important to the queers who live outside big cities. I know at the Atlanta Pride event this weekend, there were lots of people from small-town Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama. These people seemed really happy to be surrounded by people who didn't hate or fear them for being a little different.

I think if we didn't have gay pride, we'd lose something special--a little part of our history and our identity. How you celebrate it, though, probably has a big impact on the total experience.

Okay - I feel bad already! Let's do lunch soon. My treat.

You don't have to feel bad at all. I saw you on Sunday and didn't say hello. Of course, you were across the street and there were dozens of people between us.

So we'll treat each other to lunch.

I agree with almost everything said here, Aaron, particularly Joseph G's evaluation. The "Gay Identity" is increasingly commodified and packaged with pretty wrapping paper and a ribbon, then thrown right back at us so we can buy more stuff to look like what the mainstream media tells us to look like. Pride is a great illustration.
But, in the two years that I've attended Pride events, I did meet cool people with a strong sense of integrity and individualism.

This year, I declined to attend most of the pride functions, choosing instead to tackle my parents perceptions of homosexuals: "these gay men will give you aids -- you don't know them, they have no values". It was quite painful, but more meaningful, for me.

I think the fact that Pride can be classified as "commercialized" by some indicates how far we've come. When Gay Pride began decades ago gays and lesbians were outcasts in society. You would never see mainstream organizations like Target or Wells Fargo with presences in gay-related functions, and now they're crawling all over themselves to get a piece of that rainbow pie.

Sure, a lot of the floats were corporate in nature, and a lot of the politicians had a little more than simply honoring the gay community in mind when they signed up to march, but even at the San Francisco Pride events I went to, I couldn't help feeling, well, proud. Proud to see the diversity within our own community, and proud to recognize the gay families that tug the heartstrings.

Pride, like most everything else in life, is what you make it. Sure, there are parties, but there are also fundraising events. Sure, there are hookups, but there are also chances to get involved in great organizations.

It's a mixed bag. I think because everything is done through the filter of a capitalist economy, the exploitative side of everything leaps out at you. But behind almost every attempt to exploit is a humane basis. And in its entirety we have a group of extremely diverse people joining together for the purpose of claiming their rightful place in society. But the emphasis on exploiters--oh fuck...all I want to say is that I wish it were more fun, offered things to DO instead of WATCH and BUY and SIGN. The funnest thing I did was row around the pond. Some of my interactions were fun too. But I steered away from just about everyone thrusting paper and ideas at me. And thanks for doing tea with me. That was nice too.

I have to say that the weekend was nice for me. Granted I didn't get the same experience that everyone else did because I worked all weekend. On top of that, this is actually the first year, since I came out, that I didn't get to really go through the fesitival. Which suprisingly enough left me a little sad. Like some people have stated, it is just nice to be in a place where everything is acceptable and where you can smirk about how cute two gay men can be and be slightly shocked at how comfortable men can be just wearing a thong for an entire day.

Anyway I am glad I got to attend the block party and show some support. And despite some people's motives to use pride as a place to pick guys up, I still view it as a way to say, "hey, I'm gay. Deal with it." I like that.

p.s. Sorry I missed you this weekend Aaron, I was hoping to run into you at some point. We'll have to get together soon. T minus 23 days and counting.