#iampulse

June is Pride Month recognizing those who identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ) and honoring those lost to the 1969 Stonewall riots in Manhattan, New York City signifying the beginning of America’s LGBT Civil Rights movement.

The city of Houston has a very special connection to this time of year as former Mayor Annise Parker was the only openly lesbian politician to serve in the role for a major metropolitan city in the United States. This is the 38th annual Houston PRIDE festival.

  “City Hall in Downtown was where the event that is widely know as Houston’s own ‘Stonewall’ occurred in 1977, as thousands protested against Anita Bryant.”

  The last year has been very rough on our local LGBTQ neighbors and friends as HERO was struck down, “bathroom laws” contiune to be an unecessary topic of discussion (people just need to pee!), PRIDE Houston was moved out of the LGBTQ neighborhood of Montrose into Downtown Houston’s City Hall and Tranquility and Herman Park last year and still drawing hotly contested, on-going criticism from the public (myself included) and now the tragedy in Orlando, signifying a bigger problem(s) with our entire country. Nonetheless, there is still plenty of LIFE to celebrate the rest of the month and the week of June 19th – 25th when the bulk of the events, including the parade will take place. Resilience and strength is what the LGBTQ community is built upon.

This year’s Grand Marshalls were voted:

Female Grand Marshall: Fran Watson Male Grand Marshall: Brad Odom Aly Marshall: Dena Gray

Official Performers of 2016 PRIDE Houston include, RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 7 finalist Pearl, Dallas favorite Ishi, one of my favorite Houston bands Wrestlers, and “friend of the Hive” the stunning and talented Lyric Michelle!

The parade Starts at 8:30 PM and ends at 11:00 PM. This is free event, open to the public, no age limit. The parade begins at Lamar Street and goes up/North on Smith Street until Walker Street where it will make a Right until Milam Street then make a left and continue until Jefferson Street.

The huge hit that is PRIDE Superstar Finale will take place at Meteor, the official PRIDE after party is hosted at South Beach and Hot Tea will bring back an old, notorious Houston favorite in Rich’s nightclub.

For a full listing of all official and sponsored events, including maps, FAQs, street closures and more visit Houston Pride’s Facebook pages or Pride Houston.

Please be aware since Orlando, threats for attacks on PRIDE events all over America, including Houston, have occurred.

Houston Police Department is taking active precautions in the wake of the events and investigating the online social media accounts accused of posting threats as well as running drills with swat and militia Downtown before the week ahead.

  Here are my go-to tips for attending the Pride festival and parade -or any festival, parade, event for that matter:

1. If you plan on attending the parade, please respect the regulations of what to bring and leave at home – especially since this is the first year for the change of location for the festivities, check the website’s FAQ’s before you attend. 2. It will be scorching hot — so stay hydrated! 3. Bring a light bag to collect all the free swag and beads thrown to bordering crowds. 4. Wear comfortable shoes– who knows how far from the festivities you may need to park. 5. Leave your cards at home and bring cash for food, drinks and dranks– it’s just easier. ATMs are available on the festival grounds. 6. Wear your loudest, brightest colors! I promise you won’t be alone– you’re bound to see some crazy and creative costumes and outfits. Be aware of public decency/ nudity laws for Downtown. 7. Familiarize yourself with open container laws for the area. 8. Don’t forget tissues and hand sanitizer for later in the day/night when port-a-potties are lacking the essentials. 9. Most importantly PLEASE BE RESPECTFUL OF ALL ATTENDEES! This is ultimately a peaceful celebration of fellow Houstonians and more who deserve to exist freely! NO JUDGEMENTS ALLOWED! 10. Talk to people, here issues and opinions, be civil and respectful; just LISTEN.

“Y’all” means ALL.

  For information about Houston Pride Week and the official Pride celebration parade visit https://www.pridehouston.org/ All images courtesy of PRIDE Houston

He was not a practicing Muslim and I really wish people would not just handwave that away as the reason for this. His family and friends say he was not religious. He was not observing Ramadan. He pledged last-minute alliances with factions that were enemies of each other. He was the equivalent of a douchey Italian-American guy claiming to be in the Mafia. He idolized cops, specifically the NYPD (well known for their racism and brutality), and tried to become an officer. He is as American as apple pie.

Most shooters are white, many are Christian or were raised as Christians, but you never see that mentioned on the news when they commit these atrocities. We're only quick to tack on a religion when it happens to be a non-Christian one, and man we will shoehorn that on as hard as possible. I'm bombarded with the hypocrisy of American Christians claiming that it was Islam that taught him to hate homosexuals, as if the Bible doesn't say the same thing, as if American religious leaders haven't called on their flock to shoot and kill trans people in bathrooms, as if they didn't openly celebrate the Pulse shooting, calling the victims perverts and pedophiles?

They do, in fact, act out against us in hate and violence DAILY. We are told we are sinners, child rapists, confused, insane, and going to Hell DAILY. Trans women are murdered with shocking frequency, LGBT youth make up more than HALF of the underage homeless population, our domestic violence/sexual assault/assault rates are exponentially higher than in the straight/cis population. Multiply these if you are a queer PoC, or disabled, or neurodivergent, etc. And yet I'm told that America is inclusive and fair because we have gay marriage now - long after many other countries, and only after a long and vicious fight.

And now I'm seeing posts about how he was just a self-hating gay man, how he had a profile on a "gay website", how he was a regular at the club. He also may possibly have been struggling with the innate queerness that most humans have, but he was also a known violent abuser, and people like that are known to case and study their victims. It's very possible that he was doing just that, especially since it was known that he showed open rage against two men kissing in public. Trying to claim he was gay is just another way to blame the LGBT community for their own tragedy.

Even if he were ~secretly~ gay, it wasn't the LGBT community that taught him to hate the gays. We didn't do this. This was caused by toxic masculinity, the American kyriarchy, and the ease of obtaining weapons that can kill an entire room of people in seconds, despite the fact that he had a history of domestic violence and terrorist threats.

This was caused by every politician who pocketed NRA money and voted against weapons laws and against LGBT protections. This was caused by every pastor and priest who cries about the sin of the LGBT community while simultaneously hiding child sex crimes in their own churches. This was caused by every cop that's shot a PoC and gotten away with a paid vacation, while judges shrug their shoulders and claim it was self-defense as if being non-white is a threat in itself. This was caused by every man that's called another man a pussy for showing any emotion besides anger. This was caused by every parent that threw out their gay or trans child, leaving them to be homeless and proving their parental love was very conditional. This was caused by every person who has made a disparaging comment against undocumented immigrants, using phrases like "my tax dollars" and "aliens" but somehow only thinks about those people if they happen to be brown. This was caused by every film director who has used a man in a dress as a cheap joke. This was caused by every person that's seen any of these things and said nothing.