Portland Gay Pride Parade

Sunday I went into the city of Portland, about 15 minutes from my home here in the suburbs to pick up something at SAKS that Jane wanted and we bought for her room last week when she was here. Luckily for me Sunday was also Gay Pride Day in Portland, with a big parade in the center of the city.

No, I am not gay. But being from New Orleans am well acquainted with all things gay. I decided to go to the parade and then pick up the SAKS purchase. So today you get a brief observation on gay parades here and in New Orleans.

I found the Portland parade very tame, nice to see, and quite positive in perspective and atmosphere. There were fewer drag queens, and they were dressed far less convincingly than in New Orleans. In New Orleans some men in drag can almost compete with Thai lady boys for loveliness. The Queens I saw in Portland were dressed more for parody than for beauty.This parade was also very commercial. Politicians were "sponsoring" marching units or floats and riding in it themselves.

That's quite a change from 25 years ago when a politician would lose rather than gain votes by appearing to condone a gay lifestyle. There was also a huge number of church sponsored units,even the Catholic Church (which is trying to go "undercover", hiding from the gay priest scandals so much in the news today).

To the contrast, New Orleans parades are wholly privately organized, bankrolled and performed. There is no commercialism allowed in them. And politicians rarely appear in New Orleans parades. Church participation is never seen in New orleans parades.Also, the Portland parade was a light PG performance, no nudity and few sexually provocative costumes. In New Orleans the gay parades border on being either distasteful or obscene and are always at least X rated. But the Portland/New Orleans difference in this reflects the character of both cites. New Orleans is more of an "adult" city and Portland a "family" city.

The Portland parade had few floats and but were not professional ones. It was more of a fun, neighborhood production. In New Orleans, the floats and costumes are quite elaborate, again being a part of the city's tradition. In both cities, tolerance for the gay lifestyle seems to be very high.I had a nice time at the parade, particularly chatting with some people from Sydney, Australia, Salt lake City, Utah, and a mom and daughter who once lived in Portland but now live in Bangkok, Thailand where the husband/father is a U.S. diplomat.

I have noticed it is difficult to start a casual conversation with strangers here in Portland. In New Orleans it is expected. But the parade had Portlanders and visitors in a good mood. That was nice....but I don't think it's enough to make me become gay....yet...haha