Week Five: The Pride Pack

At the conclusion of my fifth week here in London, I got to keep up with a tradition that has been near and dear to my heart for many years. Pride! As a gay man, out and proud, going to Pride is one of my favorite events of the year--I get to celebrate the wonderful life I get to lead, living in a time of never-before-seen freedom for LGBT people, as well as be surrounded by scores of others who aim to celebrate alongside me! This Pride was the eighth I've gotten the pleasure of celebrating.
Pride in London was (for lack of a better term) fabulous! It wasn't the rowdiest Pride I've ever been to, but that's nothing to complain about. The parade was cheerful, the people were in great spirits, and the sun was shining down all day, which was a brilliant change of pace from the week preceding. The best part for me, personally, was being surrounded by so many waving rainbow flags. Something that has been a little bit of a struggle for me while I've been in London is being the only gay person among a group of my peers. While I'm home in Los Angeles or at school in DC, this is not the case, so I've had to do some adapting while I've been here. But this weekend, while at Pride, I felt so at home and comfortable being around other gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and other people like myself. It reminded me just how fortunate I am to live the whole year long with other gay and lesbian people like me by my side. And I'm sure that if I were living in London permanently or for a longer period of time than this summer, I'd be able to establish a network of other gay friends, but this short program length hasn't given me the time do so.
In any case, I was overjoyed to celebrate Pride this weekend. I watched the parade, drank, danced in Trafalgar Square, and saw a man propose to his boyfriend on the stage in front of thousands. It was a lovely cap to a wonderful day. Another lovely aspect of the day was that I was alongside five other friends who wanted to celebrate the LGBT community with me. It was the next closest thing to being around my gay and lesbian friends from home, and I was so thankful that my new friends from CCA wanted to join me at Pride.

Until next time,
Danny