Wednesday, July 03, 2019

Pride People


So, jeeze, the second half of June was crammed with so many kinds of awesome I've had a terrible case of blogger's block just trying to figure out where to start. It's all a little overwhelming. It started off with an ACA Instructor Development Workshop with three great days of dusting off skills, while camping out at nearby Floyd Bennett Field. Then there was a fantastic family gathering in Michigan to celebrate 110 years of marriage (one 50th and one 60th anniversary). Then to finish things off I joined Scholastic colleagues on Sunday to march in my first NYC Pride. It was World Pride and the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots. Scholastic employees have marched together just as friends in past Pride Parades, but this year the company made it official.

Sebago had a rescue class going on up at the lake on the same day. I would've enjoyed that, and rescues are one of the things I slacked off on practicing after my mastectomy & reconstruction, and my rustiness on some of the more advanced rescues - Hand of God in particular - was noticeable at the IDW, so the class would've been a good follow-up. Because of that, I didn't quite make my decision the minute I saw the announcement - but after thinking things through I decided on going to the march, but I was leaning towards marching from the start and it didn't take too much thinking to decide.

I might talk more about my reasons for going in another post, but for tonight, I thought I would at least kick of my July blogging by sharing some photos from the march. I got there a good bit early to have some time to wander, it was a picture-taking paradise and as I meandered my way slowly up to the staging area, the question that kept running through my head was "How is it that I've never even come to see this before?" Click here to visit the album I put together. Enjoy!  

5 comments:

Shari said...

I love the pride celebrations. It has taken way too long for ALL people to feel comfortable with who they are and to not feel compelled to conform to other's expectations.

Rena said...

I watched them on TV from SC and wished I could have gone. I enjoy showing my support of Pride. I think more people should.

bonnie said...

Thanks!

We've made so much progress on this front, I just want to see things keep going the way they've been going.

Alana said...

Two weeks ago husband and I were walking on the Walkway Over the Hudson (a state historic park) and on the flagpole, there was the American flag and the pride flag flying. What a wonderful moment. I think your employer giving official recognition to this is awesome.

bonnie said...

I have never made it to the Walkway but I have a friend who works for Scenic Hudson, an organization that did a lot to make it happen. Someday I'll get there!

I was just delighted that Scholastic did that. We publish some really wonderful books featuring LGBTQIA characters; there are excellent articles like this one on the company website, and One Million Moms has already called for a boycott. So this was not a surprising step for the company to take - but I love that they took it and I couldn't think of a better way to say so than by joining in.