Even while it appears as if fewer and fewer people take
advantage of what the Pride Rally offers, there’s really no good
excuse for missing an afternoon surrounded by members of the
LGBT community in one of New York’s most delicious and civilized
parks, No excuse – except of course for the mercury heading
toward one hundred, and also the fact that
Folsom Street East
was scheduled for the same Sunday afternoon, as was Dancing at
the Crossroads, both of them fundraisers, for both
GMHC and the
Anti-Violence Project. So perhaps these were a few of the
reasons why the crowd on Sunday afternoon at Bryant Park was
notably sparser than in previous years. How else to explain why
more people don’t take advantage of free entertainment, a lush
green lawn, and eye candy in various stages of undress?
Traditionally, the Rally kicks off Pride Week in New York – and
as a rule, the Grand Marshals of the Parade speak – but this
year, Christine Quinn was otherwise engaged, and so Florent
Morellet donned a wig and feigned her enthusiasm at being
chosen, before ditching the wig and explaining how he’d dragged
himself from the abyss of depression to a near-embrace of the
Log Cabin Republicans – which is definitely one kind of
spiritual journey.
Fortunately, there was also
Ari Gold and
Billy Porter, working to incite the sweltering few
with their infectious tunes and their warm soulful voices and
their earnest pleas to come together as a community and stand up
for each other and stop the hate. Without a doubt, the recent
attack on Kevin Aviance was the sub-text of the Rally, and more
than a few speakers addressed anti-gay violence head-on and
begged for us to toss off our chains and walk tall and stand
proud. But it was perhaps the final act of the Rally, a group
of young kids of all colors, calling themselves Love, Life and
Happy Endings, who tore into their choreographed routine with
such enthusiasm and ebullience that despair no longer fit into
the equation. As one young singer said in closing, “My
religion? One love.” Word? Youth shall be heard.
Best always,
Mark and Robert
