The rainbow connection 

On June 28 and 29, I trekked up to the Bay Area for the penultimate gay experience: San Francisco Pride Weekend 2013.

click to enlarge

• PHOTO BY MAEVA CONSIDINE
• NEW SHOES BLUES : San Francisco’s Converse store came out in support of Pride and the recent Supreme Court decisions involving gay marriage.

I spent four years being molded and shaped in the sometimes crazy but always exciting womb of San Francisco. Throughout my time in college, this city nurtured me, fed me, encouraged me … and then spat me out on the train home to San Luis Obispo, sitting next to some guy who clearly needed to see a podiatrist, or maybe a faith healer.

But for four glorious years I basked in the glow and the sparkle* of the city by the bay, taking my time to discover just who I was and what I wanted in life (I’m a 5-foot-3 Taurus who enjoys almost all of the various uses of bath salts, as well as cats in formal wear).

Some, if not a lot, of that discovery came from celebrating events like Pride Weekend, and come June 27 I was about ready to explode with anticipation and Melissa Ethridge musical montages.

I normally get very excited about Pride Weekend, but this year’s celebrations held an almost mythical level of anticipation for me (think: Abraham Lincoln wearing a rainbow top hat, driving an El Camino down Market Street) because of the recent Supreme Court decisions to axe the Defense of Marriage Act and to declare Proposition 8 unconstitutional.

Let’s just say I was not disappointed by the events that transpired over the weekend, and when Sunday’s final parade rolled around, I could already feel the Pride hangover and depression over the fact that I would have to go back to gay civilian life setting in hard.

click to enlarge

• PHOTO BY MAEVA CONSIDINE
• IT’S RAINING MEN : Writer Maeva Considine made some colorful connections the weekend of San Francisco’s Gay Pride on June 28 and 29.

But then I remembered that the Gay and Lesbian Alliance of San Luis Obispo does this brilliant thing where they, too, act as host to a Pride Weekend in July, and my spirit was revived instantly by the thought of hanging out with a few of my local favorites and celebrating something so very near and dear to my heart.

You, too, can get in on the Pride and support your gay neighbors (gaybors), gay babysitters (gaybysitters), gay mailmen (gailmen), and all of the other gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer folks in your life. July 12 will kick things off with the annual Drag Show at SLO Brew (tickets cost $20 and may in fact sell out before this piece goes to print). Then there will be a big gay after-party on July 13 at Pappy McGregor’s starting at 9 p.m. ($5 cover). Finally, it will all culminate with Pride in the Plaza, all day, on July 14 with special guest Alex Newell from Glee.

You can get tickets to the Divas Live Drag Show and get other Pride Weekend updates and details at slopride.com. As for me, I’ll be there, sporting more gay pride than Jodi Foster at the Oscars.

* The sparkle comes from a strong offshore breeze that converges with particularly low humidity found only in the Castro neighborhood, which causes thousands of pounds of glitter to spread through the city. Just kidding. I totally made that up. But … it’s probably true.

Maeva Considine is the calendar editor at New Times and frequently contributes to the publication Feral Cats in Bowties Quarterly. Contact her at [email protected].