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Originally Posted by OMG!WTF!
So I get it now. I understood logically why Pride week is important. But going to the parade today with six lgbtq teens was hugely eye opening. In short I can't believe the depth of evil it takes to not accept your own kid's sexuality. This parade made up for a tiny bit of the inadequacy provided by the "adults" in their world.
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Yup. Hence my avatar, which I'm hoping to order as a t-shirt. Just try effing with my kid because "lifestyle, abomination, bad bad bad, god god god" and you better be able to run faster scared than I can mad because I will eff your crap up. We've opened our home twice to kids who got the boot simple because of who they want to knock boots with. People are stupid.
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As far as blatant gotcha journalism goes, we sat next to a small group of visible minorities all dressed in rainbows. First Nenshi poses with them for a pic. Then Kent Hehr practically runs over a dozen people with his wheelchair beelining over to get his snoot in there for a picture. Then Shaw TV goes straight in for the interview. Then the NDP caucus reps all head over for pictures. And so on. The people were laughing about their unexpected stardom.
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As to the bolded, he made a beeline over towards a group my daughter was with one year, and they all turned around and moved down the street to avoid him. He's very annoying and they'd seen it previous years, and were very much not interested.
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Here's my parade...The dogs were great. Lots of dogs. I was amazed at how many churches were represented. I had no idea every group has there own flag including polyamourous, asexual and fetish boys. I was hoping to see some Flames and some Stamps but I guess they were busy, middle of the season and beginning of the season. Some Roughnecks were there. A roller derby team and our female football team The Rage were there showing some moves. Twisted Element night club is going to be way too loud for me and my 40 something ears.
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The dog part is one of our favorite things about Pride. My daughter dresses hers up, lol, and because they have white fur, gives them a temporary rainbow faux-hawk and does a rainbow in their tails. They get lots of pets and love it.
TE is likely going to be more than just too loud, haha. I'll go pretty much anywhere my daughter wants to take me, without any issues, but she figures TE is just too much TE for her old mum. It even makes her a bit anxious lol. The after thingy at the end of the parade is a ton of fun. The parade is a ton of fun.
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The protestors couldn't figure out how to march backwards without tripping and getting laughed at so they just quit. CPS had a big turn out but there were more fire trucks than fire fighters. We have a surprisingly large furry community.
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As for the protestors, last year there was only one, at least that we saw and heard about. We got funnelled into his area by the crowd as we were walking down to Millenium Park after the parade (where Pride used to end up) and he was just carrying on yelling some really nasty crap so as we walked by. The crowd just laughed at him, it was very peaceful, other than his raging, and the police just made sure to hang around and keep an eye out.
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My heart just hurts for these kids. I want to do something for them but I don't know what.
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Sometimes, there isn't much you can do. Sometimes, it's just being an adult in their world that they can trust, that can offer them a safe space, and who is willing to listen to them, and who is willing to just continue telling them that they aren't evil, they aren't going to cause the end of the world, that they aren't the downfall of humanity, that they aren't going to burn in hell or whatever else gets thrown at them. For some kids, just one voice of support, is enough to keep them alive.
You could also donate to organizations that support LGBTQ kids in any way (Camp fYrefly for example). And further, there is the Aura Host Home program for LGBTQ2S+ youth who are currently homeless or may become homeless because of their sexuality, which provides them with a home and support.
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