Posted on 05/07/2002 8:05:18 AM PDT by marshmallow
The 21st annual Northampton Pride March and Rally, which is a celebration of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community, attracted an estimated 8,000 people. And it had no shortage of young participants.
During the parade, one little girl carried a pink sign which read, "I luv my 2 mommies." Another little boy - wearing a red boa - sat in a jeep, which bore this message: "We're Here. We're Queer. Our parents think we're studying." Teenagers from high school gay clubs, including one from Amherst whose banner featured a rainbow, also participated in the parade. There was even a Pride Bear mascot who posed for photographs with the children.
David Quaadman, a visitor from Newburgh, New York, told MassNews: "I believe in tolerance for homosexuals. No one should be fired from their job, because they are homosexual. Nobody should be attacked on the streets."
He thought it was unsuitable, however, for children and young teens to be in a parade atmosphere that included everything from glamorous drag queens to a young woman who was topless except for white tape placed over her breasts, to motorcycle-driving 'Dykes on Bikes,' to gay pride fairies.
"It's not an appropriate place for children, especially children under fifteen. The homosexual lifestyle is probably getting shoved down their throats," said Quaadman.
Began in Park
The Pride March began with the parade in Lampron Park. It was followed by an afternoon rally at Veterans Field that attracted vendors, entertainers, and politicians, like Mary Clare Higgins, Northampton's first openly gay mayor.
Mayor Higgins, who welcomed the crowd, told rally-goers that they should "unite around a (gubernatorial) candidate that will beat [Republican] Mitt Romney in November." Democrat Peter Kocot, who was just elected to the 1st Hampshire District House seat and had marched in the parade, followed Higgins. He made a dig at the Protection of Marriage Amendment - which seeks to preserve the traditional definition of marriage - by praising local activists "who are working to stop the anti-gay constitutional amendment" to ensure that "fear and hate have no place in policy-making in Massachusetts."
The entertainment for the day included a comedy skit that was performed by "Up with (Gay) People!" It featured a duo named Sandy and Christy who were played by Kelsey Flynn and Julie Waggoner. The pair shared this dialogue with the audience:
"We used to be scared straight. Scared straight was a federally-funded program in which pardoned, former homosexuals - such as Sandy and myself - went to colleges, universities and various public gatherings around the country bringing our message of hope to vulnerable, impressionable young people, such as yourselves, before it was too late. We wanted you to get scared straight. But after long, hard, honest self-reflection …We're no longer scared straight. Huh-uh. No. Now we are comfortable with our homosexuality, and we want you to be, too."
The vendors' tables ran the gamut from those who sold t-shirts to those who pitched opinions. Representatives from the Robert Reich for Governor campaign were available to talk to voters, as well as Dan Grabauskas, Republican candidate for state treasurer. Right Watch, a local advocacy group, invited the public to hear author Chip Berlet speak about "Right-wing Populism in America: Too Close for Comfort." Dignity USA, a movement comprised of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered Catholics, handed out brochures about "what the Bible really teaches about homosexuality," as one organization member explained to those who stopped by his table.
Zoe's Fish and Chop House of Easthampton invited the public to a Lesbian Tea Dance that featured an appearance by Madame V, New York's comedy club sexual fortune queen. EqualMarriage.org, a group that promotes civil marriage rights for same-sex couples, distributed literature, and Pink Pages, instead of yellow pages, were handed out for free.
Sponsors for the 2002 Pride March included the Northampton Area Lesbian & Gay Business Guild, Kidsports, WRNX radio, Diva's Nightclub and the Cooley Dickinson Hospital. In past years, fundamentalist Christians protested the Pride March, but Saturday's event had no opposition.
Good investment. Gays buy a lot of health care.
Don't sell to them
Don't speak to them Shun them, for they are subhuman
I guess they are going to add Sports for Gay Kids to their site. Despicable.
Its a shame because they once elected my favorite President of the 20th century (Calvin Coolidge) mayor.
(And no flames from anybody who wants to tell me what their great uncle REALLY did in the cow shed.)
Yep.
I remember some show on TV, can't say whether it was 60 minutes or what, but they featured the homosexual practices of elites over there in the Middle East somewhere (yes, my memory is sorta hazy) but I do remember them saying that because all the women were hidden from view that the menfolk would gather in the desert and do some "man-handling" if you catch my drift. Anyways, certain Muslims may actually be jealous that our society allows for such perversion to be openly endorsed.
But they are passive and dread a good beating.
East Side Grill is great for blackened food.
Spolletos is good for Italian.
For MAC computers, I go to YES.
As for the gubernatorial race, it will be Romney and O'Brien.
Reich may be popular with the Northampton crowd but he can't carry the state.
I guess this is just another thing the libs can claim "it's all for the children" now. I knew that tinky winky thing would get out of hand.
Did anyone ask them about their relationship to NAMBLA and other sex criminals? How many of them have sexually molested little children? Put the lot of them on an island with serial predator Paul Shanley and let them rot.
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