Greetings, Warriors for Full Equality! I'm back from InterPride and changed in a way I've not been before.
I've been to about 8 of these InterPride conferences, where Pride organizers gather from all over the world to discuss triumphs, defeats, temporary setbacks and more. We celebrate our victories and strategize how to get around obstacles. It's very empowering to bathe in the glow of concerted efforts both here and abroad. This year was different.
Perhaps it was the showing of "Beyond Gay: The Politics of Pride" that shows me a) what I'm working toward with Jersey Pride, GAAMC, the Arts Project of Cherry Grove and more is part of a matrix of global effort and affect, b) the Butterfly Effect that even our smallest actions are related to one another, c) we influence people even in one conversation whose results may last a lifetime, d) all of the above and things we haven't mentioned
Meeting other Pride peeps has galvanized me. Knowing that my dear friend Billy Urich could have met with serious misadventure when supporting Pride in Belgrade, where skinheads were attacking people they even THOUGHT might be gay. Perhaps it's meeting Nikolai Alekseev, founder of Moscow Pride (and a fellow photgrapher) whose passion for change runs deep enough that he would do anything to make it happen and keep it happening. Maybe it's my new friends from Stockholm Pride whose grace and solid natures provide one of the safest, happiest Pride festivals in Europe. These all give heart to people just beginning to make change happen in the most hostile environments.
Grass grows through sidewalks, pride grows through adversity, we all grow through the experience.
