On Saturday, March 5th, one of the biggest LGBT events in the world takes over the streets of Sydney. Tens of thousands of every sexual orientation imaginable (straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transexual, a new invention, you name it) colors Oxford Street with pride and sexuality. It doesn’t matter if you’re not LGBT, as far as I’m concerned, for that day, I was. I’ve never felt so inspired by such a massive crowd of people that are just simply proud to be who they are. Every LGBT person at the parade that night was most likely more confident and comfortable with themselves than I am with myself. It was beautiful. And it made me appreciate who I am and what I believe I stand for. For that night, no one had any idea if I was gay or straight, you just fit in for being you. In fact, it’s even more important to exaggerate who you are — loudly and proudly, with clothes or with out clothes, in freaky costumes or dressed as a different gender. Anything goes. It’s almost impossible for me to imagine a world that has been so hateful to people who have a different sexual orientation, something that is so personal. We have the right to love whoever we want. We have the right not to be judged for it.
The “Say Something” campaign promoted Australian Marriage Equality, I saw at least 10 floats that were dedicated to making gay marriage legal. We live in such a considerably more accepting and liberal world than we did 30 years ago that sometimes I forget that there is a law against same sex marriage. When I get to really thinking about it, it seems silly to me that we cannot marry whomever we desire. It’s wrong, it’s hurtful, and it’s not okay. I feel proud that I go to a university in an American state that has made gay marriage legal.
LGBT Mardi Gras isn’t just a day celebration, it is a “season” that Australians and tourists look forward to all year. There are events that go on from February to March and I wish I would have gotten to attend more of them!
I love how you posted that youtube link. It not only shows us what those parades are like, but for a moment, I could almost imagine being there and being completely proud of who I am as a human being. I also love how it didn’t matter whether or not you were gay or bi or straight (or etc), but as long as you are yourself, that’s every reason to join in on the celebration.
It sounds like you had so much fun and felt and learned so many new things! Great post. <3
By: Rochelle Liu on March 21, 2011
at 11:51 AM