Thoughts from the front of the back of my mind

Anything that makes me get up at 0530 on a Saturday has got to be something worth doing. And it so was.

In Brighton for 9:30 and at the meeting point for 9:45, a drawn out period of "hurry up and wait" followed as the parade amassed. Me and miss_amaranth were marching with the Sussex LGBTQ group, closely (and mingled in with) the Socialist Workers. I have a rant against them (particularly their attitude to/at Pride) brewing but I will leave it be for now.

The march could only be described as intense. The heat wasn't helping, but with such a huge number of people, but with none of the wide open spaces afforded to somewhere like London, the overall effect was much more in-your-face. There was also a lot of revelry in the parade that left me feeling more than a little uncomfortable.

We covered what felt like a very large distance (probably 2 miles) and the whole city was involved - rainbow flags everywhere, even the shops, was a sight I haven't seen anywhere else. The park itself was crazy busy and the Bi Meet at the stall was excellent, something I really think we should consider doing again at some of the other prides.

We spent the rest of the day hanging out with sunflower_29 and finally got a lift home to Jess' aunt's about 10pm where we promptly went splat. Sunday was dedicated to recovering before heading home.

Brighton has left me with some mixed feelings - much more so than the other prides I've attended. What's odd is where they lie. I loved that the whole city seemed to be involved, rainbow flags everywhere and streets closed for the whole day was amazing. The actual parade and festival though left a somewhat bitter taste.

The parade seemed badly managed, it was far too long. I was very glad I'd brought a big bottle of water with me or we would have had to bail early. It was also massively overpriced, £45 for volunteer groups is messed up. Then to have the nerve to bug people constantly for donations is just testament that someone, somewhere, is making far too much money from this.

One of the big things I noticed at the festival was that for a lot of people this was a piss-up and nothing more. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate it's meant to be a party but, I don't know, I just didn't like the atmosphere there. I do avoid music festivals for this reason though so maybe that has something to do with it. There was a good community village though (I'm looking at you, London) and the Bi Stall was excellent. It seems they were the only ones who came prepared for the wind though!

There were also some major organisational concerns. Food sellers were heavily overcharging (£3 for a small box of chips) and there wasn't a single extra bin provided. The mess was horrific by the time we left and still looked awful from the quick glimpse I caught on the train home as it passed the park. Why there weren't skips dotted around (like at Oxford), I don't know.

This post is coming across far too negative. The Pride was amazing, with the whole city getting involved and seeing so many people out-and-proud both in the parade and in the crowd. I'm going next year, undoubtedly and the whole weekend was a blast.

Very much looking forward to the much more sedate plans we have this weekend though. Ice cream, anyone? *grin*

The last few days have been busy but with lots of awesome activist stuff!

On Thursday I was out at miss_amaranth and bunnypip's Bisexual Meet & Greet, run as part of the Oxford Pride Festival. It was a great night, with 3 new faces and learning that there's a large (about 28) contingent of bisexuals in Oxford University, a member base well worth trying to tap into in the future. The night went well with lots of discussion and seeing anarchist_nomad and cheshcat was very nice.

Friday was a night in where I went to be quite early because the next morning I had to get up at ridiculous o'clock to be out the house for...

Oxford Pride!
Up nice and early and at Oxpens field for 9am, I decided to pitch in and help out. After checking with the Village Manager, (our own uberredfraggle, no less) where the bisexual_oxford stall was, I donned my Super-Bi cape (a Bi Pride flag tied around at the narrow end) and helped by sticking down the numbers of each stall. It gave me a chance to say "morning" to other early birds and watch as Pride got set up around me.

At about 9:30 bunnypip, L1 and L2 arrived in Peter II along with the Pride Pack (c/o sanjibabes and the bicon community). We quickly set all the flyers and sign up and by 10am we were ready to go. miss_amaranth turned up around this time and me and her decided to head into Oxford town to get nibbles for ourselves and some sweeties for the stalls.

When we returned it was a bit more waiting around before unfurling and tying up the banner (to all future pack holders, remember to have 4 pieces of somewhat sturdy string to hand) and heading off into Oxford town centre again. Everyone assembled at the parade start, I'd estimate about 200 in all were there. We got there very early so we were able to take a position nice and close to the front. Not too close because Unison had brought an enormous banner with them and we didn't want to be hidden behind it.

The banner is excellent and kudos to everyone involved. It's a lovely weight and a good strength means pulling it taught doesn't have any problems. Me and L1 easily carried it for the whole route holding it prominently enough to score a background shot in the Oxford Mail. You can also see bunnypip and miss_amaranth's Purple Brollys which were also fabby! I will be posting some links (not under [filter:links] because these will be very relevant) to pictures as/when I find them.

When we returned, all three of us took turns on the stall. miss_amaranth made an excellent front-of-stall person, drawing in lots of lovely new people to talk to and tell about the monthly meet (which is this week, FYI). We had lots of interest and even people who didn't stop to talk, leaflets were taken about BiCon and BCN. Me and miss_amaranth also used Pride as a golden opportunity to network heavily with the other organisations there, including groups like Mind and Oxford Friend (who we also gently enquired to about their heavy use of "Gay & Lesbian" only) and Terrence Higgins (who are really looking forward to running a workshop again at BiFest next year!). We were able to get lots of leaflets and information and we'll build a small pack to bring with us to the Socials in case they help anyone there.

We packed up about 5pm, as the numbers entering dwindled off and the rest of the community stalls were either empty or packing up. It was a great day and I'm really looking forward to next year.

Sunday was much more sedate. As a celebration of living in Eynsham for 1 year (the longest I have been in a single residence since 2006) and also in preparation for the celebrations next week, me and miss_amaranth deep cleaned the flat, top to bottom and side-to-side. It took a few hours but they were well worth it. I found a card game I didn't know I had, as well as some sweet video games I'd forgotten all about. Also, we now have a wonderfully shiny clean flat which is always nice.

To celebrate our 5 years, we went to the Spiceorama (which is now called something like the Kandahar House) where we had a lovely meal. The change of management has really improved the place (which was already excellent) so we're both very happy.

Well, this is a bit annoying in a good way.

Whilst thinking about trying to ask someone if they'd like to meet up for a "maybe-date" I went into my calendar to find the next weekend I'm free. Turns out it's July. Mid-July if I'm planning to go to London and Derby Prides.

So, much like when shopping for shoes (when you're size 12 it's rare to get more than 3 options from an entire shop), it's now probably easier to ask "Who is free/Wants to join me" rather than trying to hunt out specific encounters with people.

So, this is what I have planned. Comment or contact if you'd like to join in *smiles*

( Join us, won't you? Thank you. )

Talk about crazy, eh?