San Francisco tonight and this weekend.

[BStrong]

I have never seen the city this joyous, and for good reason.

After the range I got home the same time as my uphill neighbors, and they were glowing (I don't think alcohol or substances were involved) When we started talking and I told them I was marching in the Pride parade (pink pistols) I thought they were going to faint, but this decision brought about a discussion that (I believe) they never thought they would have - when I moved in here it seems they made up their minds that I was an older straight guy and wouldn't be friendly to them as a gay couple, and that was that.

Now they know that they were right about my preference and absolutely wrong about my attitude.

Now if the damn wind would slow down, this might be a weekend for the ages for the city.

 

[The Don]

Going to be there tomorrow but can feel the happiness across the bay here in Oakland

 

[dudalb]

Going to be there tomorrow but can feel the happiness across the bay here in Oakland

Between this and the Golden State Warriors NBA champion ship last week,good time to be in the Bay area.

Here in Sacramento, big celebration at the state capitol planned. But, please, BStrong, send some of that breeze our way. It has been a freaking oven in River City the past three days....

 

[jimbob]

I have never seen the city this joyous, and for good reason.

After the range I got home the same time as my uphill neighbors, and they were glowing (I don't think alcohol or substances were involved) When we started talking and I told them I was marching in the Pride parade (pink pistols) I thought they were going to faint, but this decision brought about a discussion that (I believe) they never thought they would have - when I moved in here it seems they made up their minds that I was an older straight guy and wouldn't be friendly to them as a gay couple, and that was that. Now they know that they were right about my preference and absolutely wrong about my attitude.
Now if the damn wind would slow down, this might be a weekend for the ages for the city.

As you alluded, I think it is a generational issue but I also think that there is more to it than that. Judging by my kids (12, 14, 16) the question is an utter no-brainer for them, "why would anyone want to stop gays marrying?" was what my youngest* said when this came on the news.

The fact that gays can be far more open has helped too - Dad is gets on well with his neighbours who happen to be a 30-something gay couple. I think the difference is that with the shift in social attitudes, it would be more accurate to describe them as being thought of as a couple who are gay, rather than a gay couple. The issue of sexuality is now less of a defining feature to others, which makes it increasingly acceptable, and thus with people being more open, there is more familiarity. It's easier to fear a group when you don't know anyone who openly belongs to it.


*They are probably more politically aware than most. My son did proclaim himself to be a pastafarian in primary school when discussing religion, and I have a picture he drew as a 9-year old when asked to draw what he thought of by "god". He drew Thor, Zeus, a man with a beard, and a deity as imagined by an alien.

 

[patchbunny]

After the range I got home the same time as my uphill neighbors, and they were glowing (I don't think alcohol or substances were involved) When we started talking and I told them I was marching in the Pride parade (pink pistols)

Really? I didn't know the PP was still doing that. I marched with them once years ago, but since drifted away.

 

[dirtywick]

I was there a few weeks ago. Beautiful city, but the weather is horrible.

 

[varwoche]

I was there a few weeks ago. Beautiful city, but the weather is horrible.

Tip for tourists: best SF weather is Sept/Oct, when the fog lets up.

I can only imagine what the vibe is like in The City of my youth. Wish I were there.

 

[deadrose]

I wish I could be there for the party! SF is the only other city (besides Seattle) that I unabashedly love, and having lived there for the beginnings of the AIDS crisis in the early 80s, it would be great to celebrate a joy like this.

But I'm in Seattle, and the insane heat is going to keep me from celebrating Pride anywhere but home this weekend.