A Gay Old Time
June 26th, 2006 | by Omnipotent Poobah |
The Poobah family took a little day trip today. We braved the low fog and wind-driven San Francisco chill to follow a route called the 49 Mile Scenic Drive. Supposedly designed to take you to some of the more scenic spots in the city, we discovered there is literally no way to follow the map provided. Streets go one way - the wrong way, there are few signs, and in some cases the signs actually point in the wrong direction.
After a fair amount of backtracking trial and error, I decided to just freelance it and go on without a map. Mrs. Poobah, a stickler for structure and rules, valiantly kept trying to lead us back on track, but I finally persuaded her to let it go before the map drove her crazy. I’m convinced that if she’d been with Lewis and Clark, they’d still be trying to get out of St. Louis for lack of a proper map.
Relying on a little automotive orienteering, we wound our way cross town, through Haight Ashbury, around Lake Merced, and to the ocean where it was bitterly cold and foggy. As usual, the wet-suited surfers were out turning blue and a few hearty souls were laying out in bikinis and swim trunks working on their “fog tans”. The more sensible folk wore heavy coats and a few even sported balaclavas to ward off the chill. All in all, a typical summer beach day for San Francisco.
From the beach, we tracked back across town. We zigged here and zagged there and generally saw quite a few things we’d never seen before, even if we had taken part of the same route before.
When we arrived in the central part of the city, we became entangled in the Gay Pride Day festivities. This was the 37th year for a mammoth parade - always led by a lesbian motorcycle group called Dykes on Bikes. A few years ago, they were joined by Mikes on Bikes, a male motorcycle group.
Lots of chanting and some speechifying here and there. Most streets were either closed for the Rainbow flag bedecked folk or choked with everyone from hetero families out for the day, like us, to a bizillion others of every orientation letting their freak flags fly. It was a very San Francisco kind of day.
I like the fact that I live in a place where congregations like this are normal and natural. There was no violence. Everyone, gay and straight alike, mingled and talked. The participants ran the gamut from the serious AIDS quilters to the more lighthearted men wearing nun’s habits and full beards. It was a day to throw beads or flowers instead of bombs or epithets.
Other than taking forever to find an unblocked way out of the city, it was an excellent day. The sun finally came out, no pun intended, and everyone had a good time. In the back of my mind I kept remembering the asshats who want to muck all this up - literally rain on this parade - but I tried to return to the moment and enjoy what was going on while I could. I wanted to just concentrate on the goodness and forget, for a day anyway, the badness that all too often seems to attach itself to events like this. And for the most part, I was successful.
I guess you could say the family and I just had a gay old time.
Cross Posted at The Omnipotent Poobah Speaks!
[tag]san+francisco, gay+pride, omnipotent+poobah[/tag]
6 Responses to “A Gay Old Time”
By Sandy on Jun 26, 2006 | Reply
It’s really pathetic when a freakshow of homosexual sodomists tie up traffic with their revolting “pride” parades.
By Omnipotent Poobah on Jun 26, 2006 | Reply
Sandy,
I truly am sad to see that you have such a visceral hate of people who are just reveling in who they are. I assume you do the same from time to time, are they not entitiled to do the same?
In the interest of a free debate though, can you tell me where these feelings comes from? Has a gay person done something to you? Are you afraid of them because they’re different? Does their desire to possess the same rights and responsibilites as you offend you? Or, were you taught to hate them?
It seems to me that the idea of hating someone based solely on who they are is an illogical position. I don’t hate you for your views, I defend your right to have them. I’d just like to understand them, that’s all.
By Sandy on Jun 26, 2006 | Reply
Sodomy is wrong. It says so in the Bible. The Bible is the handbook for everyday life. I don’t hate the person, just the sin. It’s abominable. And I’m not afraid to say so. It’s one thing to hide it privately, but to get out on the streets and celebrate this perversion is disgusting to me.
I find most homosexuals neither gay or having any righteous pride. And I have “gay” friends who are trying to get the sin out of their lives. I can only pray they succeed.
Revelations says homosexuals will NOT inherit the kingdom of God. I take it seriously.
By Omnipotent Poobah on Jun 26, 2006 | Reply
Sandy,
I’ve no doubts about your sincerity, that comes across loud and clear.
I reread your original comments and tit sounds to me like you’re not just hating the sin, but the sinner as well. Refering to those you love as participating in a “freakshow” doesn’t speak well for your commitment to loving the sinner.
As for the Bible, you are correct. However, the Bible also espouses that God created all of us to have choice. Otherwise, there’d be no sin because God would have to make you sin in order for it to occur.
The Bible also says to love others as you would love yourself. If you stand behind your original statement, I could call you a Bible-thumping asshat, but still claim to love you. That seems a bit of a contradiction to me.
And even if sodomy offends you personally because the Bible condems it, what gives you permission to attack the practitioners. After all, they aren’t forcing you to commit sodomy and their “sin” is their business. And, I’ve never heard a single gay person say they are angling to “inherit the Kingdom of God”.
Good comments though. I like it when a person takes a stand, no matter how small-minded I might think it is.
By abi on Jun 26, 2006 | Reply
Sodomy shmodomy. I have a larger question to ask. As a New Englander, I have to ask what you consider “bitterly cold.” 50 degrees maybe? 45?
By Omnipotent Poobah on Jun 26, 2006 | Reply
Abi,
Bitterly cold for a place where no one owns a coat and furnaces are the size of shoeboxes. The wind chill was about 40.
I’ve lived most of my life in colder climates too, and California cold is relatively warm, so I’ll use the old wet cold/dry heat theory…Sure it was only 40, but it felt so much colder because it’s a wet cold ;-)