One of these persons has something to offer the world. The others are called "fierce" in Kirkland.

All in all, I think it was a nice event. I thought that the change of venue worked out OK. There seemed to be a lot of people in attendance from where I was standing.

The repressed will complain about the drag queens and gogo boys not representing them. The not repressed enough will whine about the lack of this or the corporatization of that.

Rather, Rinse, Repeat.

oops, that should be Lather, rinse, repeat (as needed).

My friends were glad that Capitol Hill was much more laid back for their parade this year.

This was the best Pride in Seattle that I can remember. I know there was a lot of bad blood about the decision-making process, but I am glad the parade got moved. The dance party in the Seattle Center fountain was tons o' fun!

As a straight man, these comments might seem offensive to people who love the Pride 2006 theme...

...but seriously, what is the point? Doesn't Capitol Hill celebrate gay pride everyday? I don't have a problem with homosexuality at all...but I suppose I am just not a fan of over the top celebrations (ie: Spring Break, Mardi Gras, Pride 2006, etc.)

Maybe it's just me, but if gay people are proud of their orientation and they live in a progressive city like Seattle, doesn't it seem like a Pride Parade is a little overdone?

Now, I can definitely see it in cities that aren't as open to all kinds of folks from different walks of life but in Seattle...eh, it just seems...like a yawner.

DEX, sure, Seattle is a progressive city, and the gay pride parade as a political statement seems a bit unnecessary. However, if we can have a St Patrick's Day parade to celebrate, er, leprechauns, and a Seafair parade to celebrate, er, pirates, then why NOT have a gay pride parade to celebrate, um, interior designers? :-)

Earth to Dex:

The parade was downtown, not on Capitol Hill.

SDA in SEA,

I think you hit the nail on the head as far as the political statement goes. You got what I was saying but were able to word it better and more concisely. Kudos!

Tiffany,

Sorry, I didn't pay much attention to that. My point was that there's lots of gay pride on Capitol Hill everyday.

On many, many mornings while waiting for the 43, I see that man in the bottom pic walking down Olive picking up trash. (Sure, he's usually wearing a long skirt, but he's picking up trash, so all is fine.) Until yesterday...when I saw his very distorted little penis while he walked down Broadway in the pre-parade. Put your skirt back on, dude!

The good, caring people of this town spend tens of millions of dollars on this event every year, and every year they get royally 'serviced'. Do you *really* want to pay $4 for Pabst drafts? Are you really seeing the kind of talent onstage that you'd like to see? Are the businesses that enjoy your patronage all year long knocking themselves out to thank you? Are the community organizations (that couldn't be bothered to organize a counterprotest when Dobson came to town) giving you want you need? or just holding onto a nice job?

Seattle, one day you'll discover that you're being reamed. Over and over. You deserve far better.

highlight of the day:

watching that adorable dark-haired dyke cop step into the crowd of joyous dancers in the fountain and join 'em for 30 seconds of shakin' it while benefiting from a bit of sweet wet relief from the heat. (yes, she was in shorts, but also wearing protective vest.)

the many glorious people dancing around her and those who watched from the edge of the fountain erupted into cheers as the crowd enveloped her. it was a moment I felt proud to have witnessed it.

afterward, I thanked her for making my day.

Yay Gays!

I checked out the Volunteer Park "fest" on Saturday, sat on Broadway for the "parade" that followed the Dyke saunter, and went to Seattle Center for the "official" pride festival on Sunday.

I think the success of the Sunday events should speak a resounding message to the whiners who didn't like the fact that the parade and festival was moved downtown. It was a BLOWOUT success! There were more people at Seattle Center today than any of the Bumbershoots I've been to. And they were having a blast. Turns out Seattle IS ready for a move off the Hill. Next year, let's just have one event and parade, and give the Dyke March back to the Lesbians.

I didn't make it to the official parade on Sunday, but I watched it on TV tonight. I was surprised at how much UPN-11 actually showed.

However, I was SHAMED and HORRIFIED that they hired Mark "Mom" Finley to provide color commentary on the parade.
WHAT A FUCKUP!!!!! He probably did more to set back gay rights than anything I've seen in years. Talk about playing right into the negative stereotypes! (UPN didn't help with its head to toe to head camera pan every time they showed Mark in his drag attire.) Mark didn't realize that the TV audience is not his Neighbors audience (back when there was one), and comments like "we have a word for male flight attendants...Mattresses." just make the whole community look like a bunch of catty bitchy queens.

If we're going to try legitimize ourselves, why not get someone like Tina Podlowski or Audrey Haberman to provide the TV viewers with a more educated perspective than this one that was delivered by a tired, used up drag queen?!

For some reason, I was expecting more drag queens. the only really big complaint i had was with the canon being fired, I have really sensitive ears. Oh, and the guys showing off their coin purses when they really shouldn't (ya'll know what I'm talking about).

As for Pride being unnessisary in seattle, well, Seattle Pride doesn't just serve seattle, it attracts a lot of people from outside seattle too. And frankly, if we are going to continue to consider ourselves a "queer community" we need to at least have one day a year when we can all get together in the spirit of enjoyment collectively. I just don't see how one day a year is a big deal.

As for the commercialization, I have a hard time defending that, I would like to see more independence and less capitalism in motion at pride, but i think current trends towards commercialization are more indicative of American society at large than just the queer community specifically.

As for the festival, I just didn't waste my money on it, 4 dollar beer and limp french fries just are not my thing. We just watched the parade, browsed the booths, (and the guy candy), and then went and got some food and wine that actually tasted good.

Next year, let's just have one event and parade, and give the Dyke March back to the Lesbians.

However, I was SHAMED and HORRIFIED that they hired Mark "Mom" Finley to provide color commentary on the parade.
WHAT A FUCKUP!!!!! He probably did more to set back gay rights than anything I've seen in years.

Shamed: It's precisely this kind of hypocritical "I hate it when the Gays can't get along ... but I hate the obnoxious queeny ones, too" sentiment that divides the gay community and divided the weekend's events. I'm surprised you didn't take the mainstream media to task for only running photos of the "crazy" Gays, when 100,000 or so of the normal ones comprised the primary population.

Why is Mark Finley hosting on the UPN? Why not? He and the rest of the "catty queens" you mentioned aren't going to go away, and they're definitely not going to sit quiet on the sidelines. Having him and people like him as members of the Gay community is a fact that you probably should get over. Replacing him on the UPN with two boring lesbians is not going to change him or erase him. Or her. Whatever.

If you're gonna have a drag queen hostess, get someone good, like Sylvia O. Stayformore - My vote for Seattle's best drag queen: Smart, funny, sings her own numbers, AND doesn't drink when performing.

Yay for the long-haired skirt-wearing bell-man! He and his leatherdaddy boyfriend lived across the street for me when I lived on 14th ... they are my favorite cap hill characters!

Yay for the long-haired skirt-wearing bell-man! He and his leatherdaddy boyfriend lived across the street for me when I lived on 14th ... they are my favorite cap hill characters!

"Itchy & Scratchy," as Riz Rollins once dubbed 'em, to my eternal delight...

I'm glad the parade was a success and all, but PLEASE clean up your fucking mess next time, k? I returned from a long trip Sunday afternoon to find my neighborhood in Belltown completely trashed. It looked like halloween on the castro. Whoever 'organized' the clean up effort really dropped the ball.

"One of these persons has something to offer the world. The others are called "fierce" in Kirkland."

I agree that the one in the shorts "Has something to offer" (if you know what I mean) but I really don't think the old coot with the scarves would be that popular in Kirkland.

BAD choice choosing mark Finley to host your Gay Pride event!

Just a few nights before he was kicked out of a bar called "The Bus Stop" for attacking a handicapped person in a drunken rage- he also ripped posters down from the walls and verbally attacked patrons. Why would they waste important airtime on this nasty monster?

Did he blackmail someone?

Did UPN pay him for this event? You know he lives off the government and gets free medical and housing, but somehow he is able two have trips to NY (two weeks ago) and hire assistants to help him do his shameless self promotion.

How can a person with AIDS drink and take medication AND stay out all night? Answer: he is a CON-ARTIST, a consummate liar and manipulator. KSTW and the Seattle gay community has been duped again!

Instead of Mark Finley I think I would rather have seen the maggoty, fly ridden, carcas of a dead old goat do the "color commentary" Oh wait... that's the same thing!

Shout out to UPN- lose Finley and hire Sylvia O'Stayformore, or Glamazonia, or Geisha Starr, or Lili Armani, or Chocha Fresca or etc. etc.

He's like a cocroach or a mold that just won't go away.

Other than that I thought the parade was awesome! For the first time I actually felt PRIDE because I felt like I was showing off my community to the city of Seattle. Having a parade in your own neighborhood (Capitol Hill) is like getting all gussied up in drag and only walking around your living room.

Interesting commentary by all, some just plain mean. Moving the parade wasn't a bad thing, the fountain was a refreshing relief. Mark was funny as he always is, those who made disparaging remarks about his life, housing etc. obviously need to find themselves a new tiara because you CAN'T have his, so get over yourself. Until you walk a mile in his pumps don't judge, it makes you small, petty and ugly sounding and it does nothing to bolster the str8 worlds opinions of gay people. As for the man who moaned about the trash on the streets, so what...clean it up. This is my neighbourhood too. People joining together in unity is always a good thing and for me this parade and locale was a good thing, I haven't seen that much support in years, it was time.

I do love Sylvia. Or Ursula Android. Or Jackie Hell. Talk about color commentary. Hell, get Dina Martina to do it. >:)

I felt fortunate that I could see the broadcast of the PRIDE parade last Sunday. I wasn't able to make it in person, and I feel very proud as a straight person that Seattle has this festival. Looking at that mass of people enjoying the parade, I did't see gays, lesbians, straights or other orientations but a community come together. And I felt somewhat envious of my friends in the gay community that were able to attend the parade.

I was pleased that UPN agreed to broadcast portions of the parade and I found Mark Finley's contribtion exactly what I would expect seeing a drag queen emceeing an event - entertaining. His dialog and comments did not set back my appreciation for the gay community - any and all aspects of it - in any way. I felt like he offered also a sense of history and context for the entries that passed by along the route.

If you don't like what you hear on TV you have options - there's a mute button on most televisions and remotes. Taking pride in one's community is taking pride in all of the community even if you have some personal issue with an individual - that goes for us straights, too. But to turn the focus of such an important festival into personal public attacks of one person seems to take the "pride" and the "community" out of what the focus of the festival was really about.

Thanks to all who participated from the parade entrants to the security folks to the people who must have spent countless hours organizing the PRIDE Festival. That was an awesome parade!

Is Amy on DRUGS? Mark Finley was so stupid and un-funny! He tried to tell a VERY well known joke about flight attendants- he said "in our community we call them mattresses" LOL! What an idiot! The joke is "we call them AIR MATTRESSES"!!!!! I was truly ashamed and embarassed for our community. Mark Finley can't even tell a simple tired overdone joke correctly.

Yay!

Finally, Seattle is beginning to realise the tragedy of Mark Finley. "Mom"? Not on your life. Mothers are nuturing and supportive, not vindictive, dishonest and drunk. At least mine wasn't, and This person should not be a role model of any kind.

Cheers to the person who suggested Glamazonia and Lily Armani and Sylvia. They are hard working, funny, and professional.

Mark; Bah!

Mark Finley is the Al Sharpton of the gay community! They both have questionable if not outright FRAUDULENT credentials, they are always thrusting themselves UNINVITED into the spotlight (to get attention and publicity), they always try to play the victim, and they are always an embarrassment to the communities they belong to...

LOL! Good one Christopher!

Here's another good analogy!
MF is like a tired sorry old clown that shows up at a kids party- only the immature are impressed- the rest either feel sorry for him or are terrified out of their wits...