Gay Pride, Brighton > Reviews (1)

This is certainly not the easiest or most "comfortable" review that I will have produced since starting out on ciao all those months ago. I am approaching this one rather as a challenge, having seen the category sitting there on Ciao last week, as yet, unwritten.

Strange that, as according to the organisers there were over 120,000 people present at this years Gay Pride Parade, almost as many last year. Yet nobody has actually seen fit to review this very large event.

I was indeed chatting to a few of you over the weekend about our attendance at this particular event on Saturday and fully intending to watch the Parade pass by then rush home and pen a really topical "hot off the press" type piece that same evening…….

……..then it occurred to me that it really was going to take a little more thought and consideration than that. To be brutally honest I saw what I saw, we came home and I just kept thinking 'how the hell am I going to put THAT into words'?

I say 'I saw' well yes, RICHADA is writing this review but in truth I was one of a small party consisting of my Polish wife (of four years standing), her 11 year old sister, their very 'Catholic' parents - on a two week holiday here, plus my favourite (married female) cousin - a PR Executive.

My wife, sister in law and I had attended last years' Gay Pride Parade with a Polish friend of my wife's. We have an excellent video record of that baking hot sunny afternoon. This year, Saturday 6th August here in Brighton the sky was threateningly overcast and accompanied by a fairly cold wind, keeping the temperature well below the summer norm here.

Due to that last factor, whilst it did absolutely nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of the participants, it did rather take the edge off the wonderful carnival atmosphere enjoyed last year by us mere "onlookers" or should that be voyeurs?

This is the point at which my "deep thoughts" start to encroach into the subject matter of this particular review. Aware that this is an event review and not an 'About Me' Café piece, I am nonetheless going to share some of these thoughts with you as a prelude to reviewing Saturdays' event.

As many of you know, I am a Brightonian - born and bread. Living here, in what has always been one of the countries most liberal (with a small 'l') towns, now cities, you cannot fail to be aware that we are part of a true multi-cultural society, beyond that this city now has a truly multi-sexual society too.

Where, you may ask, am I coming from in writing this, particularly challenging, review? Am I a mere by-stander at a parade, or am I looking to satisfy some inner desire?

Do I write a quick A to Z of Saturday's Gay Pride Parade or do I go a little deeper, expressing my inner thoughts and sharing them with you - on the whole wider subject of sexuality and changing opinions in the 21st Century?

Indeed, can I really write about the cart without placing the horse in front of it - figuratively speaking of course?

In certain respects I would not describe RICHADA as your 'usual' heterosexual male, but then just what is that?

Some "understanding" friends and family would have told you that I was a "late starter", other more opinionated ones actually voiced their long held fears - on my announcement of engagement at the age of 39 - along the lines of 'thank God for that, we'd been thinking that perhaps you were gay'.

Now, being a fairly broad shouldered kind of guy (again figuratively) I took really very little notice, nor offence at these remarks. The fact that I had been single for all these years and had not worked my way through a succession of girl (or boy) friends was my choice, my business and frankly what the rest of the world made of it was theirs.

My choices in life had far more to do with previous family history - a succession of divorces and the residue responsibilities falling on myself, than they did any form of "sexual shame" as the so called friends and family would have seen it.

As with many boys (presumably girls) going through the awkward years of puberty I had a brief stage of "looking at" my own sex - being packed off to an all male boarding school at the age of 9 what choice did I have in hindsight?

At the age of about 5 or 6 I also, very occasionally, wanted to wear my mother's dresses.

Neither of these revelations makes me a cross-dresser or homosexual in adulthood.

Am I, are indeed all the other families around us watching this parade go by voyeurs then? Should this event be left strictly for that (surprisingly large) part of the community for whom today is more part of their every day lives.

Of course not! If we are to live in a harmonious and peaceful society then we must bring our children up to accept that there is a large minority of the population for whom this is an extension of daily life.

My wife (a fully practicing Catholic - a religion which obviously expresses strong views on this whole subject) was appalled to hear some lads here for the sole purpose of "gay bashing" - as she quite rightly pointed out, if they do not approve of it and wish to abuse the participants then why come here in the first place?

Gay Pride Parade - what you see in the title is what you get.

Ironically, when single I would not have been seen dead going to watch this parade in fear of friends or colleagues seeing me there and assuming, quite incorrectly, that I was gay!

There lies the paradox, go with a partner or friend of the other sex and nobody bats an eyelid!

Sorry folks you have read a lot of waffle here, and as yet I have purveyed nothing of the actual flavour, colour or sheer massive scale of this event.

We are not talking Lions Carnival of old here - a dozen wonky old floats and some cheer leaders taking an hour to travel from the sea front to Preston Park - oh no!

Looking at the website (yes of course Gay Pride has a www!) you will discover city wide road closures, starting at 10.00am and continuing well into the night. Walk in Preston Park - a large grassy park running alongside the A23 (London to Brighton road) - the evening before and you will ask yourself why are there (maybe as many as) 200 portable toilets here, they could never need THAT many!

Oh yes they could!

This is Europe's biggest annual event for the lesbian, gay and transgender community.

So long did last years' huge procession of lavish floats take to enter the park, the whole procession moved forward an hour this year - much to our loss, we arrived there, on foot to find that we had missed the first six floats. In all this year there appeared to be around 75 in total, last year there were quite a lot more, but the actual event in Preston Park this year was far, far bigger.

Maybe some of you are attempting to guess just what a Gay Pride Parade looks like? Well for a start it is full of colour, bright colour, most of it - to twist the words of the late great Dick Emery - "in the worst possible taste".

You will see aging middle aged drag artists mostly, inexplicably, vastly over-weight men, God only knows how they walk for miles on those stiletto heals. The costume colours tend to be vivid, lime green, orange and reds

being popular as are the most outrageous head dresses. One of the most amusing moments of the event was seeing a very large man in very high heals and a tall feathered hat waiting in the queue for the porta-loo, quite how he was going to fit into the small plastic cubicle is anyone's guess. But then that is part of the fun of this particular fare, it is an extraordinary spectacle to be enjoyed, quite literally by all and sundry.

The floats themselves are sponsored by various local groups, bars and even banks! Last year one of the biggest cheers went up for the Gay Police Association float, did I admire THEM pinning their flag so publicly to the mast! Regrettably they fronted the parade this year and so were one of the floats we actually missed seeing.

Each year there is a loosely based "theme" for the costumes and floats, this year it was heroes and heroines - which allows quite a good scope if you think about it! Wonder women (men!), Elvis impersonators, devils, yes they were all here - sexuality apart - exhibitionists one and all!

Quite a few naked buttocks too, the ladies were counting!

Feel free to take photographs; most of these people will gladly pose for you if offered half the chance, that's when they are not asking (me!) to take their picture in a big white convertibleCadillac. Hope they came out ok Elvis, after all you were SO particular about the angles and distances I took them from!

There were other less obvious, more every day hero(ins) represented here too, from the Gay Karate Association, the Gay Caravan and Camping Club, Brighton and Hove Green Party, to the Sussex Ambulance Service.

One of our favourites (pardon me Sir, if you will) were the couple of blokes dressed up to look like Charles and Camilla (that is the Wales's, just in case you were…..)

One and all they were enjoying a fantastically good time.

And so, in truth were we. My cousin had arrived with no pre-conceived ideas of what she was going to see and really enjoyed the whole event, as yet I have not asked her if she would bring her two children to see it next year, but why not - there were children of all ages here enjoying the spectacle.

More surprisingly, in many respects, there were also large numbers of surprisingly elderly people here - both participating in the parade and, like us, spectating.

After the parade finally came to an end, we stood and watched in awe as Preston Park quite literally filled with well over 100,000 people. Put in perspective, before merging with Hove to become a city, Brighton had 200,000 inhabitants.

Can you imagine a town of that size with only 400 toilets? Of course there would be enormously long queues!

Once this huge crowd assembled in the park they were entertained well into the evening by thumping dance music in several tents. There was also a fun fare with many terrifying rides, plus stalls and stands selling and promoting items that the majority of us would neither have a use for nor be able to identify.

Reportedly the armed services recruitment stands (yes all the services were represented here) also did brisk business on Saturday.

To any group or individual of spectacular note that has left out here, I offer an unreserved, world wide apology. The whole parade was a pageant of colour, probably unequalled anywhere in the galaxy, of which a few highlights have been noted here.

To the young lady commenting on our identical cameras, but actually eying up my beautiful wife, I also offer an apology, very sorry but she's taken!

Voyeur, supporter, by-stander or sensation seeker?

No idea.

We just go to have a thoroughly entertaining and very colourful afternoon out.