“It doesn’t matter what you do in the bedroom as long as you don’t do it in the street and frighten the horses.” -Daphene Fielding
I spent Saturday afternoon at Amsterdam’s Gay Pride Parade. The parade is actually a series of floats traveling via canal and was pretty impressive.
Floats That Actually Float
ING, one of the biggest banks in the world, sponsored a float. A Rotterdam church had a float. The “Rose” organization, a group of older LGBT people had a float. The Dutch post office sponsored one, as well as the Dutch public train system, complete with signs that read “Personal Pride = Company Pride.” I look forward to the day when the US post office sponsors a float.
The ING Float
On the way to Amsterdam, the train passed a big crowd who had gathered to watch the parade. Behind me, two young girls were traveling with, who I assume was, their father. As we passed the crowd, the youngest girl asked why there was a group of people. Her father responded that it was the gay pride parade. The girl asked if he meant “happy” gay and the father say no, that it was “homosexual” gay. The girl asked why they needed a parade and her older sister responded “So they know they are accepted!” Then the father asked if they wanted to go and they both said yes.
The best part of the day? No anti-gay protesters.