Maigen and I sat in 95 degree heat in a lovely alley in Florence Alabama trying to decide if we had the energy to participate in a March that afternoon. We had both been traveling a lot that week and this was the last Pride festival we were scheduled to attend during the June Pride month celebrations in Alabama. In between pelting each other with ice and wondering if either of us would have any water left in our body I noticed something. For us this was the end of a long stretch of meeting new people, talking about Queer Alabama, and wearing rainbow shirts, but all around us was the energy of people having the very first Pride festival in their lives. Despite the crushing heat and humidity, people were wearing their community flags. People were dancing in the actual street with friends and strangers. People were painted and sweating, but still smiling, as they got a chance to see and be seen on this tiny little street in a small North Alabama college town.
This whole month of Alabama Prides has been nothing short of amazing. To be able to see the love and energy poured into these events each weekend by folks who are working so hard all year is enough to make me even more proud to be Queer and from the deep South. Having spent hours talking about our shared past has renewed my faith in our project and has given me the clarity to know that we are on the right track. Yes it’s always hard to be outside in the brutal Alabama heat and humidity, but in these Pride festivals I was able to reconnect with the pure joy of being Queer that I so miss in our national conversation. I was also floored to see myself and Maigen in the New York Times for their coverage of Pride on the Plains in Opelika/Auburn. While I can always do with a little less Southern Gothic and lot more Southern Queer liberation, it is such a thrill to know that the lives of Queer Southern folks are being recognized for the first time on a national scale. The Queer South is showing out folks and it’s time we got our due. This while Pride season was nothing short of a family reunion and I for one am so glad that we have access to these amazing people.
As we say here in iHP, we remain as always Unapologetically Southern, and Unapologetically Queer!
This whole month of Alabama Prides has been nothing short of amazing. To be able to see the love and energy poured into these events each weekend by folks who are working so hard all year is enough to make me even more proud to be Queer and from the deep South. Having spent hours talking about our shared past has renewed my faith in our project and has given me the clarity to know that we are on the right track. Yes it’s always hard to be outside in the brutal Alabama heat and humidity, but in these Pride festivals I was able to reconnect with the pure joy of being Queer that I so miss in our national conversation. I was also floored to see myself and Maigen in the New York Times for their coverage of Pride on the Plains in Opelika/Auburn. While I can always do with a little less Southern Gothic and lot more Southern Queer liberation, it is such a thrill to know that the lives of Queer Southern folks are being recognized for the first time on a national scale. The Queer South is showing out folks and it’s time we got our due. This while Pride season was nothing short of a family reunion and I for one am so glad that we have access to these amazing people.
As we say here in iHP, we remain as always Unapologetically Southern, and Unapologetically Queer!
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