JUNE 10th, 2017 The streets and Dane John Gardens of Canterbury were brightened and enlightened with rainbow colours. Rainbow scarves, rainbow kerchiefs and rainbow waistcoats…and that was just the dogs. The children ran with rainbow flags and rainbow wings. One pair of two week old twins were wearing rainbow onesies. Wheelchairs, walking sticks and crutches were covered with rainbow ribbons. Ambulance staff, fire officers, and police wore rainbow stickers, ribbons and garlands. It was the first time I have ever seen armed police officers with rainbow ribbons decorating their machine guns! Yes, there really were armed police as well as the usual ones, plus security staff. (They didn't wear any rainbow decorations but I did see a female one darting into their little tent in order to dance wildly to one of the drag singers). And then us LGBTQ people were of every age, every colour, every sort, all happy and beautiful. Some were so incredibly beautiful that it was like watching a show, but don't ask me if these were male or female. Sometimes I couldn't have told you anyway, which I found quite disconcerting! “Ooh! She’s hot. Oops. She’s a he!” So, what happened? Having arrived at 11.00, I went to the wrong entrance at The Marlow and was sent away by three security guards. I went to the correct entrance, registered and got my rainbow wrist band. I then stood only feet away from the Samba Pelo Mar drumming group. Their drumming has a visceral effect on me, and what a way to start! The rhythm starts in my feet and I bounce as the emotion rises up through my stomach, chest and throat. How can people not move to this? With closed eyes and the entire of me relating to the rhythm of the drums, I bumped into a young woman with an official-looking clipboard. She perceptively identified (because of the grey hair and wrinkles, I assume) that I was not actually a student, despite the fact that I was ‘rhythm-ating’ in a dream in the students’ area. She directed me to the area I had tried to enter previously, so I relocated to this Community-only area and then we were off, behind the mayor, the drummers, Iconic (the main sponsors of the day), and the Unison and Unite representatives. Other sponsors, shops and charity groups were ahead but we all made lots of cheerful noise.
There were hundreds of us at the beginning of that march and, by the afternoon, we were in the thousands (8,000 according to some reports). Marching through the High Street was spirit-lifting. There were a few puzzled expressions in the crowds we passed but no angry ones as there always used to be when I was marching in the 80s and 90s. In those days we were hissed at, booed and spat at. In one of those marches I saw some of the men being dragged out of the march by yobs. This time, everyone was cheering and applauding us. Nando's had handed out little flags with a rainbow chicken on them and hundreds of the people watching were waving them. Shops all along had signs welcoming us, and a friend who had been working in one of those shops described the atmosphere as ‘vibrant’ and said it was lovely to be ‘...with lots of happy people’. For me, places that even the drumming hadn't reached inside were touched by this walk. I only just held back the tears. On arrival at the park we were slowed down, and stopped while our bags were searched; or should I just say, while everyone else had theirs searched. As I got to the security guard, I smiled at him, he smiled back, just squeezed my bag and let me through. Why? Goodness knows! Do I really look so innocent or maybe I reminded him of his mum!? To greet us in Dane John Gardens, the drummers were playing again so I was frozen to the spot until they finished. Then came the speeches. The mayor, Rosemary Doyle, gave her welcome and then Rosie Duffield, the new Labour MP for Canterbury was introduced. She had just that week unseated the Tory MP of thirty years. The audience erupted. The applause and cheering was overwhelming and went on for several minutes. Rosie was clearly moved, smiling and swallowing deeply to regain composure. Then she gave an inspiring talk before there was yet more applause. After more introductions, the music began. There were stalls along the sides of three park areas. Some were giving information, some were selling crafts. There was a fire engine open in one spot and both the police and health officers had stalls. The face painters did a very good trade and, yes, even the police, ambulance and fire officers had glitter paint and rainbows on their faces. There were long queues at the bar and the food stalls, all except the vegetarian one, so I got my lunch there because I felt sorry for them. In the kids’ play area there were inflatables and bouncy castles. Shrieks of laughter drew me there to see children of all ages having a wonderful time. Many were trying to bounce in rhythm to the music and many parents were standing nearby, bouncing to it as well. A couple of parents were in Sumo wrestlers’ outfits and, much to the delight of their kids, they were stuck on the floor. I wonder how long it was before anyone helped them to get up and out of the outfits? It was hot and sunny so I was pleased to find that the fountain area where I ate my quiche appeared cool. As I got up to walk away, I realised why, not only had there been occasional sprays from the fountain down my now-sodden back, but my shirt tail had been sitting in the water!! No wonder I was cool! Lots of people were chomping on burgers and sandwiches; dogs were pulling owners to get under the shade of the trees; children were still running, despite the fact that the sun was high. I spotted a space on steps under a monument. dropping down in to the space, I found myself sitting next to a pair who must have been the most heterosexual couple in the park. Wearing no top, he was oiled, bronzed, muscular and wearing the tightest jeans, which his girlfriend enjoyed stroking! And he kept standing up to pose when young men walked by. His girlfriend was almost wearing a dress which started just on her bottom, and was opened from neck to navel. She posed carefully, strategically ensuring that I had the best view of what was under her bodice! Occasionally she smiled at me over her beer - maybe she thought I was her raffle prize. How was I going to disappoint her by making it clear that I am not in to straight women. She’ll get over it! I just made sure I kept my eyes looking elsewhere and she soon turned her attention to a young woman who kept walking past. So, an ‘interesting’ couple but, to be honest, I think they were there for his mother and her girlfriend. They just wanted to tease the natives. Fortunately, us LGBTQ people are very open-minded. We welcome all types and their idiosyncracies! The music went on for the rest of the afternoon and wasn’t it good!? It was mainly retro plus some more recent music which was good to dance to. I didn’t dance but did shuffle around a lot on my seat. Almost every inch of grass was covered with people singing, dancing, waving and just thoroughly enjoying the music and the mood. At one point, two Spanish women sitting near me got up and danced right there, in front of me. Theirs was a complex routine which was equally as good as that of the dancers on the stage. At the end, I applauded them as well as the stage act. And the tears almost came back as I watched so many couples walking hand in hand, hugging and kissing, freely. No sneaking, no glancing round to make sure nobody was watching. Life for us has improved so much and I was elated to be celebrating it with everyone there. There were also a lot of straight couples being quite bold and brave in displaying their sexuality. I wonder if they were at all reticent about holding hands and kissing in public!? Without realising how the time had flown and that I had been sitting in that one place for nearly three hours, with the sun beating on my head, I developed sunstroke. This meant that I acted as though I was drunk, i.e. staggering, getting very fond, tactile and saying embarrassing things. Fortunately, as I was wriggling to Cher’s ‘Believe’, the sun was shaded from me, a pair of hands grabbed mine and I was dragged up. Thank goodness, because I would never otherwise have been able to stand up. This was a good young friend of mine but I retained a few disturbing images of those few minutes before she pointed me in the direction of the exit. Some days later, she confirmed that, despite my fears, I had not tried to seduce her, molest her, ask her to marry me or embarrass myself in any way. I had just hung on to her, kept stroking her long wig of pink hair, talked incomprehensible tosh and then staggered away. Phew! Sitting there, in the sun, watching so many people having a wonderful, happy day, I remembered something I have always said, i.e. ‘No living creature can do happy the way that dogs playing on a beach can do!’ Well, that's still true, but thousands of LGBTQ people in a park celebrating their very own Pride comes a very close second. JP June 2017
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