P-R-I-D-E (Find Out What It Means To Me)

This weekend is Pride in Toronto, and I'm looking forward to seeing my first ever parade (naked, buff men parading openly in the street? I am so there!) This great blog entry by Heather Gold is helping to get me psyched up for what promises to be 10+ hours of fun and festivities:

Just like the ���straight world,��� there are always folks who stay frozen in the politics and aesthetics of their gay youth. But there���s an overriding principle that everyone belongs because we all have one thing in common: we know what exclusion feels like. So in the world of queerdom, there is a contingent for everything.

Stand proud Gay Parcheesi Players with Hay Fever! You are not alone. Soon, you too will have a float in the parade. And a special flag. This is how we got the new acronym GLBTIQQ. We used to be the gay community. Now, we are the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transexual, intersex, queer and questioning community. If we really want to be genuinely inclusive, we should add FSP for friendly straight people. And then add some vowels, because they're feeling oppressed and excluded from the acronym. Then add T for Tired, because you're exhausted by the time you get to the end of it. GBLTIQQUOEFSPAT. This is how the Parade got so long.

No one will be left out! Except the numbers. Maybe the genderqueer folks can be the numbers. Or maybe we can just use ?. The Parade is now as long as ?. They should have a halftime break. They can have straight men come out and play football for us.