I may be cisgender, but I still feel that Pride month is not only important, but also that it’s a heck of a lot of fun. I support my LGBTQ+ friends, loved ones, and colleagues all year ‘round, of course. It’s the least I can do, given how much they’ve contributed to our culture and quality of life. But this month, in particular, everyone seems to come together, and I find that heartwarming.
These joyful events happen despite the LGBTQ+ community being discriminated against every step of the way. Society has placed them 30 yards deep in their own end zone, and yet they still score touchdown after touchdown. It’s impressive.
One of the things I love about the Seattle area is that they celebrate Pride wholeheartedly and on a grand scale. The first time I attended a Pride parade here, it made me realize just how much of a backwater my former city, Jacksonville, Florida actually was. In Seattle, the glorious, raucous parade takes hours. In Jacksonville, at least when I was there, it lasted 15 minutes, was sparsely attended, and had the feel of a rebellious teenager drinking his first beer and hoping not to get caught. Compare the Pride events pages for both Jacksonville and Seattle and you’ll see what I mean.
I had a lot of events to choose from when I crafted my Pride experience this year. Seattle Pride is a veritable smorgasbord of diversity and creativity, and therefore it would be easy to do something pride-related every day of this month. But I’ve been sick or exhausted for the past 5 months, so I chose make my Pride very simple and personal this time around. I was pleasantly surprised that it was therefore even more meaningful to me.
First, Dear Husband and I attended Hannah Gadsby’s show, Woof! at the Moore Theatre. They will always have a special place in my heart because they were the one who made me realize that I was autistic. They have talked a lot about their late-diagnosed autism in show’s past, but they didn’t say much about it this time around. Even so, they’re one of my favorite comedians (right up there with Tig Notaro and Stephen Wright), so I knew this would be great.
I relate to Hannah so much that it’s scary. They have a unique perspective on life, and a tendency to say inappropriate things, as most comedians do. This time around I discovered that they have sleep apnea, too. And the occasional panic attack. We could be twins.
Much of this show revolved around their struggle to not be changed by their new and greatly improved economic status. I get that, although their financial status is way, way, WAY above mine. It’s kind of like survivor’s guilt when you suddenly stop living hand to mouth for the first time. We both agree that most rich people are a$$holes, and Hannah doesn’t want to become an a$$hole.
I know I’m not making the show seem particularly funny or entertaining. But if the tour comes anywhere near you, move heaven and earth to see it.You’ll just have to take my word for it. I don’t want to give away all their jokes.
Okay… okay… I will tell you the one joke that resonated with me the most. They were talking about eating something they didn’t want or need because they were always told to think of the starving Africans. (For me it was the Armenians, but in both cases we were taught to eat too much.) They said, “This body was built on misplaced empathy.” Absolutely perfect.
Throughout the show, I wished I could tell them how much they have changed my life. I’m sure I’m not alone in this, but I’ll be forever grateful. Understanding and embracing my autism has increased my self-knowledge a thousand-fold, and it was Hannah Gadsby who set me on that path.
This show fit well with my Pride celebration because I came away thinking, “Here’s an autistic Tasmanian lesbian who has sleep apnea and panic attacks, and is extremely overweight. Their life couldn’t be more different from most people’s. It’s as if they’re a zebra amongst horses. And yet they’re so freaking relatable.”
And therein lies the key to everything. We don’t have to all be the same to appreciate one another, do we? Not if we allow ourselves to open our eyes and really see people.
The next night, DH and I went to Burien Pride to see a band called The Nasty Habits. I have an acquaintance who plays keyboard for the band, and I’ve seen them in Prides past, so I know how much fun they can be. They are a cover band that plays music from my generation. Rocking out with The Nasty Habits always feels like a time warp to my late teens and early 20’s, but in the best possible way. They just make me happy.
And that’s what I like most about Pride celebrations. Even in this atmosphere of increasing hate that we seem to find ourselves in, for one brief, shining moment, we all get to just be. It’s so nice to just breathe and not judge or be judged. It’s the way the world ought to be all the time.
So, Happy Pride, Dear Reader! For your listening pleasure, here are two videos I took at the concert. Enjoy!
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The View from a Drawbridge 