November 4, 2025 • 26 mins
From the first brick at Stonewall to flashy floats rolling down the main drag, Pride has always been part protest, part celebration, and part pure self-expression.
To celebrate Palm Springs Pride, which lights up the desert every November, The Old Gays reflect on the unapologetic queer energy that makes this event so iconic. They get frank about every part of this global celebration, sharing hilarious and heartfelt stories from their earliest parades, the days of secrecy and resistance, and the culture's slow march toward the Pride festivals we know and love today.
From getting royal treatment by the police, to one of our boys being carried down the parade on a stretcher (can you guess which one?), this episode is a love letter to the communal joy, queer resilience, and silver linings of Pride, here to remind us just how far we’ve come.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Ruby and for a while Bob was part of the
Palm Springs Pride right on his way to the hospital.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
I was very stoned at the time.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
From just beyond the lights of Los Angeles and steamy
Palm Springs, California, It's Mick Robert Bill just say, and
this is silver lightning with.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
The old days.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
We're back, kids, and yes the rumors are true. Back
with a very special bonus episode all about Pride.
Speaker 4 (00:49):
Just in time for Palm Springs Pride, which yes, is
in November, not June.
Speaker 5 (00:55):
There was a time when pride met marching in fear
of getting arrested. Now it means walking down the street
in fear of getting sunburned.
Speaker 4 (01:07):
But at its heart, it's about freedom, visibility, and being
surrounded by the kind of joy only made by queer
people together.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
So how did this thing get started?
Speaker 4 (01:22):
In June of nineteen sixty nine, the New York City
Police Department rated a little bar in New York City
called the Stone Wall Inn. It was something they always did,
but that night the people inside fought back.
Speaker 6 (01:38):
Some say butch Lesbian started it. Some say Marsha P.
Johnson threw the first brick, But either way, Pride started
because queer folks got sick of being harassed, arrested and
treated terribly.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
So Pride was a rebellion long before it was a parade,
and we celebrate to remember that and who we are
in community with others.
Speaker 5 (02:05):
The four of us have been going to Pride since before.
Some of you were even as.
Speaker 4 (02:11):
I got I would say most of you.
Speaker 5 (02:15):
So today's episode is all about our fondest Pride memories.
Speaker 6 (02:23):
Well, then let's get to it.
Speaker 4 (02:29):
All right, gentlemen. What Pride event did you attend where
you discovered that you were part of something really big?
Speaker 6 (02:38):
Well, for me, it was the first Pride I went to,
which was in the early eighties in San Francisco, And
when I looked up Market Street and saw all of
those people just cheering, it made me feel like I
(03:00):
was really part of something. They were also in two
two's and drag and all those other wonderful things that
they do.
Speaker 4 (03:12):
So it was very colorful.
Speaker 6 (03:14):
It was extremely colorful, and the vibe, you could just
feel the vibe in the air. Everybody had a grin,
everybody was happy. It was just a joyous occasion just
to look at it.
Speaker 4 (03:33):
Yeah, I think our audiences really don't remember or feel
the excitement that we felt because the closet door was
finally open. We were with people who were like ourselves
that we were celebrating just being ourselves, just being alive.
And I think it was like a big, big fraternity,
(03:55):
and you know, it was just special. You were with friends,
and you made eight friends, and you found lovers and dates,
and it was it just became your whole social life
was revolving around it.
Speaker 6 (04:09):
Yeah, it was a very very big thing for me
to go to my first pride. I've never felt so
proud in my entire life.
Speaker 4 (04:23):
To say you were going to say something.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
My first pride was in who. It was a shocker.
It was overwhelming because I'd never seen so many. I'd
learned what a wife beater was, but I got tired
of seeing blonde muscles all over. That's all you saw
were these blondes and big, big muscle bodies, which was
(04:48):
overwhelming for a little wimp that had come from Nebraska,
you know. But my eyes were wide and it was
it was very freeing to be in a gay crowd.
I'd been in church all this time in child. This
is a new worship experience and still continues to be
(05:08):
here in Palm Springs because I was at their first
one also, which lasted about fifteen minutes, and I felt
like a parent. I was so proud of Palm Springs
for just starting. I don't remember what year it was.
Speaker 5 (05:21):
Well, like Bill, my first Pride experience was going to
the Pride parade in San Francisco in nineteen eighty, right
after I had moved to the city, and my roommates
kept telling me about the Pride event and the parade
(05:45):
and all, and so when we actually went, I had
never seen so many people being so joyous and celebratory
in the streets, said, being themselves, and it was really
a very good dealing.
Speaker 4 (06:06):
The first Pride I attended was in nineteen seventy nine
in West Hollywood, and that was the first year in
West Hollywood because the city. In prior years the parade
was held on Yucker Street in Hollywood. But Ed Davis,
who was the at that time the chief of the LAPD,
(06:29):
finally said we're not going to say issue any permits
to you guys anymore because this is an illegal assembly.
At that time, homosexuality was still illegal in California, and
so they moved it to West Hollywood. Which was unincorporated,
and the Sheriff's department was much easier to deal with.
(06:50):
And yes, there were nothing but blonde, blue eyed Musselman,
of which I was one.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
Oh blonde.
Speaker 4 (06:57):
You know, Pride was not the first idea to name
the parade. The first gay parades were actually in celebration
of what was then known as gay power, because this
was the time of black power, this was the time
of Chicano power, this was the time of women's power.
(07:20):
And the first permitted Pride parade was in Los Angeles
in nineteen seventy and that was a pretty big event
for a city the size of Los Angeles to give
a permit for a public assembly in celebration of something
that was illegal. And you have to think about those
(07:41):
times because they're completely different from where we are now.
Speaker 6 (07:45):
One thing that I really enjoy seeing now is the
amount of families that come out to watch the gay
Pride parade, because I mean for little kids, I mean
guys around in two two's and that kind of thing.
And also it's sort of a sentimental thing since I
(08:10):
came out when I was in high school. But I
really enjoy seeing from all over the valley the gay
straight Alliance because if I would have just had that
kind of club when I came out in high school,
it would have been so nice just to be able
(08:32):
to express myself as I really wanted to do instead
of pretending to be this straight guy. But those clubs,
I think are just absolutely joy and I'm sure that
they get a lot of inner support.
Speaker 4 (08:50):
You know, there has been a change from like when
Jesse and I first attended our first gay Pride, we
were pretty still really closeted.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
We weren't really in extremely.
Speaker 4 (09:01):
We were wearing just normal clothes, normal meaning street clothes.
There was no expression like you see now. You know,
what I also think is it's easier for people now,
for younger generations to come out to a pride event.
You know, at the first Pride event I attended, there
(09:21):
were no cameras. Nobody wanted their picture taken because you could.
You could lose your house, you could be thrown out
of your apartment, you could be fired, and so those
kinds of things were very much of people's lines.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
To say, how have you seen pride change? You know,
at ours, I'm the only pride I go to is
this one. And in Palm Springs and I'm just grinning
the whole time, just seeing how we've grown as the people,
and it's a lot of fun and all about hugs, hugs, hugs,
(10:02):
and my cheeks are exhausted at the end of a
parade from grinning and laughing and the love that's just
coming back to us. It's still like we kind of
first began. You still get overwhelmed by it, but in
a great way. Thank you all, yes for the love
(10:23):
you give us. We live for it, especially when Bob's there.
Speaker 5 (10:28):
I remember the first Pride parade in Palm Springs and
it was on this neighborhood street next to a park,
and it was about four or five blocks long, and
there were maybe half a dozen convertibles and maybe two
(10:51):
hundred people, including both the parade participants and the spectators.
Speaker 6 (10:58):
What is your favorite ass respect of Pride, holy experience,
the whole banana?
Speaker 3 (11:05):
Yeah, but the people.
Speaker 5 (11:07):
I mean, the people stand out because these are a
lot of individuals trying not to be an individual, but
something special and as you said earlier, families, mothers, fathers, kids,
(11:28):
as well as members of the community. So I mean
my favorite thing literally is watching the people. I mean,
first of all, everybody is really really hyped up. But
just seeing all the various people in their states of
(11:49):
dress and undress and costumes and that I think it's
absolutely fabulous.
Speaker 4 (11:56):
You know, I didn't think about all the parades I
used to tended West Hollywood and how it's grown and
you can have many experiences on a day of Gay Pride.
I'm good and bad, But the best part about it
is walking around the fair, cruising other guys with your
(12:16):
shirt off and in that beautiful California son.
Speaker 6 (12:22):
Yeah, I second that, Mick. I think that's part of
the glory of it too.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
Yeah. And I always did that with my body, No,
I lust did, and I still do it muscles.
Speaker 4 (12:34):
Well, Like I said, you know, the first gay Pride
event I attended, I ended up meaning a lot of people,
but a door introduced me to another door, which and
that's how gay light recedes.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
You know.
Speaker 4 (12:47):
It's like this big network, but it's some of the
contacts that you make at an event like this that
that can change the directory of your life.
Speaker 5 (12:58):
One of the things I appreciate about these events is
just seeing the creativity of so many people in terms
of what they're wearing and the way the floats are
decorated in the marching units and everything.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
It's just.
Speaker 5 (13:24):
Being an artist. I appreciate that a lot.
Speaker 4 (13:28):
Maybe this is backtracking, but what are your favorite Pride
event moments.
Speaker 5 (13:33):
I have very vivid memories. So one in San Francisco
in the late nineteen eighties, my next door neighbor was
part of a drag group known as the Balloon Girls,
and they sponsored an entry afloat in the parade and
(13:59):
one Donnie asked me if I would like to drive
the truck for the clothes, and I said I'd love to.
And so it was this big Mac truck with a
large flat bed, all decorated in balloons, of course, and
(14:20):
I was above the crowd. And when I made that turn,
I looked down Market Street and it was a mass
of people as far as the eye could see. And
I think that year they estimated the crowd at over
(14:41):
a million people. Well, I have two memories also, One
was in San Francisco and one in Palm Springs, and
it was my first Pride parade. I had a place
on Market I could go to friends, had to second
story attorney's office, so I had a view from the top,
(15:06):
and all of a sudden, the earth started to shake,
and that's what it.
Speaker 4 (15:15):
Sounded, and the buildings way.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
And the queens are flying, and.
Speaker 6 (15:25):
All of a sudden, all of these dikes on bikes
came through and I looked and there was all of
them wearing black leather, and in the back I saw
too lesbian. One of them was wearing white, and literally
(15:46):
she was sitting on the lap of her partner who
was driving the bike. And the closer she got, I
realized she was also top plus. And these two lesbians
were They were huge, they were absolutely huge. And these
(16:11):
two lesbians facing each other.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
And the second.
Speaker 6 (16:16):
The second funniest thing I ever saw, and it involved Bob,
and it was in Palm Spring's Pride. Oh Lord, and
we've told this story before, but but Bob was really
(16:36):
having a good time, very very early in the morning,
and all of a sudden, just say looked at Bob
who was standing there, and he started sliding down the post.
Speaker 3 (16:51):
So no, no, no, no, he was sitting on the
stool first, and then he started bending over. Oh that's right.
Speaker 6 (16:57):
Then he shoted bending over and we knew something was amiss,
and they called nine to one one, and all of
a sudden, the EMTs showed up, put Bob on a
gurney and for a while Bob was part of the
(17:18):
Palm Springs Pride.
Speaker 3 (17:20):
Parade on his way to the hospital.
Speaker 5 (17:22):
On the way to the hospital, and I was just
waving at the crowd with a big smile on my face.
Speaker 3 (17:29):
I was very happy, stoned at the time.
Speaker 7 (17:33):
Yes, we'll be right back after a quick break.
Speaker 3 (17:53):
Welcome back to Silver Lines with the old gates.
Speaker 4 (17:59):
I would like to know personally, what does pride mean
to each of you, or in other words, pride is
what just saying.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
Pride is freedom for me, and pride is family my
new family.
Speaker 6 (18:17):
Pride to me is allowing gay people to celebrate their
identity and to affirm that they are worth something as
a person.
Speaker 5 (18:32):
For me, pride means feeling very relaxed and confident about
who I am and you know, being happy about it,
feeling spiritually uplifted about who I am and not having
(18:57):
any questions what's soever at having made the wrong choice
because it's not a choice.
Speaker 4 (19:09):
No, no, you know. I thought a little bit about
what pride means, and I went back to when we
were in Las Vegas last year and we were in
the car waving at people because we were the Grand
Marshals and we had a motorcycle escort from the Las
(19:29):
Vegas Police Department, and you kind of think, oh wow,
we've really come a long way. And I realized I
am standing on the shoulders of so many millions of
queer people who sacrificed their lives for what we have today.
I don't think we emphasized it that much, because you know,
we stressed the celebration and the joy. But that is
(19:52):
a part of it, is that each of us in
this room, the four of us, have sacrificed in some
way as a queer person. If you want to understand
gay pride, that's what gay pride is about. Is about
the sacrifice of some people's for their own lives. And
those are the people of whom we stand upon their
(20:15):
shoulders countless. Because we talk about the fact that pride
began with the rebellion, with a riot, well how did
this country begin? So you know, our story here is
as American as apple pie.
Speaker 5 (20:30):
You referred to being in last year's Lost Vegas Pride
parade and being accompanied by a police escort. I recalled
there were probably fitting to twenty cops of motorcycles, all
around and behind us. And I remember having the thought
(20:55):
at that time that when I first really started participating
in the gay world in the late sixties early seventies,
police were arresting us simply for going into a gay bar.
(21:16):
And now we were being escorted by a massive number
of police, and that struck me as one of the
biggest changes that have happened.
Speaker 4 (21:31):
Yeah, you know, the number of times have been followed
by the police after leaving a gay bar. You know,
those days are really at least here over in California.
But I you know, there are places in the world
in which you know, it's not only illegal, but you know,
(21:53):
you can be punishable by death. And I think we
have to understand that that experience is also part of pride.
You know, it's also about those who cannot speak yet.
For me, the future of pride is I hope to
be surprised the world that we grew up in doesn't
exist anymore, okay, you know, I mean we're going to
(22:17):
be entering a world of you know, machines deciding who
we are, what we are, and when we're going.
Speaker 3 (22:22):
To do it, you know, And.
Speaker 4 (22:26):
That's a big challenge ahead, and it's very different than
the one we faced.
Speaker 3 (22:30):
I hope it's still here. With all the craziness going on,
it bothers me, but I just hope it's still going.
Speaker 6 (22:40):
I think another thing that's encouraging about pride is that
it is slowly being celebrated around the world big and
that I think that's a big step forward.
Speaker 5 (22:57):
I don't think there's uh put in he putting up
the tiger back into the cage.
Speaker 4 (23:05):
The continuing struggle of this movement. It really belongs to
another generation now. But you got to have friends. The
feelings are so strong. You got to have friends to
make the day last.
Speaker 3 (23:23):
Long had some friends.
Speaker 4 (23:28):
But something came and took them away and from the
dust onto the dawn. Here is where I'll stay. I've
got to stay. That's what pride is about. Watch out,
he's got a record tomorrow. What is the silver lining
(23:58):
of celebrating pride.
Speaker 6 (24:00):
I think pride itself is silver.
Speaker 3 (24:03):
Linings in what way?
Speaker 6 (24:06):
We have marriages now which we never had before, And
I just think we're making great progress.
Speaker 4 (24:15):
Well, I would say we have made great progress. And
now comes the time too, as they say, secure the ground.
Speaker 3 (24:23):
All right, yeah, just keep it, keep your pride. Don't
allow people to beat you down, celebrate yourself, and fight
for yourself.
Speaker 5 (24:34):
To me, the silver lining of gay pride, as exemplified
by the pride celebrations and parades, is just that this
is what life is all about. It's a celebration of being.
Speaker 3 (24:59):
Thanks for tuning in, folks. We hope to be back
with more stories and lessons to share soon, but until then,
thanks for following along. Silver Linings is a production of
Iheart's Ruby Studio in the Outspoken Network.
Speaker 6 (25:15):
We're your hosts Bill Lyons.
Speaker 3 (25:18):
Jesse Martin mc peterson, and Robert Briez. Our executive producer
is Sierra Kaiser. Ryan Amador is our story producer, with
post production by Eric Zeiler. Theme music was composed by
Max Herschanau with audio direction and designed by Max still Oh.
(25:39):
To keep up with the latest updates, please subscribe to
silver Lines and don't forget to rate and review the
show wherever you get your podcast.
Speaker 5 (25:53):
Coffee, sir, get half a CuPy up, No sweetener, I'm sweeten.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
I had some dreams. They were clouds in my coffee,
clouds in my coffee. You're so vain, you probably think
this song is just about you. You're soul vain. You
probably think the song is about you, about you, know
(26:22):
what they think. Who they're referring to
Ruby and for a while Bob was part of the
Palm Springs Pride right on his way to the hospital.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
I was very stoned at the time.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
From just beyond the lights of Los Angeles and steamy
Palm Springs, California, It's Mick Robert Bill just say, and
this is silver lightning with.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
The old days.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
We're back, kids, and yes the rumors are true. Back
with a very special bonus episode all about Pride.
Speaker 4 (00:49):
Just in time for Palm Springs Pride, which yes, is
in November, not June.
Speaker 5 (00:55):
There was a time when pride met marching in fear
of getting arrested. Now it means walking down the street
in fear of getting sunburned.
Speaker 4 (01:07):
But at its heart, it's about freedom, visibility, and being
surrounded by the kind of joy only made by queer
people together.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
So how did this thing get started?
Speaker 4 (01:22):
In June of nineteen sixty nine, the New York City
Police Department rated a little bar in New York City
called the Stone Wall Inn. It was something they always did,
but that night the people inside fought back.
Speaker 6 (01:38):
Some say butch Lesbian started it. Some say Marsha P.
Johnson threw the first brick, But either way, Pride started
because queer folks got sick of being harassed, arrested and
treated terribly.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
So Pride was a rebellion long before it was a parade,
and we celebrate to remember that and who we are
in community with others.
Speaker 5 (02:05):
The four of us have been going to Pride since before.
Some of you were even as.
Speaker 4 (02:11):
I got I would say most of you.
Speaker 5 (02:15):
So today's episode is all about our fondest Pride memories.
Speaker 6 (02:23):
Well, then let's get to it.
Speaker 4 (02:29):
All right, gentlemen. What Pride event did you attend where
you discovered that you were part of something really big?
Speaker 6 (02:38):
Well, for me, it was the first Pride I went to,
which was in the early eighties in San Francisco, And
when I looked up Market Street and saw all of
those people just cheering, it made me feel like I
(03:00):
was really part of something. They were also in two
two's and drag and all those other wonderful things that
they do.
Speaker 4 (03:12):
So it was very colorful.
Speaker 6 (03:14):
It was extremely colorful, and the vibe, you could just
feel the vibe in the air. Everybody had a grin,
everybody was happy. It was just a joyous occasion just
to look at it.
Speaker 4 (03:33):
Yeah, I think our audiences really don't remember or feel
the excitement that we felt because the closet door was
finally open. We were with people who were like ourselves
that we were celebrating just being ourselves, just being alive.
And I think it was like a big, big fraternity,
(03:55):
and you know, it was just special. You were with friends,
and you made eight friends, and you found lovers and dates,
and it was it just became your whole social life
was revolving around it.
Speaker 6 (04:09):
Yeah, it was a very very big thing for me
to go to my first pride. I've never felt so
proud in my entire life.
Speaker 4 (04:23):
To say you were going to say something.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
My first pride was in who. It was a shocker.
It was overwhelming because I'd never seen so many. I'd
learned what a wife beater was, but I got tired
of seeing blonde muscles all over. That's all you saw
were these blondes and big, big muscle bodies, which was
(04:48):
overwhelming for a little wimp that had come from Nebraska,
you know. But my eyes were wide and it was
it was very freeing to be in a gay crowd.
I'd been in church all this time in child. This
is a new worship experience and still continues to be
(05:08):
here in Palm Springs because I was at their first
one also, which lasted about fifteen minutes, and I felt
like a parent. I was so proud of Palm Springs
for just starting. I don't remember what year it was.
Speaker 5 (05:21):
Well, like Bill, my first Pride experience was going to
the Pride parade in San Francisco in nineteen eighty, right
after I had moved to the city, and my roommates
kept telling me about the Pride event and the parade
(05:45):
and all, and so when we actually went, I had
never seen so many people being so joyous and celebratory
in the streets, said, being themselves, and it was really
a very good dealing.
Speaker 4 (06:06):
The first Pride I attended was in nineteen seventy nine
in West Hollywood, and that was the first year in
West Hollywood because the city. In prior years the parade
was held on Yucker Street in Hollywood. But Ed Davis,
who was the at that time the chief of the LAPD,
(06:29):
finally said we're not going to say issue any permits
to you guys anymore because this is an illegal assembly.
At that time, homosexuality was still illegal in California, and
so they moved it to West Hollywood. Which was unincorporated,
and the Sheriff's department was much easier to deal with.
(06:50):
And yes, there were nothing but blonde, blue eyed Musselman,
of which I was one.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
Oh blonde.
Speaker 4 (06:57):
You know, Pride was not the first idea to name
the parade. The first gay parades were actually in celebration
of what was then known as gay power, because this
was the time of black power, this was the time
of Chicano power, this was the time of women's power.
(07:20):
And the first permitted Pride parade was in Los Angeles
in nineteen seventy and that was a pretty big event
for a city the size of Los Angeles to give
a permit for a public assembly in celebration of something
that was illegal. And you have to think about those
(07:41):
times because they're completely different from where we are now.
Speaker 6 (07:45):
One thing that I really enjoy seeing now is the
amount of families that come out to watch the gay
Pride parade, because I mean for little kids, I mean
guys around in two two's and that kind of thing.
And also it's sort of a sentimental thing since I
(08:10):
came out when I was in high school. But I
really enjoy seeing from all over the valley the gay
straight Alliance because if I would have just had that
kind of club when I came out in high school,
it would have been so nice just to be able
(08:32):
to express myself as I really wanted to do instead
of pretending to be this straight guy. But those clubs,
I think are just absolutely joy and I'm sure that
they get a lot of inner support.
Speaker 4 (08:50):
You know, there has been a change from like when
Jesse and I first attended our first gay Pride, we
were pretty still really closeted.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
We weren't really in extremely.
Speaker 4 (09:01):
We were wearing just normal clothes, normal meaning street clothes.
There was no expression like you see now. You know,
what I also think is it's easier for people now,
for younger generations to come out to a pride event.
You know, at the first Pride event I attended, there
(09:21):
were no cameras. Nobody wanted their picture taken because you could.
You could lose your house, you could be thrown out
of your apartment, you could be fired, and so those
kinds of things were very much of people's lines.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
To say, how have you seen pride change? You know,
at ours, I'm the only pride I go to is
this one. And in Palm Springs and I'm just grinning
the whole time, just seeing how we've grown as the people,
and it's a lot of fun and all about hugs, hugs, hugs,
(10:02):
and my cheeks are exhausted at the end of a
parade from grinning and laughing and the love that's just
coming back to us. It's still like we kind of
first began. You still get overwhelmed by it, but in
a great way. Thank you all, yes for the love
(10:23):
you give us. We live for it, especially when Bob's there.
Speaker 5 (10:28):
I remember the first Pride parade in Palm Springs and
it was on this neighborhood street next to a park,
and it was about four or five blocks long, and
there were maybe half a dozen convertibles and maybe two
(10:51):
hundred people, including both the parade participants and the spectators.
Speaker 6 (10:58):
What is your favorite ass respect of Pride, holy experience,
the whole banana?
Speaker 3 (11:05):
Yeah, but the people.
Speaker 5 (11:07):
I mean, the people stand out because these are a
lot of individuals trying not to be an individual, but
something special and as you said earlier, families, mothers, fathers, kids,
(11:28):
as well as members of the community. So I mean
my favorite thing literally is watching the people. I mean,
first of all, everybody is really really hyped up. But
just seeing all the various people in their states of
(11:49):
dress and undress and costumes and that I think it's
absolutely fabulous.
Speaker 4 (11:56):
You know, I didn't think about all the parades I
used to tended West Hollywood and how it's grown and
you can have many experiences on a day of Gay Pride.
I'm good and bad, But the best part about it
is walking around the fair, cruising other guys with your
(12:16):
shirt off and in that beautiful California son.
Speaker 6 (12:22):
Yeah, I second that, Mick. I think that's part of
the glory of it too.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
Yeah. And I always did that with my body, No,
I lust did, and I still do it muscles.
Speaker 4 (12:34):
Well, Like I said, you know, the first gay Pride
event I attended, I ended up meaning a lot of people,
but a door introduced me to another door, which and
that's how gay light recedes.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
You know.
Speaker 4 (12:47):
It's like this big network, but it's some of the
contacts that you make at an event like this that
that can change the directory of your life.
Speaker 5 (12:58):
One of the things I appreciate about these events is
just seeing the creativity of so many people in terms
of what they're wearing and the way the floats are
decorated in the marching units and everything.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
It's just.
Speaker 5 (13:24):
Being an artist. I appreciate that a lot.
Speaker 4 (13:28):
Maybe this is backtracking, but what are your favorite Pride
event moments.
Speaker 5 (13:33):
I have very vivid memories. So one in San Francisco
in the late nineteen eighties, my next door neighbor was
part of a drag group known as the Balloon Girls,
and they sponsored an entry afloat in the parade and
(13:59):
one Donnie asked me if I would like to drive
the truck for the clothes, and I said I'd love to.
And so it was this big Mac truck with a
large flat bed, all decorated in balloons, of course, and
(14:20):
I was above the crowd. And when I made that turn,
I looked down Market Street and it was a mass
of people as far as the eye could see. And
I think that year they estimated the crowd at over
(14:41):
a million people. Well, I have two memories also, One
was in San Francisco and one in Palm Springs, and
it was my first Pride parade. I had a place
on Market I could go to friends, had to second
story attorney's office, so I had a view from the top,
(15:06):
and all of a sudden, the earth started to shake,
and that's what it.
Speaker 4 (15:15):
Sounded, and the buildings way.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
And the queens are flying, and.
Speaker 6 (15:25):
All of a sudden, all of these dikes on bikes
came through and I looked and there was all of
them wearing black leather, and in the back I saw
too lesbian. One of them was wearing white, and literally
(15:46):
she was sitting on the lap of her partner who
was driving the bike. And the closer she got, I
realized she was also top plus. And these two lesbians
were They were huge, they were absolutely huge. And these
(16:11):
two lesbians facing each other.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
And the second.
Speaker 6 (16:16):
The second funniest thing I ever saw, and it involved Bob,
and it was in Palm Spring's Pride. Oh Lord, and
we've told this story before, but but Bob was really
(16:36):
having a good time, very very early in the morning,
and all of a sudden, just say looked at Bob
who was standing there, and he started sliding down the post.
Speaker 3 (16:51):
So no, no, no, no, he was sitting on the
stool first, and then he started bending over. Oh that's right.
Speaker 6 (16:57):
Then he shoted bending over and we knew something was amiss,
and they called nine to one one, and all of
a sudden, the EMTs showed up, put Bob on a
gurney and for a while Bob was part of the
(17:18):
Palm Springs Pride.
Speaker 3 (17:20):
Parade on his way to the hospital.
Speaker 5 (17:22):
On the way to the hospital, and I was just
waving at the crowd with a big smile on my face.
Speaker 3 (17:29):
I was very happy, stoned at the time.
Speaker 7 (17:33):
Yes, we'll be right back after a quick break.
Speaker 3 (17:53):
Welcome back to Silver Lines with the old gates.
Speaker 4 (17:59):
I would like to know personally, what does pride mean
to each of you, or in other words, pride is
what just saying.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
Pride is freedom for me, and pride is family my
new family.
Speaker 6 (18:17):
Pride to me is allowing gay people to celebrate their
identity and to affirm that they are worth something as
a person.
Speaker 5 (18:32):
For me, pride means feeling very relaxed and confident about
who I am and you know, being happy about it,
feeling spiritually uplifted about who I am and not having
(18:57):
any questions what's soever at having made the wrong choice
because it's not a choice.
Speaker 4 (19:09):
No, no, you know. I thought a little bit about
what pride means, and I went back to when we
were in Las Vegas last year and we were in
the car waving at people because we were the Grand
Marshals and we had a motorcycle escort from the Las
(19:29):
Vegas Police Department, and you kind of think, oh wow,
we've really come a long way. And I realized I
am standing on the shoulders of so many millions of
queer people who sacrificed their lives for what we have today.
I don't think we emphasized it that much, because you know,
we stressed the celebration and the joy. But that is
(19:52):
a part of it, is that each of us in
this room, the four of us, have sacrificed in some
way as a queer person. If you want to understand
gay pride, that's what gay pride is about. Is about
the sacrifice of some people's for their own lives. And
those are the people of whom we stand upon their
(20:15):
shoulders countless. Because we talk about the fact that pride
began with the rebellion, with a riot, well how did
this country begin? So you know, our story here is
as American as apple pie.
Speaker 5 (20:30):
You referred to being in last year's Lost Vegas Pride
parade and being accompanied by a police escort. I recalled
there were probably fitting to twenty cops of motorcycles, all
around and behind us. And I remember having the thought
(20:55):
at that time that when I first really started participating
in the gay world in the late sixties early seventies,
police were arresting us simply for going into a gay bar.
(21:16):
And now we were being escorted by a massive number
of police, and that struck me as one of the
biggest changes that have happened.
Speaker 4 (21:31):
Yeah, you know, the number of times have been followed
by the police after leaving a gay bar. You know,
those days are really at least here over in California.
But I you know, there are places in the world
in which you know, it's not only illegal, but you know,
(21:53):
you can be punishable by death. And I think we
have to understand that that experience is also part of pride.
You know, it's also about those who cannot speak yet.
For me, the future of pride is I hope to
be surprised the world that we grew up in doesn't
exist anymore, okay, you know, I mean we're going to
(22:17):
be entering a world of you know, machines deciding who
we are, what we are, and when we're going.
Speaker 3 (22:22):
To do it, you know, And.
Speaker 4 (22:26):
That's a big challenge ahead, and it's very different than
the one we faced.
Speaker 3 (22:30):
I hope it's still here. With all the craziness going on,
it bothers me, but I just hope it's still going.
Speaker 6 (22:40):
I think another thing that's encouraging about pride is that
it is slowly being celebrated around the world big and
that I think that's a big step forward.
Speaker 5 (22:57):
I don't think there's uh put in he putting up
the tiger back into the cage.
Speaker 4 (23:05):
The continuing struggle of this movement. It really belongs to
another generation now. But you got to have friends. The
feelings are so strong. You got to have friends to
make the day last.
Speaker 3 (23:23):
Long had some friends.
Speaker 4 (23:28):
But something came and took them away and from the
dust onto the dawn. Here is where I'll stay. I've
got to stay. That's what pride is about. Watch out,
he's got a record tomorrow. What is the silver lining
(23:58):
of celebrating pride.
Speaker 6 (24:00):
I think pride itself is silver.
Speaker 3 (24:03):
Linings in what way?
Speaker 6 (24:06):
We have marriages now which we never had before, And
I just think we're making great progress.
Speaker 4 (24:15):
Well, I would say we have made great progress. And
now comes the time too, as they say, secure the ground.
Speaker 3 (24:23):
All right, yeah, just keep it, keep your pride. Don't
allow people to beat you down, celebrate yourself, and fight
for yourself.
Speaker 5 (24:34):
To me, the silver lining of gay pride, as exemplified
by the pride celebrations and parades, is just that this
is what life is all about. It's a celebration of being.
Speaker 3 (24:59):
Thanks for tuning in, folks. We hope to be back
with more stories and lessons to share soon, but until then,
thanks for following along. Silver Linings is a production of
Iheart's Ruby Studio in the Outspoken Network.
Speaker 6 (25:15):
We're your hosts Bill Lyons.
Speaker 3 (25:18):
Jesse Martin mc peterson, and Robert Briez. Our executive producer
is Sierra Kaiser. Ryan Amador is our story producer, with
post production by Eric Zeiler. Theme music was composed by
Max Herschanau with audio direction and designed by Max still Oh.
(25:39):
To keep up with the latest updates, please subscribe to
silver Lines and don't forget to rate and review the
show wherever you get your podcast.
Speaker 5 (25:53):
Coffee, sir, get half a CuPy up, No sweetener, I'm sweeten.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
I had some dreams. They were clouds in my coffee,
clouds in my coffee. You're so vain, you probably think
this song is just about you. You're soul vain. You
probably think the song is about you, about you, know
(26:22):
what they think. Who they're referring to
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