There's one thing that I think anyone can agree on whether you're gay, straight, bi, tri we ALL just want to be accepted. I find myself even now as an adult, still craving acceptance. I have this issue where I want everyone to like me and I'll go out of my way to try to get the approval. Since I wasn't accepted when I was a teenager I think I over compensate now. When it comes to friends I need to feel included and if I don't I overreact. The inner bitch comes out. (My head rotates full around and I speak in tongues. Ask Kevin he's seen it!)
So what was on my gay agenda last weekend?
-Spend time with family and friends.
-Get drunk and sweaty in a crowd of hot homos on the street.
-Be treated equally and feel accepted.
- Buy milk (Hey it does a body good).
OutFest or as I'd like to call it "Pride The Sequel" was the perfect place to cross off 3 of those things on my list. OutFest is a huge block party about coming out, accepting who you are and embracing your gay life. It's one of the few times where you can walk around the streets of Philadelphia with an alcoholic drink in hand without concealing it in a brown paper bag and flirt with hot shirtless banana hammock clad passerbyers! It's the biggest and most unusual block party you may ever wittness!
Bobby, Kile and I arrived Sunday afternoon (10/9) to find a sea of people everywhere! We entered the block party around 12th and Spruce where there was a dance area. Lady Gaga billowed out in full force from the giant speakers! I watched a very sweaty chiseled black guy dance in the middle of the crowd. He would have made my friend Sean's butt pucker if he was there.
Usually every community group has a booth, tent or some type of display at OutFest. There's vendors selling everything you can imagine and some vendors give out sample products and free giveaways! Call me a Jew, but I love free shit! I grabbed free condoms for Kevin. I figured he may need them someday. Bobby took the packet of lube I had because he "thought it was cute." I guess we know what he will be doing later.
OutFest even had a flea market. It's the perfect place if you're a drag queen and need some new clothes for costumes. Every bar and restaurant in the Gayborhood has some sort of event. There's usually some muscly oiled up hottie (Slip~N~Slides) standing outside to entice people to go into the bar. They put all your drinks in plastic cups so you can then leave the bar and walk around if you choose. Of course there's tons of food and drink booths along street, so forget your usual lunch of a TicTac and diet coke. Eat up and drink up! There were circus events. A very sexy man dangling from a rope (which made me wanna buy a sex swing) and a tightrope walker (which shows not only can he balance on your cock, but on other things as well).
The main stage at 13th and Locust hosted an array of entertainment. Drag queens, singers, dance performances, hot guys from 12th Street Gym working out and an old school "pulling rabbits out of hats" magician. Pennsylvania Attorney General candidate Patrick Murphy gave a very powerful speech on sexual orientation discrimination. Mayor Michael Nutter made an appearance around 2 pm to dedicate the second LGBT historic marker in the state to Giovanni's Room, the oldest LGBT bookstore in the country! Kile pointed out that the guy that designed our pride flag (Gilbert Baker) also made an appearance. I said, "So he is like the gay Betsy Ross?" Kile replied with, "Yes he is!" Bobby looking all puzzled said, "Who's Betsy Ross?" I swear hanging out with Kevin is rubbing off on him! There were penis shaped bagel eating, high heel racing, and pet show contests as well. The main stage had something for everyone and if all that stuff wasn't your thing it was fun just to people watch!
We bar hopped at
iCandy,
Tavern on Camac and
Woody's. I hadn't been in Woody's since they redid it. The bar looks so much better and it's more spacious. They had country line dancing in the club room. We all wanted this tall drink of water that was dancing in a tank top. I was ready to "saddle up!" The one bartender at Woody's was so ripped and so perfect he could have done porn and I would have wanted to watch it!
The streets had various attractions and sights. There was a mechanical bull, we stopped to watch a guy try it. He held on pretty well. He must have been a bottom. iCandy had a tent full of underwear boys, that's one way to pitch a tent! A rotating orb thing was in the middle of street where I spotted a guy who rotated around in a circle for five minutes. I tried to convince Bobby to try it out. I wanted to take pictures of him in it, but he didn't go for it. There were drag queens and a cowboy with a fanny pack (I know right, that's sooooo lesbian of him) on stilts. We passed people dressed up in animal costumes. (Furries) They kinda looked like foxes or wolves and skipped through the crowd looking for a bone. There's this whole furry fetish obsession among certain people. I've heard of people dressing up in these costumes and taking on roles of animals and even having sex. I thought the costumes were really cute, but I didn't want to get fucked by one. If the Furries didn't do it for ya there were real animals to pet. Dogs, puppies, all kinds of pussy. Even poodles dyed every color of the pride flag.
A shirtless oiled-up guy roamed the Gayborhood with a sign that read "Kiss me, I'm gay!" There's no doubt in my mind he was going to need to invest in some Herpicil or at least some sort of anti-bacterial wash! That's probably why Walgreens was one of the sponsors. With all the people that kissed him that day maybe scientists could have gathered DNA and found out where herpes began.
Of course with all the positive energy flowing through the crowd of LGBT peeps and the people that love them, there has to be a few negative Nancy's. OutFest had several openly gay and allied priests, but there was a few religious protestors, as well. An anti-gay prayer circle was held at the Main Stage area trying to pray our sin away. Good luck with that! A middle-age man shouted Bible verses at people during the entire event! There was even a religious nut job proclaiming he was born again straight and Jesus can save us if we let him in. I bet he masturbated when he got home thinking about all the half naked guys that walked by him.
All the protesters had police standing by them. I assume it was to protect them from us, since we out numbered them. I am of course a believer in freedom of speech but you won't catch gay people protesting outside of churches or their religious events! We don't force our beliefs on anyone. All we want is to be treated equally like any other person. I can't stand being preached too especially when it's from a book that isn't even relevant anymore! Don't get me wrong I'm not anti religion. I think any positive religion is a good thing. I do consider myself more spiritual than religious though. I just can't stand close minded individuals. Just because it's different, doesn't make it wrong.
With way over 25,000 gay people and allies that attended OutFest it proves that there is hope in this world. There's still a lot of work ahead of the LGBT community, but 25,000 people that accept us and love us is a start. After all Philadelphia is the city of brotherly love, right?
FCKH8.com
Wanna read more about OutFest and National Coming Out Day? Please see the post:
National Coming Out Weekend Are you in the closet? For tips and stories on coming out please see the post:
Come Out, Come Out Wherever You Are
***Due to unforeseen circumstances I lost all my pictures I took at OutFest. If you were there and have pictures of the stuff mentioned in the above article please
SEND THEM to me. I will give you credit for taking the pictures.
