Pride! ...and prejudice

Sunny was in her 1st parade last weekend - the Portland (Gay) Pride Parade. We walked with my company, Rose City Mortgage. Sunny loved all the attention (and she got lots of it!) - she clapped, smiled, waved and acted coy with the onlookers as she rolled past in her red wagon. There were many great costumes for her to see. She even earned some beads with her good looks. It was a great day, but Sunny also experienced prejudice and judgment for the first time. While we were in the staging area, a group of religious zealots with signs, megaphones and ugly words walked through the parade line-up, pointing and telling us that we were "evil sinners going to hell." We just ignored them as they passed, but it made me sick to my stomach knowing that many people deal with that kind of intolerance all the time. It's important for Sunny to learn that, in our family, we stand up for what we believe in, without condemning others. As parents, our goal is to help Sunny grow into a better person than we are. If that's part of a generational trend in society, we're all on our way to a better world.

Thank you, Ericka, for the great photos you took. I'd forgotten my camera.