PRIDE III

Saturday dawned bright and early, since it didn't have a choice, those of us who did have a choice may not have been quite so bright or quite so early.   Although of course some were earlier than others.   After an excellent breakfast courtesy of the Travel Lodge buffet we made our way over to the park to set up the TransPALS stall before getting back to the Marlborough for the start of the March.

Before setting off we were reminded by the wonderful Sarah Savage that this was a Protest March, not a Parade.   I think I may have already made my feelings on this clear, but it does need to be said we still have things to protest about ~ and there were plenty of us there to do it. Despite reports saying that hundreds turned up estimates show that between 1,500 and 2,000 were on the march and that there were over 4,000 distinct visitors to the event in Brunswick Gardens.

There are some things I'm still undecided about though, like, do we really want to be associated with any and every group who feels oppressed? should Stonewall be the prime mover and spokes people for us when until recently they refused to include us?

With my new friend

Still I had a lot of good, interesting conversations with loads of people who came to our stall to chat with the "Booth Babes" it was good to meet friends, old and new, and to promote our organisation. We quickly came up with the description of "Mutual Social Self Support" which I think is the best way I have yet found of justifying meeting friends in a pub and drinking wine.

After the main event, a few of us went for a very pleasant dinner together at the Cafe Rouge before going to the party at Envy.   I quickly realised that this party was just too loud for me so along with my roomy made a strategic withdrawal.   We arrived back at our Hotel at the same time as one of the many hen parties staying there.   The Bride decided that I was a candidate for joining her party....................