Not Quite San Francisco Pride

Whew, another tiring weekend. I was at San Jose’s Pride again today, this time for the parade and the outreach booth. Bobby, the current reigning Mr. TransGender San Francisco and I rode in the convertible while a few TGSF members walked along. I rode with Bobby because the current Ms. TransGender San Francisco is either out of town or lives too far away for such a short parade (it spans 4 blocks). Since I was the first runner-up at the Cotillion, I was asked if I wanted to ride. Obviously since I already mentioned that I rode, I said “Yes.”

I love how everyone always tells you how to do “the wave” for any type of public event. It’s a 90 degree angle at the elbow, cup the hand and tilt it back about 20 degrees, and then slowly turn your wrist. Even people in the crowd will do that wave at me as though I’m doing it wrong. I just play along with them for a while.

Bobby and I had a good time riding. He and I kept checking out the pretty girls along the way and joked about making out with each other right when we got to the judges table with the announcers. We even made each other laugh, as well as the driver, with a few funny comments.

After the parade, I spent over 6 hours at the outreach booth. I was so worn out, I took two naps when I was there. I was working the booth with three guys: Bobby, Damon, and Tyler. They’re all pretty cool guys. When a possible MTF came by again to ask more questions about how to get started with transition, she (in the sense that she has a female gender identity) asked about the three guys and if they wanted to be women. I told her that they used to be women but were guys now. She almost Schmidt her pants at that time.

The entire time we were there, we only had a few people stop by to pick up information. During the day, though, we often had people walk by that saw the word “transgender” on our banner and then look up at us. This in turn was followed by them whispering to their friend or friends and then more staring. Now, most of the people at this festival are gay or lesbian, so you’d think they would be used to us. Apparently not.