I appreciated the help from the other admins and friends in the group a lot. Beth felt incredibly energized and liberated simply by marching. It was also great to see many friends in the crowd. We did fantastic.
The booth and parade were huge successes. No one gets more cheers than the Postmos, even if we aren't the largest group out there. Can you imagine how it must feel, if you were a closet Mormon, to see a group like ours get so many cheers? To see people be so interested in us, and give us so many thanks for what we are doing? It's amazing. There was always someone interested in our booth. I might have actually made the money back that I spent on trinkets ! (I sell stuff to bring character to the booth. It doesn't actually come close to bringing in any money to the group, especially when I offer free hairspray.. except for that hour or two where I charged $1, until I realized the Walmart brand sucked.)
The festival wasn't without it's frustrations. I learned that Provo Pride was being audited, on charges of embezzlement. They found nothing on Dave, so my guess is that some silly Provo Mormon simply complained loud enough. I also learned that Pat Bagley spoke at the Leonardo on May 30th, which was just two days after I originally had him scheduled for the library, which I felt like that could have stolen some of our thunder with having him speak. Luckily, I'm sometimes incompetent, so we have him during a time when I can generate different buzz. On Saturday, some stupid kids stole all of the extra hairspray. I could recognize them if I saw them, because they talked about it with me right next to them, which I called them out for. ("Dude, I can hear you...") Unfortunately, the stores where I bought hairspray were closed on Sunday, and Walmart hairspray brands suck (and bleed like crazy). On another day, a Postmo that is rarely around stole a stack of parts that I was making buttons with. Yeah, I know who, but I won't tell anyone, because I don't care. (But seriously, who does that? Weirdo...) I originally blamed it on the Mormon groups, but realized soon who I was talking to before it disappeared, who was standing there, when there was no wind and I turned around for just a moment.
Here's what I see though. I see those minor frustrations as the price to pay for doing something good. Those kids who stole hairspray? They stole it because what we do is fucking awesome. Who wouldn't want to try to take a part of that home? Life's too short to be afraid or angry at ridiculous people who are probably not happy with themselves. So I say, bring it. Steal my trinkets. Audit the group if you want (please don't.. that would be slightly annoying). Do whatever the hell you want, because whether anyone shows up to help or harm, the end result is the same over here on my side -- it gives me more energy to keep up the good fight. Pride is energizing. I don't care what anyone believes -- Mormon, not Mormon, theist, atheist -- what I want isn't the "right" belief from people, but the right attitude, that we are all part of the same human race, that we are all in this together, that while we may occasionally disagree, most of just want to get along, make friends, have a good time, and help others if we can. So that's what we're going to fucking do.
