“Good to meet you. No need to be formal here.” Russ turned to me. “So, this Pride thing? Jodie said there’s usually not any protesters to speak of or trouble-makers, that it’s safe. Have you been to any of them before?”
“I went to my first one in high school. The worst thing I saw was a preacher who kept yelling about us being sinners. We just ignored him, and eventually he left.”
He pulled his wallet out of his back pocket. “You need any gas money?” He fingered the bills that were in there.
“No, we’re fine.” Chloe and Benj grinned at each other. Neither of them had parents who were protective like Russ.
Russ gave me a twenty anyway. “If you don’t need it, put me down for some tomatoes.”
Right on cue, Jodie appeared with a duffle bag strapped across her back. “Did I just see money exchange hands?”
“No.” Russ tucked his wallet into his back pocket. “I have far too much respect for your independence to do such a thing.” He winked at me blatantly.
I shoved the money in my back pocket. “Nope, I would never take money from your father.”
She shrugged her shoulders. “Okay, great! Be good, Dad.” She hugged him, and the four of us were off.
June 15, 2013
The Pride rally started at 11:00 a.m., so we piled into my little car at 9:30, stopped at the convenient store for coffee, and found ourselves standing at the steps of the capital building at 10:45. Rainbows abounded everywhere – socks, shirts, posters, and even actual flags. Everyone was impressed with the turnout.
“I’ve never been to Idaho, but I never thought there’d be this much family here.” Benj’s smile was infectious. He took four flags from a lady who was handing them out and passed one to each of us, then stuffed one over his ear.
“It’s gotten bigger every year,” Jodie said. “The first one I went to was tiny. Most of it was at this sad little park near here. The rally was a lot of screaming. Now it’s more about celebrating.” Jodie made a point to come to Boise Pride every year, except for last year, when she didn’t know anyone else that was going.
A handful of people walked up to the podium, and the program began. We listened to several speakers: a transgender woman who lost her job when she transitioned, a teenage girl who was bullied at school, a lesbian who spoke about serving openly in the military, and a mom who lost her son to suicide, as well as some advocates for equality laws. Finally, the speeches were over, and we got in line to march to the park. There wasn’t much traffic, but we did get some supportive honks. Jodie and I strode hand in hand until the parade took off like a shot. Jodie’s tan legs were pumping to keep up with the crowd, and my legs, creamy white despite hours out in the garden, tried to match the frenetic pace. My brain trailed off thinking about how different my experiences were with Jodie from the ones I shared with my ex-girlfriend, Ton-Ton. We never would have marched in a parade together.
When we got to the park, Chloe and Benj were nowhere to be found, so we toured all the booths that were set up there. Churches, LGBT clubs, and retail booths were strewn around a large area, all with smiling faces ready to give us a pamphlet or separate us from a few dollars. When we got to the Unitarian Church booth, Liv and Nate were coordinating face paintings done by the church’s teen group. Liv leaned in and whispered in my ear. “I met the cutest guy a few minutes ago. I love Nate, but damn. Too bad he’s gay and I’m married.”
We caught up with Chloe and Benj at the beer garden. They’d already had a couple and were about to go over and watch some acts on the festival stage. We could hear songs and see some drag performers as we were walking around. They meandered over to some folding chairs, while Jodie and I shared a beer. It was going to be a long day, and I didn’t want to be drunk the whole time. I pulled a chair up next to Chloe and sat in it backwards, and Jodie sat in the one next to me.
“Farm life has certainly butched you up.” Chloe squinted at me and looked back at the stage.
At that moment, Liv came up to us, and getting a look at Benj, blushed bright red.
“Hey, you guys want your face painted? There’s a lull right now.”
Nice recovery! I caught on to the fact that Benj was the cute guy she had met earlier.
Chloe and Benj looked up at Liv, and Benj said, “Hey, you’re from the Unitarian booth. Cool.”
“Benj and Chloe, this is my friend Liv.”
“Good to meet you. Can I get a unicorn?”
“Sure.” Liv sputtered out.
Below her waist, she signed STFU (Shut the Fuck Up). It was everything I could do to keep from laughing. I leaned forward and put my head between my knees. Not only did I have her number, her using sign language cracked me up, too. No one has signed anything to me since we used to do that in college. We had so many inside jokes, it’s ridiculous. Jodie patted my shoulders, which were shaking, and asked me if I was okay.
“I’ll tell you later,” I whispered in her ear.
After the festival wound down, we got some pitas with Liv and Nate and walked around downtown for a while. Then we all walked over to the bar to show Chloe and Benj what a gay bar in Idaho looks like. Jodie and I had been on the dance floor for about twenty minutes, when she
