Monday, June 26, 2006 | by nathan

The Rainbow Came Out

Aaaah, Pride. That magical time of year when everyone smells like Dolce & Gabbana and cheap vodka, when people who would not be caught dead shirtless the other 363 days of the year show up in a public place, with news crews all around and traffic roaring past, in a speedo and leather chaps. Or, in my case, my Jesus shirt:

I decided not to take my own pictures, because I didn’t feel like carrying Bulky Camera around all afternoon along with my flask, and wallet, and drink. But Eric Riddle will have some up soon.

A brief rundown of highlights from Pride OKC 2006:

• This quote by Matthew Perry: "I’m easy. Wait, not in that way."
• During one of the drag shows some drunk-ass bitch got all freaking up on the drag queen. You don’t do that; it is against all rules of Drag Decorum. The Queen is on stage, honey - you are not, and she will do whatever she needs to do to make sure that the attention is on her. So, the drag queen pulled a bitch by her ponytail and flung her back into the audience. She proceeded to drunkenly try to dance around for a few seconds until it really hit her what had happened, at which point she was ready to kick some drag queen ass; as if she could. We live in Oklahoma City, bitch - the town where drag queens occasionally shoot people and police dogs. Anyway, it was funny to watch her be forcibly thrown out of Angles, especially when she wiped out and bashed her face on the steps. Gotta have some drama. 
• The frozen drink machine spitting out Bellinis that looked like puke.
• Talking to Jesus on my shirt, like: "Hey Jesus, think we need some more beer?" "Hey Jesus, can you clean my glasses for me real quick? Thanks, Jesus." Queens were freaking about the shirt, y’all.
• The parade was good; longer and more well thought-out than last year. I wonder if that has anything to do with it being an election year.
• The people riding their Vespas through the parade; especially the sea-green vintage one with refrigerator poetry all over it. I decided I need one. Brian agreed.
• Dancing with Brian. Seeing our realtor dancing on the floor next to us.
• Annie offered to make our wedding cake. Here and I was freaking out ‘cus it was the one thing I forgot to plan.
• Seeing Chandra, who worked in my office O-Trip last summer. She’s a big, loud black woman; when she saw me she started screaming, then jumped on me and put me in a headlock. So we went round and round on the street, me in a headlock, screaming, "RAPE!!!! RAAAAAAAPE!"
• Seeing one of my students from last summer. He’s 17 and braver than I’ll ever think of being.

But the best part of the whole thing, undoubtedly the coolest Pride story I will ever have:

As is typical in Oklahoma in June, it started to look cloudy in late evening, just as the Parade ended and we were all lining up to get into Angles. We felt a few sprinkles and looked up, and hanging over the whole scene was this huge, arcing rainbow, lit up perfectly by the sun. I made Eric get pictures of it, and I’m going to ask him to let me post them here. I was almost in tears at the sight of it; God really does love us. It truly was a moment for which there were no words.