So how did Pride month go?

 Last Saturday was Milano Pride in Italy. Despite the heat, 350,000 people turned out. That's equivalent to more than a quarter of the population of the city.

It was also Budapest pride in Hungary. Despite being made illegal by the government, that Pride event attracted 200,000 people. That includes politicians from other countries keen to be seen to promote rights over autocracy.

I hear that in Britain, the anti-trans ruling from the Supreme Court is being watered down even by that court. As I've mentioned before, all sorts of cis political commentators who don't normally touch on LGBT matters have criticised the ruling and the government. 

And also in Britain, Thurso, a small town of just 9000 souls in the furthest north of Scotland, held its first ever Pride. 1000 people attended that, a stunning turnout for somewhere so small and remote. 

By contrast, I hear that a Straight Pride event in Boise, Idaho (population: a quarter of a million), billed as a "hetero awesomeness festival", not only had an underwhelming attendance (about 50), as seems so often to be the case, but it was crashed by a pro-LGBT singer. 

These are just some take-aways from the last few days. I give these attendance vs population figures because so far this year neither I and almost no-one I know, despite all being in the LGBT+community, have managed to get to a Pride event, so it shows how vast the LGBT community and its allies must be. 

Whilst there is a lot of very noisy and very nasty transphobia and other hate out there, I think the world turned a corner a long time ago and being queer in all its lovely forms is something most straight/cis people see as OK. Different, but OK. Current anti-LGBT legislation is now associated with violent and autocratic leaders so is not, in the end, going to benefit the few phobics. As a very simple - simplistic, if you will - summary of our present situation, not only does history show that autocracy is usually short-lived but our current autocrats, actual and aspiring, are remarkably incompetent and therefore likely to fail soon. When they're gone and condemned, as all such characters end up being, their transphobia will be part of that condemnation. So this current persecution is likely to work in our favour in the long run. I see this massive increase in support for LGBT Pride events, especially where the government is anti, as evidence of a better future, and that the public is broadly with us.

Stay colourful. 

 

Stay cool 

I love hot weather. My Optimum Operating Temperature has always been 28°C, even with a wig on. But it's currently 37°C in the shade (that's 99°F) as I'm posting this, and around 30° at night, and it's not even the height of summer yet. 

Mind you, the resultant lack of appetite plus exertion in the pool is working wonders for my (interminable) weight loss programme. 

Sue x