My favorite Gay Pride Memory

I had a really fun pride weekend last week and was doing some work for the media company, OurSceneTV.  One of the questions Ourscene asked  various GLBT influencers for their coverage was about their favorite Pride memory so I thought I'd share mine.  The year was the summer of 2002 and the place was Central Park's Rumsay Playfield.  The event: the 25th anniversary of the Paradise Garage with a special performance by the legendary Ms. Grace Jones.  While this wasn't an official Heritage of Pride celebration there was lots of "family" there waiting in line before the stage area opened up.

I was there with one of my good friends and we were totally in party mood.  This was his first pride in NYC and my first big party post 9/11.  As many of you may or may not know the mood in NYC was extremely depressing after the attacks and I was working very close to the actual site.  I can still remember the smell of the fires ( a mix of burnt rubber and leaves).  

So once we got into the space we felt a tremendous amount of positive energy despite the heat and high humidity.  The  "Godfather of Disco" Mel Cheren was spinning an infectous mix of old school garage and soulful house.  Everybody in the diverse crowd was dancing with each other.  There were even middle aged women with long dreadlocks dancing with 20 year old twinks.  I have very rarely seen this kind of comaraderie since.

After several hours of this, my friend and I were getting hot so we moved back to the bleachers to get some shade. If you've ever been to Summerstage you know that the play field is a very intimate venue with great views from the entire space.  Finally, Ms Grace came on and sang a wonderful set with all her hits and out of this world costumes!  The highlight  though was listening to the enthusiastic crowd of flamboyant African American gay men cheering her on.  Think Paris is Burning

"Go on Miss Gracie!"
"You BETTA work it girl, " they shouted .

I will never forget that afternoon.  Thank you Ms. Grace Jones and RIP Mel Cheren.