June 1st

I understand this poem.  I do, very much so, deeply.       
           
Not to rain on your parade (lol) but Imagine a world without it. Not so long ago by cultural standards.  (And in much of the world, it is not even possible yet, upon pain of risking incarceration or violent death.)         
          
Behind all the (sometimes desperate) fun are a few *simple* needs          
         
"We belong. Please let us be seen. Please allow us to love ourselves. Please stop killing us. And today I'd like to forget about all that and just have fun."     
      
That's what it's about.  
 
(Unlike a mardi gras though, I find the trick to enjoying the Pride festivities is not to drink, LOL, personally.)

Thank you for your kind and perceptive comment, it’s very compassionate and has given me a new way of looking at Pride. I still don’t care for it, and to be honest I find it in its present incarnation corporate, skin-deep, and fetishised, reductive of the queer experience to surfaces. But it certainly had power once, before it was commercialised just as everything is in this world.

You’ve convinced me to at least think about engaging with it more, though.

Honestly? I never go🤷‍♀️ (It's a very male space. But that's just me). Don't worry, you are definitely, most certainly not obliged. Are you a bar person? Do you LIKE big, boisterous, crowds of happy people persons?  

I LOVE humanity. But the crush of the crowd is not necessarily something my inclinations drive me to seek out. It need be no more than that. Don't worry, and honor your own inclinations. That's the most important thing. YOU are the most important part of "yourself." LOL LOVE!!! AmIrite?