Pride 30: Renee Navarro

I’ve been going to Pride for what feels like an eternity. So needless to say, I’ve got a lot of great memories of the event: My father who seems to almost never miss the Parade & always rings me to mock me over the fact that he’s scored a rooftop vantage point whilst I get carried away by the crowd on the streets below. My mother being hit on (much to my chagrin) during the Dyke marches…and then her innocently wondering why she’s never been invited back to hang out with me. Running into friends I haven’t seen in months & the realisation that it’s Pride that keeps us connected.

I think, though, that my best Pride year was 2007. My business partner managed to convince me that we should volunteer to be Pride photographers. We’d been looking for more queer events to work at (Pete’s the most Queer straight guy I know) and he figured Pride met our criteria perfectly. Not only was it a great parade, but Pride week was a fantastic lead in to my upcoming nuptials. Thinking back on it, it was probably a bit crazy of me to say yes to an event that was a mere 3 days before my wedding day, but I probably needed a “distraction” from the last minute planning.

That Pride seemed brighter, louder & friendlier than any parade I’d ever attended. Maybe it was because I was completely on cloud 9. Or maybe because my wife-to-be was wandering the crowds with me. Or maybe it was because I knew that I live in a city where two gals getting married is really just an everyday kind of thing.

- Renee Navarro