This past Saturday was the first Pride parade that I have seen in Knoxville in a while and it made me right proud.

The last Pride parade I attended was the very first one in 1991, when I and my fellow marchers were greeted by a riotous throng lining Gay St, many of whom had been bused in from concerned churches in Knox, and surrounding counties. They were just as colorfully dressed as we were...in their hazmat suits. One guy was dressed up as a Roman Centurion with a bloody sword and a sign saying "suck on this Faggot". I remember chatting with folks that day who recounted harrowing tails of getting shot at while driving home from the Carousel. Other recollections from that era- talking a friend of mine out of shooting a guy from Greenback who had just hit on him at Lord Linsey's.

What a difference 18 years makes. No protestors at all, and a fairly big and friendly crowd on Gay St. Several beautiful floats and lots of beautiful people. My son of course was more impressed with the candy being thrown than with the drag queens and other friendly folk throwing it. A good showing was made by area Unitarian Universalists and several other friendly churches.

One thing struck me however, and maybe this is a faulty recollection. The parade in 1991 actually seemed bigger than the one in 2009. This is just in the number of people marching, not in the number of floats etc. As I recall there were no floats in 1991, just a bunch of us walking and a few riding in the backs of pickups. Maybe more people felt obliged to march then since it was the first official pride parade?

Regardless, Saturday's event was much more fun. Granted, we've got a long way to go, but the absence of hate this past Saturday made me so proud. We have indeed made a lot of progress in Knoxville and East Tennessee on accepting everyone the way they were born.