One day I swear I'm going to make it to the Pride parade. I've wanted to go for the past 3 years but it's always fallen on a day I work.

I've been in the city all month on my days off and seeing the city all decorated in rainbows makes me so excited and happy. I love color. As much as I've tried to explore black and white photos, I've always ended up loving everything in color more. And that translates to everything in my life too. Nothing is ever really black and white for me, there are so many shades and flavors and facets and OMG, THE LIMIT DOES NOT EXIST. 

There's so much to see and do in the city during Pride Month and I hate living so far away because all the events are exclusive to one day or a certain week or time frame. I want to experience it all!  

I've always been a supporter of gay love because I simply do not see it any different than "regular" or "straight" love. I myself would identify myself as straight but I honestly see no difference in loving a man or a woman. You love who you love and it doesn't matter to me who you love as long as you are happy and healthy and it doesn't hurt anybody. It has always been a controversial and taboo subject in history, but truth is, same sex relationships are nothing new. They date back to ancient times in many works of art and history left behind.

I also don't see why homophobic people are so bothered or why another person's relationship can affect them in any way. Like why do you lose sleep over someone else's orientation? How does it affect your life in any way? It doesn't. Just because your neighbor likes apples while you like oranges, doesn't mean you should attack them in any way until they like the same things you do. We are all different and our own personal preferences and interests are what set us apart and make us different. I hate when people spend so much time and effort trying to make others assimilate to their liking.

But maybe that's why I identify with pride culture. I grew up always feeling different from the other kids. I was the only Asian girl in my school district growing up and because I looked different, I got bullied a lot and made fun of for how I looked. The common racist thing kids would do to me growing up is pull their eyes to side and say "ching chang chong." This was really hurtful to deal with growing up, I'm not going to lie. It was hard being singled out and mocked and pointed at. It made me hate my features a lot and felt like I could never fit in. 

Looking back now, I realize this was stupid. It's hard to tell a child to not to let these things get to you of course, but when you get older, you realize how ridiculous you are for letting these kids dictate how you feel. I know now that these remarks were made out of ignorance and terrible parenting of not teaching your kids to respect and be open to other cultures and their differences. You need to teach your kids that differences are beautiful and to be celebrated. Not to stereotype and pass on racist biases. I hope that if I ever have a child, I can teach my child to love others and be tolerant, open minded and respectful of other people's cultures, traditions, and customs.

You don't have to always agree, but you do have to be mindful of other people's beliefs. You have no right to intrude upon other people's happiness and well-being. What do you get out of making someone else feel like shit anyway? I never understood this of people. But they say misery loves company. For some reason, some people just get off on making other people feel like shit so that they can feel better about themselves. But if this it the type of person you are, it's really sad and pathetic that your happiness lies within making others unhappy. I feel sorry for you if that's what it takes for you to feel good about yourself. 

But I'm digressing again. The point is, I don't see my 'gay' friends as gay. I just see them as people. And all people deserve love and to be loved. There shouldn't be any laws around it or your rights as a person. That's stupid. Laws regarding love should simply be against the law, as ironic as that sounds. And they're not any different from you and me based off their sexual orientation. Two of my closest friends are gay and they're the most amazing, loving, caring, selfless people I've never met. They recently welcomed their first child into the world and it's so astounding and heartwarming to see how beautiful they are raising their daughter. They love so much and they give so much. And that's actually a lot of what I've discovered of the gay community as I befriend more and more people. They are some of the nicest, open minded, welcoming, tolerant people I've ever met. Compared to other people I've encountered in my life, they're the ones that have never made me feel different for how I look, how I dress, my nationality, my quirkiness, etc. They actually judge me a lot less if at all. I've never felt uncomfortable around anyone in the gay community. I can say I actually felt like I can be more of my truer self and let loose and not worry about what people think. 

I went to DragCon NYC last year and it was honestly one of the nicest cons I've ever been to. Everyone was like GIRL SLAYYYYY and YASSSSSSSS! I've never felt a more welcoming crowd. I'll be attending again this fall and I couldn't be more excited. They make me feel like it's normal to wear glitter on an everyday casual manner. Because, well, why the hell not? 

In real life I'm always asked what I'm dressed up for, or that I'm too dressed up or I'm too extra or my personality is too loud. But in the pride community, I always feel like a queen, hahaha. Like this is how we're supposed to normally be. My homeostasis is just glitter 24/7 if the norm would allow me to be. I swear, next year I'll just take the whole damn week off to celebrate and support my beautiful babes! 

Till next time! 
- RxBarbie