Love and Pride in Winchester

On Saturday rain was threatening us with an appearance so I decided to save my bike ride for another day and instead visit Winchester for their inaugural Pride Celebration. I was hoping to get some great photos without huge crowds, I've always avoided the DC event for that reason. With the sky a gun metal grey, draped with heavy clouds I walked down to the Mall. I'd also be using my new G7Xii for the first time so was anxious to see how it performed.

I arrived just before the start time but the crowds were thin. Vendors had set up, selling rainbow colored popcorn and displaying messages of love. But there weren't many people. I wasn't overly surprised, Winchester is a conservative town. I wasn't expecting any trouble but would take photos, whatever transpired. But I had thought the streets would be alive with vibrant costumes and placards rather than just a few balloons. I'd tried to find information on line before I came, a schedule for the day, but that had also proved to be a fruitless search. There was apparently going to be drag acts, speeches and a parade, as well as competitions.

Groups started appearing, rainbow and spectrum colors in wigs, t-shirts or accessories. One girl wore a t-shirt with a Harry Potter font declaring, 'I should live in a closet.' It should have said cupboard to be correct, but the meaning was clear. Then it seemed the show was about to start. An announcer introduced the emcee for the afternoon, a drag queen called Alexis Chantelle. I can only hope I have the names right since I've found nothing online since about the guests, or saw anything printed about who was appearing.

She was huge, absolutely colossal. Naturally 6'1" but with the boots added her height was a good 6'5". Yet even though well proportioned, she was massive. I consider myself to be reasonably tall at 5'8" and a little on the heavy side, but I felt positively diminutive against her. She paraded up and down in front of us, miming to Uptown Funk and collecting money from her fans, stuffing notes down her bra or just throwing it down on the steps to pick up later. She was later that evening going to be crowned Winchester's first Pride Queen.

The crowd loved Alexis, cheering wildly, and then she introduced two females whose names I didn't catch, although I think the first one was called Shade the Grade. They were dressed as male rappers, but in my mind made nowhere near as much effort as the drag queens. These were drag kings but I didn't find them worthy of the title. They too mimed and strutted up and down acting like rock stars, with some very feeble dance moves which were awarded a few dollar bills from their admirers.

I was glad when Stephanie Michaels made a very dramatic and impressive appearance, she had a very professional air about her. In a deep tenor voice she greeted everyone in a Southern accent, yelling,"How the hell are ya?" I liked her immediately.

She too flirted and flaunted her amazing outfit, also miming to a song which I don't recall. I was disappointed that they did this and didn't perform live, but nobody else was complaining so I kept my mouth shut. She came over to my side and removed her enormous flag cape, handing it to me,which I very carefully and gently laid on top of the stone wall that I was standing behind. Alexis was standing next to me and I saw her expression soften as I did that. She had previously been regarding me grimly. I suppose my closed expression and lack of exuberant enthusiasm had been sending off negative vibes. She now smiled at me, her huge outlined lips and thick black eyelashes, the size of small bird wings, scaring me a little, and I have to confess that I immediately thought of WitchiePoo from HR Pufnstuf.

This little guy had no idea what all the fuss was about or simply didn't care, but he evidently wasn't enjoying the day, and I hope his dad took him for a huge ice cream afterwards.

The last drag queen was also impressive. Alicia Love was a 70's disco queen and reminded me of Donna Summer. She pranced back and forth miming her song, and even performed an acrobatic roll which had the crowds screaming. I did snap a photo once I realized what she was doing but caught it a little late, so didn't post it, since it looked like she was tumbling down. As she towered over me in her high heels, I had to admit that the sheer size of these 'girls' was overwhelming. Legs, chests, bums and waists, everything was massively huge, I felt like a little person next to them. But I do have to admit that I fought an urge to give her a hefty slap on her arse as she flounced by!

There were plenty of smiles among the crowd. Even though there wasn't the huge masses that I'd been anticipating, those that had turned up were determined to make this a special event, they were really enjoying themselves. Everyone I asked was more than eager to pose for a photo. I didn't always understand the outfits, like the mask above, but a lot of effort had gone into their appearances. It certainly made a change to feel this happiness rather than the hate on so many of today's political marches and social media.

People started dispersing as interest in the speaker waned. I walked back and spotted the inscription on this statue, pondering over the irony of the situation. It was dedicated to all the Confederate soldiers who had fought in the Civil War. I hung around waiting for a parade but was told there weren't any floats as I'd been hoping for. The drag queens would simply walk the supporters up the mall and then back again. So I started to head out, looking for more colorful outfits as I left.

More great outfits, especially the rainbow lipstick. That must have taken ages to apply so precisely. The guy with a flower crown made me chuckle as from my perspective he was also wearing a flower basket which was actually hanging in the background.

I spent an amusing half hour watching this Christian speaker preaching of the wrongs in homosexuality. He was quoting from the bible but had to contend with many arguments that came from the crowd who, very peacefully and gently, argued against him, mainly saying that God loves everyone regardless. I'm a Christian myself but had to side with these guys and actually got a kick from seeing him struggle as they argued so quietly with him. It was their day and I saw no reason why they shouldn't be allowed to enjoy it and get their message across without objection. There were no angry or violent protests from them, they were just happy to be with others like themselves and celebrate their diversity. As I walked away I saw one more t-shirt with a message which really summed up the event. 'Try a little kindness'.