PRIDE at the Capital

What a day (!!)

It was incredible. Such community. Kindness. Inclusion for EVERYONE. The PRIDE community is so caring and loving. I can't even describe it. 

The event was well organized. The speakers were outstanding -- not one person read a speech. They spoke beautifully and passionately. 

People shared signs. 

I gave out PRIDE pins. 

People were so loving to each other. 

We learned which bills are currently up for voting and where to focus our attention.

We watched a couple of votes in the GA Senate. Eye opening. Nice to see a MAGA's amendment solidly voted down. It was interesting to see the process of talking to your representatives and you can see how important it is to call, email, go in person -- especially at the lower levels of government where numbers of constituents are smaller. It matters. 

MARTA couldn't have been easier. 

This was at the station.

A couple of pictures from the day.

Inside the House
(which wasn't in session)

Governor's Office

Capital with real gold

A Voting Truck

Signs for the rally

Spent the day with amazing people from our women's action group. Couldn't be more pleased to have gone. 9 hours went by in a flash. 

We had lunch at a Presbyterian church. They fed us as they were feeding the unhoused community too. THIS is what a church should do for people. We ate in the chapel that they opened so people had a chance to sit. A speaker from the event gave a moving talk about her faith -- where it helped, where the church fell short, where she found her path. In a church -- talking about prickly bits of religion. 

She talked about holding paradoxes -- as this moment was exactly a paradox. 

Rode MARTA home and sat near a woman traveling back from the airport. She clocked that I'd been to the event and she said she was queer and thankful people attended (she couldn't because of her work trip). She gave me a stack of vouchers for Waffle House (works in management). I'll give them to our unhoused population. 

See? Just a day of people being kind, being neighbors, acting in community.

And, sadly, I didn't go to the author talk. My back was tired and sore and I didn't want to push it. I'm disappointed and it was the right move. I suspected as much -- especially by lunchtime when everything already hurt.

P.S. Lunch was pizza. They offered GF and vegan too -- of course they did. Inclusion everywhere with this community. Be yourself echoed over and over. What a glorious message in a time when people want to stomp out anyone who isn't like them (cis, white, man, evil Christian).

Have a good day. Later gators.