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Portland Pride Parade
Today I tagged along with the Oregon Humane Society as a participant in the Portland Pride Parade. This is the second year I have participated and it is a lot of fun. There is an interesting mix of people from the drag queens to the human rights activists to families. Everyone cheers as you pass along the parade route from the Pearl District through downtown to the waterfront. It is a good idea to get there early if you are participating in the parade because you are going to want to walk around and see the other participants (when you are in the parade all you see are the people immediately ahead and behind you). As you walk around you will see a lot of men in thongs, very short shorts, dresses, leather, utilakilts and other interesting outfits that would probably get them arrested on any other day. This year I also saw several topless women, and a few more with just pasties on, again I am sure this would get them arrested on any other day. Like the Humane Society, there are several large organizations that participate, Nike and Kaiser Permanente both had good turnouts, but I am sure there were many more. 
The Humane Society had about 15 people and six dogs in the group. We were carrying three small banners and one big "End Petlessness" banner (pictured), as well as handing out stickers and $55 discount adoption coupons to the crowd. And what an amazing crowd it was. It seemed like it was a lot bigger than the last time I participated. People were packed along Broadway, cheering and wanting to pet the dogs. Each participant gets a shout out at Embers, right before you cross Burnside, and at Pioneer Square, and people go crazy for the Humane Society. The crowd is a diverse mix as well, with people of all ages and lots of families with kids. Some are dressed up for the occasion, but most are dressed as if they were at the Rose Parade. The crowd thinned out a little as we turned down SW Salmon towards the water front, but then it was packed out again on Naito Pkwy. Even with all those people, we still managed to spot one of our neighbors and some friends from work. Once you get to the end of the parade route there are lots of booths and places to eat set up on Waterfront Park. The park was not very crowded when we got there, as we were number 34 of 150 parade participants and there were a lot of people still waiting to begin as we walked back to the car, but it looked like a fun way to spend the afternoon.
Today I tagged along with the Oregon Humane Society as a participant in the Portland Pride Parade. This is the second year I have participated and it is a lot of fun. There is an interesting mix of people from the drag queens to the human rights activists to families. Everyone cheers as you pass along the parade route from the Pearl District through downtown to the waterfront. It is a good idea to get there early if you are participating in the parade because you are going to want to walk around and see the other participants (when you are in the parade all you see are the people immediately ahead and behind you). As you walk around you will see a lot of men in thongs, very short shorts, dresses, leather, utilakilts and other interesting outfits that would probably get them arrested on any other day. This year I also saw several topless women, and a few more with just pasties on, again I am sure this would get them arrested on any other day. Like the Humane Society, there are several large organizations that participate, Nike and Kaiser Permanente both had good turnouts, but I am sure there were many more. 
The Humane Society had about 15 people and six dogs in the group. We were carrying three small banners and one big "End Petlessness" banner (pictured), as well as handing out stickers and $55 discount adoption coupons to the crowd. And what an amazing crowd it was. It seemed like it was a lot bigger than the last time I participated. People were packed along Broadway, cheering and wanting to pet the dogs. Each participant gets a shout out at Embers, right before you cross Burnside, and at Pioneer Square, and people go crazy for the Humane Society. The crowd is a diverse mix as well, with people of all ages and lots of families with kids. Some are dressed up for the occasion, but most are dressed as if they were at the Rose Parade. The crowd thinned out a little as we turned down SW Salmon towards the water front, but then it was packed out again on Naito Pkwy. Even with all those people, we still managed to spot one of our neighbors and some friends from work. Once you get to the end of the parade route there are lots of booths and places to eat set up on Waterfront Park. The park was not very crowded when we got there, as we were number 34 of 150 parade participants and there were a lot of people still waiting to begin as we walked back to the car, but it looked like a fun way to spend the afternoon.
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