I recently had the opportunity to experience a fun event with one of my closest friends in the wonderfully strange city of Austin , Texas. Pride Parades have been around since 1969 and they seem to be here to stay,and there is good reason for that .The parade was loud and glittery and honestly much like any other parade one may attend, and it's definitely more than a big gay party (though it is that too). It's a celebration of differences.I saw parents proudly walking through the streets with their LGBT children , I saw police waving rainbow flags. There were church groups proudly advocating Gay Pride, there were preppy cheerleaders doing their chants and a float full of goths blasting death metal. It was a great thing to see people sort of just flaunting who they were. Men weren't afraid to wear dresses or do their makeup, and women weren't afraid to wear basically whatever the hell they wanted. It was encouraging to see people actually taking pride in themselves, people who may find themselves out cast in normal society could proudly take over the streets and have fun and that's a lovely thing. While of course there were a couple of haters, as a small group of maybe 3 or 4 grown men waved picket signs and yelled obscenities through a bull horn they couldn’t really put a damper on the party. But at the end of the day it's just a fun way to spend your Saturday night, whether homo, hetero or anything beyond or in between don’t be afraid to check out one of these events. In fact, I implore you simply to try all the cool things life may throw your way, and do so with pride.