This past weekend I went to Pride in downtown Lancaster. If I’m being completely honest, I would have never just went with a group of friends as something to do. A very close friend of mine who is gay asked me to go with her. Of course I did not hesitate to say yes and was super excited to finally experience this hype for myself. I will admit that I felt a little out of place, but not unwelcome one bit! I strongly encourage straight people to go to events like these. I personally think it’s super important that you see how happy it makes gay people to be around others who live the daily lives that they do. Also… who doesn’t love to watch drag queens perform? Here are some things I experienced at my first Pride:

1. Instant happiness

As soon as I saw the rainbow road blocked off for the event, I was stoked. There were just good vibes all around, and no one had a care in the world. The world as a whole needs to be more like that anyway. Pride is about being care-free in that setting and enjoying yourself and who you are. Why can’t it be like that all of the time, for everyone? It can be if we want it to be!

2. Rainbow vision

Oh boy, was there rainbows everywhere. I saw a Chihuahua wearing a rainbow tutu man, which is a loyal dog. Everyone had either a rainbow flag sticking out of their back pockets, or wedged into their hair somehow. Men had glitter beards glistening across their chins. I did special rainbow eyeshadow so that I could blend in with the crowd, and I got some very nice compliments on it.

3. Food, food, and food

Holy moly was there food there or what… So many vendors, but I only allowed myself one treat and that was Italian Ice. Should’ve got a funnel cake…

4. Drag queens

Like I already said, they are super fun to watch. The makeup, the wigs, the costumes, THE STILETTOS. Makes me overly excited for Clarion’s Annual Drag Show next year! They were all so friendly and agreed to take a million pictures with everyone.

5. Meeting Shanell from Season 1 Rupaul’s Drag Race

Okay, so I had like absolutely NO clue that she was going to be there. Before performing, she told us that she got on a plane at 11 p.m. the night before from Las Vegas. She had never been to Pennsylvania before and was actually really excited to be here (I don’t know why, Vegas is probably better no doubt, and I’ve never been). After doing her first number she went backstage to do a meet-and-great. My friend and I got in the line really fast and did not have to wait long at all for our picture and autographs!

6. Buying a Pride flag

I had to get a piece of memorabilia from this amazing day. I thought the flag would be the perfect thing to have.

I urge everyone to attend Pride at least once in their life. Very uplifting, and you will be around awesome individuals! Happy Pride!