GLBT Parade

Today, we went to the GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bi-Sexual and Transexual) Parade in downtown Santa Cruz. It was a beautiful day, sunny and warm. There were some interesting costumes and some interesting people. Not too much of a surprise in downtown Santa Cruz. Some of the highlights are shown below:

Every Gay Pride Parade needs it's entry of Dykes on Bikes!











The next entry was a group of cheerleaders from San Francisco








Just before the cheerleaders got to us, the organizers asked for a moment of silence in rememberance of those who were gone. It was pretty eerie. Pacific Avenue was full of people, however it was absolutely silent up and down the street. It made for a very moving experience.


Here is one stunt done by the cheerleaders. They performed a variety of stunts. After they were finished, they passed buckets around for a charity. I did not catch what it was.






This group is from the First Congregational Church (FCC). This is the church that we have been recently attending. We did not know that they were planning to march in the parade. However, we were happy standing on the sidelines and watching the rest of the parade.




This is a group of Aztec dancers. At least they looked like Aztec dancers to me. Their sign was in spanish, so I am not exactly sure who they were representing.








A very colorful and large costume worn by one entry.










Neal Coonerty is a local politician that has been endorsed by the GLBT Alliance. Coonerty got an enthusiastic reception from the crowd as he marched past. Chris Krohn was a few entries back. He got total silence!

For those readers who are not local, Coonerty is the bearded fellow in the center of the picture. Coonerty runs the local bookshop and has been a very popular civic leader around town for a number of years. Krohn is an opponent who has recently taken some cheap shots at Coonerty.




A truck decorated by the Blue Lagoon. A local bar.









A group from WAMM (Wo/Men Alliance for Medical Marijuana). Not sure what they have to do with the GLBT movement, but everyone is welcome in this parade!

This was the last group in the parade.




After the parade, there was a festival in San Lorenzo Park. There were a number of booths selling food or advertising groups and/or services. Also, FCC held their late Sunday service in the park. We attended the service. It was in the sun and got pretty hot, but we enjoyed it anyway. It was a little distracting having other activities and noises in the background, but it was not too much of a problem. After the service was completed, we wandered through some of the booths and returned home.

All of my pictures can be found here.