Forgot to post these pictures from Pride weekend! Dulcinea and I had a lot of fun with the camera. <3
My dress for Pride Atlanta, 2011. Thanks to Dulcinea for being such a patient and awesome photographer!
Ladies, you are a constant inspiration! <3
~ Grey Lee
Pride Day One. A gorgeous day. Sunny, not too hot, just a little breeze to keep your hair from ever being perfect… A girl couldn’t ask for better weather.
Dulcinea was working all morning, so I took Marta to the Pride Grounds by myself, intending to meet up with her when she finished. I’m always a tad nervous when I’m out en femme by myself. You never know who you’ll encounter or what might happen. As it was, I met a bright-eyed little kid on the train. He couldn’t have been more than three years old, too shy to speak. He was very interested in my Wonder Woman purse, and we played the tentative game of two shy people interacting. He was a little darling.
Marta got more and more crowded the closer we got to the park. I had no idea there were so many queers in this area. The sheer number of people, not to mention their accompanying styles and colors, is overwhelming. I couldn’t help but smile as a feeling of home enveloped me. I ended up stepping into the Pride Grounds well after the trans* pride parade had started, so I just wandered the park, content to soak up the ambiance of so many incredible people in one place.
People watching is one of my secret hobbies. I suspect many people do it; I know I got a few extra long looks as I swam the sea of people. Maybe I was being read. Maybe I was just gorgeous. Either way, smiles and nods of acknowledgement, a polite hi, and we moved along. Normally, I’d be really anxious about being read, but at Pride, I guess that’s not really an issue. There were far more interesting/distracting people out there than me, and I think we were all happy to have a space we could just be comfortable being in.
Eventually I met up with Dulcinea, though by that time my feet hurt and I was ready to go home. I felt bad about wanting to leave just when she joined me, but we were both hungry and there would be the next day to explore more. So, we went home and had some time to ourselves, cuddling and taking photos.
Today is Pride
It’s been a year since I told a small handful of friends about my gender variance. Last year, I’d be freaking out about this time, unable to sleep, jittery from the excitement. Today, I’m much more calm. My excitement is still there, it’s just manifested in a more demure manner. Going to be at the Trans March around 1:00, if anybody in Atlanta wants to join me! Planning on wearing a striped shirt, a skirt, and some sneakers. Come find me and we’ll chat/giggle/enjoy the events together!
Thoughts/poetry/pictures to follow!
<3
Sunday’s Pride
Sunday. The day of the Pride Parade. The day after my dazzling, eye opening outing with TriEss. The last day of the weekend. I was exhausted and excited, exalting in my newfound acceptance, anxious to explore more. The plan for the day was to meet up with Lisa Ann at the local women’s college that she and Dulcinea attended, and from there, join the college’s LGBTQIQA Collective and ride the train down town like I’d done with TriEss yesterday. Though I wished she could make it, Dulcinea wouldn’t be able to join me for this adventure; once again, work would keep her away until late afternoon. In fact, she’d left soon after I woke up, leaving me on my own to get ready.
Saturday’s En Femme Saga Part III
(Continued from Saturday’s En Femme Saga Part II)
Still a little giddy from my outing that afternoon, I bounced to my car in the hotel’s parking lot. Once inside, I just sat for a second, realizing that as full and amazing as my day was, it wasn’t over yet. I smiled, shook my head, fished my keys out of my bag, and turned the car on.
Saturday’s En Femme Saga Part II
(Continued from Saturday’s En Femme Saga Part I)
We sat on the train for a while, clustered around a set of backwards-facing seats. Like in most cities, a lot of our fellow passengers kept to themselves, and paid no attention to us. There were, however, a couple of people who stared at us the entire way into the park. I could understand small children staring, but grown men should know better. For our part, we ignored the stares, and just went about our conversations. As we got closer and closer to the park, more people boarded the train. You could tell most of them were going to Pride from the way they were dressed. It was a strange contrast: here, you have some nicely dressed crossdressers on one side of the train, and a bunch of much more colorfully and flamboyantly dressed Pride-goers on the other side. And we were all going to Pride.
Saturday’s En Femme Saga Part I
People say the first steps of a journey are the most important ones. I would go further and say that the courage to make those steps is a journey’s most vital component. Three words to those disinclined to spend 20 minutes reading a silly blog post: it’s pretty long.
An Account of Friday Night
Prepare yourselves, friends. You are entering a marathon of reading over the next few days.
For those interested in the short, TL;DR version: my coming out party Friday night went GREAT. Actually, the entire weekend was a blast! I’m still a little sore from my new heels and emotionally exhausted, but it was one of the best weekends I’ve ever had—I think I strengthened some of my best friendships and gained an entire cadre of new friends.
For those interested in the longer version, click through! :)
Wish it Didn’t Have to End
This weekend was one of the best ones in my life. Can’t write more or I’ll get sucked in to my stories and won’t get ready for work. And getting fired for not showing up to work would be a terrible way to end such a wonderful experience.
So: I’ll be back later this week (got loads of emails and chores to deal with before I let tumblr suck my time away) with stories and hopefully some pictures. Maybe. Thank you all for helping me get to this point. :D
