I'm off to Boston's Gay Pride this weekend and I thought I should make up a T-shirt this year, since I haven't done anything at all for Pride in ... well, a long time. I used Custom Ink for the shirts and the design came from a Wikipedia image that I was able to scale appropriately using The Gimp (my favorite tool for photo and design editing).
It's not that I expect people to be able to make out what the T-shirt is about at first. It's more a conversation starter and something colorful to wear and remember the event by. Long ago, the first shirts that I wore to an event like this were to Gaylaxicon. I wore an "I'm With Him" shirt, and what I remember most about it was the friendly and courteous service I got from the silk-screening place I went to... right up until the moment I told them what went on the shirt. I suppose it's not surprising that they weren't in business when I went to see if they still had the screen for those shirts a year later.
Anyway, back to this year. I'm sure it's going to be the most amazing Pride ever. Rhode Island is the only state in New England that hasn't made same sex marriage legal; Prop 8 was a blow, but has really served as a rallying point for the community; we have a President who has vowed (though so far not acted) to end the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy in the military; and there's new news every day. It seems like the tide is changing, and while I won't hold my breath for everyone's attitudes to change, it's just wonderful to look back at my youth and imagine how shocked I would be to discover all of the progress we've made.
I'll see you all there!
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