The best Pride event so far

Last night I attended a Pride celebration at one of our foster care agencies.  There was a whole program made up of singing (Including a rousing version of “The Greatest Love of All”), awesome dancing, and poetry reading.  It was amazing to see these young people get up so bravely in front of their peers and share their feelings and talents.  And it was great to see the audience (most of whom are not L G B T or Q) supporting their peers.  Everyone was wearing rainbow t-shirts and bracelets and cheering for the lesbian teenager whose poem spoke about what gay pride means to her, and for the mother who got up to speak about how she is HIV+ and how she loves her bisexual daughter (who later got up to rap with “I’m Coming Out” remixed in the background).  It made me feel so hopeful and so happy.  These are people society fears- inner city adolescents of color (for the most part).  I wish everyone could see what I saw last night and know that these young people are the best among us- we just have to give them that chance.