My morning walk has gotten a lot more colorful recently. It is Pride week in the District (and in the country in general), and we live in the heart of it all—Dupont Circle (also known as the “Froot Loop”). The local businesses have been preparing for weeks, hanging rainbow flags and streamers and all sorts of colorful decorations.
Our own celebration began Friday night, with a lovely evening at our neighborhood Italian restaurant, Dupont Italian Kitchen (lovingly referred to by locals as “DIKs”). We claimed the very last outdoor table so that we could relax and enjoy the lovely evening weather, delicious food, and the always entertaining sights and sounds of DC on a Friday night. Dinner got a lot more flavor, however, when the underwear models showed up. In their work clothes. Because really, the best way to sell underwear is to send a loud pack of half a dozen male models to gallivant around Dupont Circle in very small boxer-briefs.
That was just a warm-up to the next day’s festivities. Since we live basically on the parade route and had been hearing the rowdy crowd since noon, we just couldn’t bring ourselves to stay inside and work (it would have been hard to work with all that racket anyway). So we headed out to enjoy the experience. And experience we did.
Turns out, there are cowboys in DC too.

And fun hair-dos.

And leather.

And beauty pageant queens.

All things you can find in Oklahoma, right?
We saw lots of debauchery, and other things we’d never seen before. But we also saw things that moved us (well me) to tears. Like the group of parents marching with signs that said “we love our kids.” And the “marriage is a civil right” signs being carried by the children of gay parents. And the churches and synagogues who sent representatives to show their support.
All in all, an excellent way to spend a Saturday night.