Rainbow Fest

Tybee Island is a very interesting place. When you talk to people who live here they talk about how long they have lived here. We have met almost no one who is a life long resident of the Island. So the attitudes of folks on the Island are not typically southern. This past weekend Tybee Island hosted the first annual Robert Harper Rainbow Fest and Parade. The next several blog posts will be dedicated to sharing the parade event with you. Carol and I took the easy approach and waited at Benny's enjoying a few beers while the parade moved toward us down Butler before making a left turn onto Tybrisa. In a true showing a what I will call civic support the parade began by City Hall. You would not expect a gay pride parade to be heavily attended by the masses here in the south. To my surprise it was. What surprised me more was the number of folks our age or older who were very vocal in their support. It was easier for them to vilify gays and lesbians in the past because they were mostly in the closet. When you know someone and they are open about their sexual preference it is tougher to be so closed minded. Their lives aren't that much different than yours. They shop, go to sporting events, have a beer at the bar, drive on the same roads, maybe even live next door. As they came out of the closet and folks realized it wasn't contagious and they weren't recruiting new members attitudes seem to have relaxed. On to the pictures.

 The crowd gathers along Butler and some choose to dress in support of the participants.

 The parade begins.

 The truly spectacular Grand Marshall.

 It appears the car headrest raised hell with her attendant's wig.

 One of many floats created for the parade.

 She's a busty one.

 This banner is for PFLAG (Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transgenders). I have not been on their web site yet. If you want to stop by there it is pflagsav.org.

 This is the Beach Chair Brigade. They marched down the street doing dances with their beach chairs. Perfectly logical thing to do in a beach town.

The guy on the right with the coconut bra really owned his look. Carol was a bit put off by the guy in blue on the right. He has a beard which really didn't bother her. It was the hairy chest and the decorations at the top that rather than distracting you from looking there drew your eye that direction. 

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