What are you proud of?

Last week, my girlfriend Claire and a few other people were out buying supplies for the Green Party's entry in this year's Pride Parade. They were in a fabric store buying strips of green fabric (I don't want to give away our costume plans, but they involve strips of green fabric) when the salesperson asked them what the fabric was for.

"The Pride Parade," said Claire.

The man responded, "Pride Parade? What are you proud of?"

He wasn't trying to be nasty; he actually hadn't heard of the parade, or maybe hadn't noticed that it's no longer called the "Gay Pride" parade. It's a good question though. And since Pride Week is no time for modesty, here are some things I'm proud of:

• As an elected member to the United Church of Canada's General Council, voting to support same-sex marriage in 2003 (after affirming civil unions in 2000).
• Being a member of that church, which has been ordaining gays and lesbians since 1988.
• As a camp counsellor, never letting a child use the other f-word as an insult without making sure they fully understood the etymology of the word.
• Being a member of the only political party in Canada to have ever had an openly-gay leader, Chris Lea.

Of course, there are other things too, but I figured I'd just list some of the seasonally-related ones for now. I don't want to be obnoxious or anything.

Happy Pride Week!

ps. What are you proud of?