How about for once I won't wirte a thousand words trying to describe this special day. How about for once I will let the pictures talk.
So, I went to Pride in cologne today. And it was just amazing. Pride was colourful. It was hot and full of people. It was loud and wild. And beautiful and inspirational. It was home with a whole new family. Even though many asked about the meaning of my flag, a lot already knew! And it was so revealing. So facilitating. I didn't need to explain. I didn't need to hear some garbage talk about "You'll find the right one.", 'cause people knew!
We had those signs a friend made. Equipped with those signs we marched right behind a huge group and you could see all those faces who read our signs. First a really focused look would be on their faces and their lips were moving quietly and then a smile would spread and they approvingly showed a thumbs up. We had so much fun marching! The music made us dance and the atmosphere was electrified by the cheers of the crowd. We marched happily, dancing and mostly with pride.
 |
| #pousseyriot |
Change of subject, everyday I am glad that I don't live in America. As a non-heterosexual or non-white human being, you are not safe there. I cannot imagine what horror it must be to live with the mindset that a cop could kill you or you get shot somewhere. You truely live in so much danger there. #Pousseyriot speaks for all those wrong, unfair, unnessecary killings in america. "Poussey's death nods towards several high-profile killings of black americans by those in law enforcement, as well as the aftermath of those deaths. poussey is restrained and suffocated, like eric garner in nyc. her body is left on the floor for hours and hours, like michael brown in ferguson. when the prison's statement to the press on poussey's death chosen to focus on bayley's innocence, rather than what he did, all of the women in prison storm out of their dorms in outrage, with poussey's best friend, taystee screaming in anguish that they didn't even 'say her name' - the same rallying cry that emerged after sandra bland died while in texas police custody. even outside this very obvious markers, oitnb makes a point of showing exactly how screwed up this system is, and how little say those in custody, especially people of color, have when it comes to wrongful deaths.'" [ Orange is the new Black ]
Some of our lovely signs ! People loved them!! 
While we were waiting for the parade to start, we had the idea to make a "Free Hugs" sign! The magic of the “Free Hugs” sign worked the whole day! People were running out of the crowd in my arms and hugged me like we were long lost friends seeing each other again. Like everything depends on that hug and each of them was lovely! I always was so happy when someone saw my sign and they were thinking if they should do it or not, You could see the struggle, but then they shyly came and hugged me. I definitely hugged more people on that day than in my entire life, and that makes me so happy! So many people hugged me and wished me the best and I hope everyone of them had a great Pride!
It was my first time to "celebrate" the Christopher Street Day. It was fun, loud, colorful, glorious, but also a demonstration. We should not forget why every year around this date we are marching. We should not forget that there is still a long way to go - even though the generations before ours did great - and that our generation has the responsibility to take this step further.
Greets from Melli.
