South Carolina Pride in Columbia, SC

[InbetweenDreams]

Congrats for going. So, what do you think?

Well, I think it was a liberating experience for my partner. He's new to being out of the closet and that we were comfortable being together in public. I think that is something that I overlook a lot because I simply don't do it. Like, in my small town, it is just easier to just not "look gay" when you're out having dinner or something.

After the Vanilla Ice concert we had dinner just down from where we parked at a Japanese restaurant. The short story is this, it took forever for the food come out and our server kept apologizing, and I'm being cool with it because it is not his fault and it turned out to be excellent sushi despite waiting a little more than hour. Our server told us that it was the first time in 27 years that he missed pride. Talked to us about how back in the day that you couldn't go around holding hands and having to carry blades to protect yourself. After he walked away I discussed a story told here about how someone's partner had gasoline poured on him and was set on fire because they were gay. This being one of the Baltic states near Russia, if I remember correctly and that we're extremely lucky to live in a country where it is for the most part very safe to be gay.

Overall, it was a good experience. I think for both of us it is good to get out and do stuff like that, doesn't have to be pride, but just going out, enjoying ourselves and hopefully being able to not be quite so uptight. That is a huge problem of mine is not being able to loosen up...although I suppose some drinks would help with that. I talked to him about possibly going to the Atlanta pride event, which should be quite a bit larger than Columbia. I know Columbia isn't as large as Atlanta but was kind of surprised how small and dated the downtown area looked. That being said, the thing that seems to be in the back of my mind is safety. I just worry that at these large pride events that we're targets for some people and you never know what is going to happen. Likewise, I know you can't let fear dictate your life.