Pride Festival revelers turn out in force
Orlando inspires show of support from thousands
Maria and Minerva Hernandez celebrated their first wedding anniversary Saturay afternoon at George Country Sports Bar in Montrose, hoping to avoid the crowds downtown at the annual Houston Pride Festival.
Maria, 36, and Minerva, 43, proudly said they were the third lesbian couple to be married in Houston a year ago Sunday after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized gay marriage nationwide. Despite the glee of reaching a full year of marriage, something the two once had thought would never be a reality for them, they felt uneasy. The massacre of 49 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla., just two weeks ago was still fresh on the minds of many of the people gathered in Houston to loudly celebrate what the shooter apparently had aimed to silence.
“I can’t say it’s not in the back of mymind,” Minerva Hernandez said. “I’d never felt these feelings out here before.”
Montrose had always been her and Maria’s “safe haven,” a neighborhood they could always go and not feel out of place.
Any unease dissipated at the annual festival downtown, where 700,000 attendees were expected and which culminated in an evening parade. Often-long lines snaked through wellguarded security gates as thousands flooded into the packed streets around City Hall. Rainbowed revelers danced barefoot to pulsing beats and cooled off in the
reflection pond.
Attendees said they were inspired to turn out because of what happened in Orlando. Mayor Sylvester Turner had even urged people to show up in force to make a statement.
“We shouldn’t be scared,” said 45-year-old Monica Robledo, attending her first pride festival Saturday with her 18-yearold daughter, Destiny, who came out as gay this year. “I’m here to support her because she’s my daughter; she’s my baby. I love her no matter what, whether she’s gay or straight.” ‘Rebuild and remember’
On Saturday evening, City Hall was lit up brightly in rainbow hues as the parade officially began. Fans grabbed at hundreds of glow sticks thrown their way out of the back of a police car; they were shined in remembrance of the Orlando victims. Next, the mayor, wearing a crisp white shirt and a neck full of colorful beads, rolled by in an open-air convertible. He waved and tossed beads left and right. Then, about 30 people carried a massive rainbow flag, listing all 49 victims of the deadly shooting rampage in Orlando.
The honorary grand marshal of the parade was Imran Yousuf, the ex-Marine who as a bouncer at the Pulse nightclub helped to save the lives of people there during the chaos.
Saturday night, he rode in a green SUV adorned with colorful flowers, standing up through the sunroof to wave at and salute the crowd.
“It feels enlightening now,” Yousuf said before the parade. “I feel people are moving past the incident and coming out here. You can see people are try- ing to find ways to rebuild and just taking a dark situation and making light of it.”
“It’s such a good feeling — not to stay wallowing, but to get out there and help rebuild and remember the ones we lost in the best way we can.”
John LaRue, 31, and Hunter Middleton 26 — who a year ago were the first in line at the Harris County Courthouse to get a marriage license after the high court’s ruling — were among those marching in the parade. LaRue said some friends who marched with them had been on the fence before. The June parade is typically hot and crowded and “a giant traffic mess,” LaRue said.
“Once Orlando happened,” he added, “it was like there’s not really a question. We’re all going to march this year.”
Before the parade, LaRue said he was looking forward to a good time and, like many who turned out, was “ready to piss off some haters.” ‘Fear didn’t stop us’
Fran Watson, the female grand marshal of the parade, sensed a slight change in the atmosphere this year. She said it seemed like attendees were on a mission.
As the day went on, Watson, a 38-year-old attorney, noticed the crowd continued to grow.
“That means the rain didn’t stop us; fear didn’t stop us,” she said.
Jennifer Nichols, 31, was among many first-time festival-goers. The Pearland teacher had been nervous to attend in previous years. She wasn’t always “out” to her family, she said, so it made her a bit anxious to be a part of the crowd. This year, the events in Orlando changed her mind.
“It’s nice to be with my people,” Nichols said.
Matthew Musler, 23, of Austin, was another attendee who felt a sense of mission.
“I didn’t want them to win. I don’t want to be a victim,” said Musler, who identifies as transgender. A Costco worker, Musler began the transition from female to male in April 2015.
Tresce Green, 37, and her wife Aubrey, 43, have been to the festival several times and had been a little hesitant about coming this year. But they brought their four children — ranging in age from 2 to 9 — to witness the tribute to the Orlando victims.
“We want them to be involved,” Tresce Green said. “We want them to know that hatred is out there but we raised them to be accepting of different cultures, different religions, and just different period.” Celebrating marriage
Despite the fact that this year’s festival was at times “overshadowed by sadness,” as Turner said Friday, there was much to celebrate for many. This weekend marks the first anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision that legalized marriage for same-sex couples.
The idea of being able to marry was at first surreal for Maria and Minerva Hernandez, who jumped out of bed and rushed to the courthouse on the morning that the ruling came down. Reality has slowly set in over the past year. Minerva took Maria’s last name. About a month and a half ago, Minerva got a new job at Baylor College of Medicine and was able to put Maria and her daughter on her insurance plan.
“That’s when it really, really became real for me,” Minerva said.
Winding down from the festival Saturday afternoon, Kamilah and Kierra McShine-Gregory rested on the steps in front of the Julia Ideson Building. A slight breeze cooled the area as they watched people trickle out of the festival while the line for entry continued to grow. Kamilah and Kierra got married in Virginia in 2014 and did it again in Houston in August. The Meyerland couple moved here three years ago and attended last year’s festival in high spirits.
“It made it that much sweeter,” said Kierra, a senior community liaison with the Houston Public Library. “It’s why we came out to celebrate.”
After the ruling, a weight was lifted for the couple, who met in college when both competed in track for opposing universities.
“It makes you feel like you’re a part, not an outcast,” Kierra, 29, said. She came out when she was 13. “To say I can really get married like that, to have it be legalized, it changed my perspective on marriage.”
“You hit that right on the head,” Kamilah said, smiling
The two look forward to celebrating their anniversary in August.