Fantastic artist and center lion:  Alcoholioness
Cool and awesome Parade attendees (not necessarily in order):

and yours truly~
Original upload >>

Fitting music: "It doesn't matter" by Caramella Girls

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What a delightful and colourful summer it has been! Starting out with International Pride Month in June, followed by Stockholm Pride at the end of July/start of August, and this weekend it was Pride in my town :3

Pride is something very close to heart for me for many reasons. While I grew up more traditionally on the countryside, coming into the bigger city of high school changed my perspective on a lot of things. I realized I was bisexual (as I first thought) and later on realized I was instead demisexual and panromantic. I even wrote a little series about my road to discovery in "When Val met Jess" in Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

Having been enlightened to the many social injustices, issues, prejudices and whatnot that affects us all and experiencing a lot of them first hand, I decided to stand up and take the fight. After all, all we're fighting for is basic human rights. The first Pride was a riot, let's never forget that. Ever since I've been socially and politically active for the LGBTQIA+ community and taken part in Pride every year (except during the pandemic for obvious reasons). While I attend Stockholm Pride (which is absolutely mangificent btw) as a visitor and just join in the parade, I'm a volunteer worker for the one in our local town. I just love seeing all the outfits, the happiness, the excitement. I love that we can create a safe place for people where they can be themselves without being judged. To see people slip into our "silent lounge" and just curl up on a couch and cry into a Blåhaj is... it's something. To have people grab the pride flag napkins and take photos of them with tears in their eyes because where they're from they would be stoned to death for having one... it really makes you feel like you're doing the right thing. I'm proud that we can provide that feeling of safety and acceptance. I'm so happy for our local community and their tireless work. Yall are great people.

And if you have a problem with this, let's sit down over a cup of tea or a beer and talk about why you feel that way.

Not to mention the Queer Afterparty with After Dark content and rainbow drinks <_< God I love this.