i am going to ramble about my experience w the bible people. because at the end of the day it felt pretty good. and no one got hurt n there was no real escalation. very good outcome

me n adrian n micheal were in the parade and very tired so we went to sit down at the festival and happened to sit where two guys were setting up to start reading from the bible. so when i heard them planning and then actually reading i got up and stood in front of the guy reading and held my trans flag up behind me to block view of him. adrian and micheal got up to help and then more people held up flags of their own. and i was playing music on my phone even though it didnt do much sound-wise. we sang along though, which was Very loud. the two guys moved around every so often and we moved with them to keep blocking. i was focusing on obscuring visual and being louder than them, but lots of other people would talk directly to them whether it was just yelling or actually disrupting their reading to start conversation/debate/whatever. you know the drill.

at one point the guy reading laid down on his fucking stomach. still reading. the other guy said it was because his back hurt. an absolutely bizarre image to behold. especially people passing us asdfghjkl. so yeah. lots of moving around. there were a couple-few people that stayed with us for most of the two hours we were there! i love them for that. the crowd around them actually got pretty big and those people that hold signs with "weird" bible rules showed up as well. i am not really a fan of that whole notion but their presence was very distracting. the more people the better.

my throat was already so fucking worn out from yelling song lyrics. and also barking. i kept barking the rest of the way through because its very easy to do continuously and its loud and distracting. i got told i was a "good barker" so i can die happy now

the police showed up either because they saw us themselves or people might have let them know. idk though. they were telling the bible guys to leave because the whole situation "could lead to assault on either side". which was technically true, im not gonna dispute that. was not a fan of 12 fucking cops in the middle of our crowd but they were working in our favor so i just stayed quiet. guy wouldnt leave so they cuffed him. so the bible guys were removed! thats cool! an overall victory and a very fun time when i wasnt actively trying to drown out homphobic preaching! 'cause then it was just a big hangout specifically of people who were down to harass assholes. so a good crowd yeah.

i was so fucking exhausted when they finally left though. i had just walked 1.4 miles to even get to the parade, which was another 1.1 mile walk. i walked 2 1/2 miles today. more than that because of some extra walking getting to and from our car. so i was extremely physically tired from walking in a lot of direct sun in over 80 degree weather. and then i spent two hours using a fuckton of mental and emotional energy while still tired and in pain from the parade. i am tired right now and i will definitely be feeling this tomorrow. but i had so much fun! i love pride so much! and i felt like i Really Did Something today because usually when christians show up to pride stuff theyre just standing there shouting and everyone passes them but i fucking blocked them out! because i didnt have anywhere else to be and could have stood there for even longer than two hours! i would have stayed there for the rest of the fuckin afternoon! so im feeling good about myself. and i think ive earned that lol