The
5th of February was a very special day for
me, for the second time in my life I was going to be part of a Pride march, It
was unexpected but the best things in life are, a new country, a new life, a
new culture, I was in the middle of the crow, standing proud of how I am, in
the great Melbourne, the most multicultural city in Australia; nothing could go
wrong, well… yes, the weather did.
The
pride was about to start and the wind was blowing everyone out, I never knew
the velocity of it, but it was pretty strong, it was so beautiful thou, the
leaves were flying everywhere, the flags were up and the people’s hair was dancing with the breeze
(except for the bald heads).
I marched
for a great nongovernmental organization called Aleph Melbourne, they support
people with Jewish heritage and identify themselves as part of the Lesbian,
Gay, bisexual and transsexual community or feel confused about their sexuality.
Such a wonderful job for the Jewish community in Melbourne, keep it up.
The beautiful people was the crowd, supporting us in our march, facing us with the most humble smiles I’ve ever seen, it was really amazing, I had sun glasses, but some tears run out of my eyes, being in an open nation, in which you can be proud to be gay, and walk face up, no worries to be yell with awful names and eyes full with rage; It is the case of my country, I do love it, and I never hid myself to my family or society, but that time I march in Caracas Pride, people didn’t respect us, not even for being persons, with the same two eyes, it is so bad when you feel rejected in your own land. Anyway, It was not the case with this amazing city I’m trying out now.
My part in the pride march ended when the rain came
and my amazing host took my flag away and I started to run home.
PS: I want to give an special thank to Michael Barnet
for giving me the opportunity to be part of that day. And also, thanks for the
pictures here in this post, best photographer ever.
Francisco J. Rojas Jr.
© Michael Barnett Photography
