Bisbee gay pride (3125)

The first time I visited Bisbee, AZ, I heard disco music and saw groups of gay men on the street as I was driving in. Considering the area, this was surprising -- but I had arrived just in time for Bisbee Gay Pride. Having gone back for a second visit to Bisbee Gay Pride, I have some sense of what it is like. On the two visits if felt like a mix of historic and very contemporary gay pride events. In some ways it was like a 1970's gay pride event that focused on providing community and resources for people who were just coming out or lived in places where they didn't have any gay resources, while in other ways it felt like a contemporary gay pride event where diverse identities (e.g., assimilationist, bear, bisex, drag, lesbian, leather, political, sex radical, transgender) are vocally open and sharing space. The people seemed to be generally more friendly than at major urban area gay pride events, and thus it was easy do discover quite a bit about their lives. The attendees I met fit fairly well with what was just described -- a mix of those who led largely discrete lives in rural areas or in the military, and of those who had reached the point of being very open and comfortable with their sexuality.

Bisbee itself also proved to be as interesting as my first impression. As a former mining town, there is quite a bit of old and often vacant space. Much of the preservation that has happened seems to be from artists and writers who moved there and the town has a feel that I would describe as live-and-let-live libertarian with some fairly strong radical leanings. Unlike some older towns that get discovered and become popular with tourists, the town doesn't come across as cutely commercial.

(best viewed as part of Arizona set)