I guess my comfort level when it comes to crowds is somewhere below 4 million people. Yesterday was the annual Gay Pride parade in São Paulo and, of course, I had to check it out. Heitor accompanied me and, considering that he already had experienced it in past years and knew what we were in for, it was very generous of him not to try to discourage me.
It isn´t the kind of parade where people sit in lawn chairs on the curb and watch the show pass by. Rather, the entire street is one mass of people shoulder to shoulder, and in the middle there is an almost indistinguishable movement of progress in one direction, like a wide river with a current in the middle that is moving a little bit faster than the river in general (or a little less slower. I don´t want to say anything that implies speed).
There were no floats. The only motorized equipment were big trucks, about the size of double decker buses, festooned with identifying placards and rainbow balloons. On the top level would be a mass of dancers with music pulsing at a volume way beyond deafening. (Most of the police very sensibly wore earplugs.) Many of these were entries from the city´s various bars. But the same type of truck with the same music and dancers also represented particular government agencies or labor unions, or some other organizations. Sometimes I was aware of some heads bouncing along in between the trucks, moving in the general direction of the parade, but generally we weren´t close enough to tell who they were. Those walking groups which I did identify represented gay-friendly churches or other support organizations. Conspicuously absent were politicians and large corporations. I recognized a few logos that were placarded on some of the trucks, but not many. Nothing like you would see in the US.
The parade terminated at a plaza a few blocks from where we live, but as near as I can tell, it just kind of petered out, if you´ll pardon the expression. I wanted it to end up in a park, where the celebration could continue....with food, information booths, speeches, you know...like Loring Park in Minneapolis. But I think this thing just kind of fizzled out, which might have been appropriate after all the energy it took, not just to be in the parade, but to watch it. After the parade, Heitor and I went to look for space heaters and grab a bit to eat before walking home. It was after dark when we got home and there were still stragglers from parade wandering down the street to the plaza. I expected to be up all night listening to the same gawdawful music from the parade, but it was only the normal night noise, which contributes to my theory that the whole event just kind of faded away at the end with a whimper.
You might be wondering how these big trucks managed to move through this sea of humanity. Every truck was completed encircled by a large rope about 2 inches thick. Every six feet or so, inside the rope, was a large muscular man pushing back against the crowd. And I mean to tell you these guys were working!! The trucks creeped along within this little protective circle.
Finally, it was too freaking cold. It is winter down here. Imagine a similar parade in December. Even in southern California, I don´t think you would want to do that. Yesterday was warmer than either of the two previous days, but it was still cold whenever you were out of the sun.
One last note. My tutor today told me that he doesn´t think he´ll go to future Gay Pride parades. He said, "I´m too old for that noise and those crowds." I think he is 22.
Tchau
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