Christmas Tea Towels

Lust for Life: The true meaning of Gay Christmas

Every year without fail, my friends and I talk about how June is Gay Christmas in San Francisco. We pronounce it like it has to be capitalized and ends with an exclamation point. Sometimes I even sing the words a little -- “Gaaay Christmas! La-la!” -- like the holiday comes complete with its own carols. 

Sometimes I say “Gay Christmas” with a hint of irony and sarcasm. I bitch every year about how the Pride parade in San Francisco has become a big corporate conglomeration (not unlike Actual Christmas, right?). I bitch about how Pride has become an expensive and boozy festival celebrating the worst, most consumerist, most assimilationist parts of queer culture. I bitch about how Pride is a festival that has amazing roots and history and import, but at least in San Francisco, it has lost its way. That Pride has morphed from being a glittering and debauched radical celebration of queer love and life into a hokey tourist trap designed to sell rainbow key chains and pink triangle tea towels. 

The disgusting thing is that it is dangerous to hold a Pride festival in most parts of the world, even in other parts of the U.S. (have you seen what’s been happening in Texas lately, let alone in Uganda or Russia?). I’d like to think that when our brethren in other places are seriously RISKING MURDER to march down a city block and declare their queerness and gender variance, those of us in the privileged position of living in the queer Oz would be doing more to help them out. I’ve dedicated my life to queer activism, but I’m implicating myself here, too: not knowing how to help in situations that are so desperate and scary can feel hopeless and overwhelming, and the whole mess just ends up making me cynical about Pride in the Bay Area. 

I will probably always be cynical about the big corporate festival on Sunday, but the rest of June in San Francisco is a privilege to experience, a wonder to behold if you chill out and count your blessings and get some perspective. So in that spirit, I wanna tell you about my best Pride – what Pride can be like when you’re inspired and enthused, when everything feels alive and shimmering. 

Pride 2008 was my best Pride. I was 25 and newly, deeply, madly, stupidly in love. The kind of love that pumped my heart up so big I thought it was going to expand like a balloon and fill my entire ribcage. The kind of love where I threw all responsibility and caution to the wind.

MYO Christmas Tea Towel using Scrapblog.com | Home Stories A to Z

To have Scrapblog as one of my sponsors!  If you haven’t done your Christmas cards yet, I highly recommend you check out Scrapblog. If you’re doing virtual cards this year—you NEED to check out Scrapblog.  If you’re in desperate need of some last minute Christmas gift ideas, again Scrapblog.  I fall into all of these categories so in my next few posts I’ll be showing you how you can use this site to your benefit.  (Note: Scrapblog pays me to host their ad on my site and that’s it.  I am a devoted fan of the site, so all other “advertising” I do for them is out of pure love. Just thought you should know!) Next, I went to Scrapblog.com and created a blank page.  I then clicked on the “sticker” tab and did a search for “Christmas”.  I purchased the stickers I liked and saved and published my scrapblog.  I then clicked on the tab under “file” that said “Export as Jpeg” and downloaded the image to my computer.  I saved the image to my computer, opened it in Word Perfect and sized it to my liking.  I printed the image out onto my iron-on transfer following the package instructions.  I ironed on my images and….

Oh my God! You never cease to amaze me, Beth! I want that Christmas tree towel! I have got to get iron on transfer paper next time I am at the craft store. I know you also did those great pillows using the same method and I am going to want some of those too for when my new slipcover is on.

I know that you have been a big fan of Scrapblog.com for awhile and I'm glad to see they are one of your sponsors now.

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