If I ever lose my mind and run for elected office in Ypsilanti, my first official act will be to propose legislation changing the name of our annual Ypsi Pride day to something more appropriate, like Pick Up Other People’s Garbage and Plant Flowers Around Ypsilanti day. Or, better yet, I’ll just propose that we make Ypsi Pride the biggest, gayest, most fabulous garbage-picking-up day ever. As it is, it just makes me feel bad. As I mentioned to my friends on Facebook earlier today, I can’t help but think that there are, at this very moment, a lot of very sad gay people, shirtless, with feather boas, driving round town, looking for an over-the-top “pride” event, only to find a bunch of sweaty people in matching t-shirts stooping over, picking up candy wrappers and cigarette butts.
Not being gay, I suspect I’m the wrong guy to coordinate such a thing, but I’d love to see our local LGBT community rise up to the challenge and take back Ypsi Pride next year. Kind of like my friends and I did several years ago when we started the Shadow Art Fair in the shadow of Ann Arbor’s well-established art fair, I think there’s a real opportunity for folks to counter-program against Ypsi Pride, and make it exponentially cooler… Just imagine drag queens planting flowers around town, and picking up trash in high heals… It would be a huge step forward in our attempt to make Ypsi the gay-friendliest town in the midwest, which, if I’m not mistaken, we agreed during the Shape Ypsi process should be our primary objective.
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One day you’re interviewing the next governor of Michigan, and the next you’re calling for drag queens to pick up trash along Michigan Avenue.
Fly in Johnny Weir or Michael Sam, and hand them a key to the city and a garbage bag. It would be epic.
Better yet, call in the Prancing Elites!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JMnc3PIIVo
Or — make it a combo event — like Dexter-Ann Arbor Run / Taste of Ann Arbor.
Call the clean up “Shine Ypsi Shine!”. Get everyone the aforementioned rainbow colored bags, have some folks in pony and unicorn costumes, (luchadore and mardi gras feathers also good), get everyone good and sweaty fro a few hours. Then, at 4 pm, unfurl the grand Ypsi Pride Banner, Patrick Michael Harris pops shirtless out of a cake, sings to you a-la marilyn to jack kennedy, and the gay pride event swings into full fabulous mode.
I’d go.
With Woodruff’s gone, I wonder what will happen with the local drag scene.
I took my trash bag and pokey garbage-picking-up stick to Motor City Pride yesterday (http://www.motorcitypride.org/) and was totally confused.