The Austin Pride Parade stepped off around 8 PM on Saturday night. As in previous years, the parade began east of the Texas State Capitol, headed south on Congress Avenue, and then turned right on 4th Street. Bill and I watched the festivities around 10th Street and complained that the temperature was still a sweltering 98°F at 8 PM.
The parade had barely started when presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg came strolling by with his spouse, Chasten. As you might guess, Buttigieg is the guy wearing the tie (98°F!) and surrounded by photographers. South Bend Mayor Pete is friends with Austin Mayor Steve Adler, who was helpfully wearing a rainbow sash proclaiming “Mayor”.
Mayors Adler and Buttegieg were followed by many local and state officials and candidates, who were accompanied by bunches of similarly liberally-minded folks. Our local state senator, Kirk Watson, handed out rainbow-colored stress balls along the route. As a long-time Democrat in a state controlled by Republicans, he probably needs a stress ball now and then.
Supporters of most 2020 presidential candidates marched in the parade.
The Pride Parade was filled with employees from many local government entities, including police officers, emergency responders, garbage collectors, utility workers, and even librarians.
Many enthusiastic participants danced their way down Congress Avenue to Boogie Wonderland, the theme song for Austin Pride 2019.
The Pride Parade is the best after sundown. Bring on those rainbow lights!
Around 9:00 PM, a Cap Metro bus slowly navigated the left turn in front of the Texas State Capitol. For some strange reason that I can’t explain, I always look forward to seeing the city bus in this parade. And our public transit agency went all out this year with sleek new lighting.
For the record, the temperature had cooled off to 95° when we left around 9:30 PM. As our local NPR station explained, Austin Pride is celebrated in August instead of June for several reasons: students are returning to local colleges, more out-of-towners can attend (everyone is presumably busy with Pride events in other cities during June), and costs are lower for rain insurance. Yep, I can confirm that no rain—as well as no break in the heat—occurred over this August weekend. But, a fun time was had by all.
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