Pride... and a Little Prejudice

They say pride comes before a fall, well in this case it came two weeks before my trip to Barcelona, and a week after my trip to Amsterdam... and was in Birmingham. Three weeks of no trannying would have been a bit of an extended drought (by recent form), so Birmingham Pride was a good excuse to get out there once again. 

So with Jess and Sophie on board, we set off from Tranny Base Camp in Derby to experience the two-day explosion of glamour, street-entertainment, dodgy fast food, and good old-fashioned proud-ness that is Birmingham Pride. A few firsts for Becky to report:

• My first Pride. It's not that I haven't felt proud before, anyone will tell you that my chest swells more than most. It's just that there's not been the opportunity to show it.
• My first time out for extended periods in daylight. I did the daytime thing! Yay me!

Possibly the biggest first of all was when, bolstered by a few Breezers and safety in numbers, we ventured from the safety of the gay village into "straight" Birmingham nightlife. It was quite an eye-opener.

After only walking a few hundred yards we were in a different world. Whereas moments before me and my four friends would have barely raised an eyebrow, suddenly we were the centre of attention! It was scary but exhilarating at the same time. Mostly people were really pleased to see us, and it was great to be doing our thing in a entirely straight location.

The one sour point, which is where the "prejudice" part of the title comes into it, was when one of our number was unceremoniously ejected from the ladies loos by a bouncer. It could have happened to any of us, and it brought us all back to Earth with a bump.

It reminded me that for all the laughs and smiles, we weren't 100% welcome here. We made our way back to the safe and welcoming throng of Pride. Which now, to me, seemed just a little bit like a ghetto...

Ooh! Pictures! I nearly forgot! Here you go, remember to either squint really hard to read the text, or click on the thumbnails to make them a lot bigger... it's up to you!