I moved to the San Fraancisco Bay Area in 1985. I was working as a temp for Blue Shield when a co-worker told me I should go to the Bay to Breakers event that weekend. she said she could watch it from her window and that the other event I should attend was the gay pride parade. I must have looked surprised because then she said "It's not just for gay people". I didn't get it at the time. I thought it was a nuiscance, because they were always closing streets, etc. Then one day I was flipping through channels when there was a live broadcast so I decided to watch. After a few minutes I began to laugh. My wife asked me why I was laughing and when I told her she said "You watch that?". Anyway I decided to go next year. But I missed it completely because I didn't know the date, but went the next year. As the day approached I got nervous. What if someone saw me and thought I was gay? What if someone wanted to have sex with me? I was taking photography classes at Chabot College at the time, so I wore a "Fuji Film" vest I had just gotten for purchasing 50 rolls of film. [remember film?] I walked up to the parade route and after a few moments there was a loud roar. I was so tense I thought it was an earthquake. On tv I had watched an interview where the speaker was asked what do you do if there is an earthquake and your not injured? She replied "Get out of town, keep the roads clear for the first responders". So I started walking back to my car, but people kept pointing at the parade route and smiling so I went back. Well, it wasn't an earthquake. It was Dykes on Bikes, the leadoff group. They were so in-your-face dyke, riding Harley Davidson motorcycles, that you just had to laugh and cheer. They were followed by the San Francisco police department with many gay policemen and with the cheif of police at the head. I had to admire his courage. He must have known people would talk about him behind his back, etc. but he seemed to be saying "I'm better than that" About this time a guy tapped me on the shoulder and said "Want to get some good pictures, come with me?". I followed him up some stairs right up to the VIP stand where he showed the security guard his press pass and said "he's with me". We chatted about cameras for a while and began taking pictures. After about a half hour or so, he asked me if this was my first pride parade, and I said yes. He said he had been to many and explained that the next twenty minutes or so was the most boring part, mostly politicians. and he was going to get coffee and would I like some. I said no, I'd already been to Starbucks. A little while after he left the security guard asked to see my press pass again so I was kicked unceremoniously off the VIP platform. At the bottom I saw Mike again and told him what happened. Then he said "I know you said you didn't want any coffee but I brought some for you anyway. Do you take cream and sugar? I did We shook hands and I thanked him and went back to the crowd. The coffee was very good but I only had a sip. I'm diabetic and can't use sugar. Back in the crowd I saw this guy intoduce his "partner" Chad to a guy who then introduced him to his two friends and they all gave each other bear hugs. I saw two lesbians walking down the sidewalk kissing on the lips. A woman yelled out "Louise! who left the march to say hello to an old lover. Later that day a guy tapped me on the shoulder and said "Thanks for coming, I wish more of you straights would come". I guess he saw my wedding ring. And the crowd was incredibly nice. People would say "Do you want to get some pictures?" and let me in. This was in stark contrast to the St. Patricks Day parade where people were shoving, drunks were trying pick a fight with someone and people were vomiting on the sidewalk. Group after group kept coming, firemen, PGE employees, gay ER doctors and nurses, students from every college in the area and Google employees by the thousand. And I laughed all morning at the antics. Sterotypes went out the window. The men didn't have long hair of speak with a lisp and the women didn't have short hair, etc. As I drove home I got mad thinking about how cruel discrimination against gays was. They had gone out of their way to be nice to me even though at least some of them saw that I was straight. I have no fight with them, and I have been a supporter of gay rights ever since. It was a life-changing event for me.