Cincinnati Pride 2016

At Pride 2016 in Cincinnati there were lots of tributes to Orlando and those who died in the Pulse Gay Bar.

The first difference I noticed were two fully armed Cincinnati police officers in riot gear at Fountain Square. They were in the background, but when the parade began they moved up very close to the parade route. They seemed to be carrying AK-15 assault rifles, but I am not a gun expert.

The Grand Marshall of this year's parade was the mayor of a small enclave near Cincinnati called Golf Manor. The mayor's name is Ron Hirth. He was elected last November and is Ohio's first openly gay mayor according to Equality Ohio.

Ron Hirth, Mayor of Golf Manor

There were politicians and politicians running for office. I found that helpful if I can remember them when November comes. Cincinnati's first openly gay council member, Chris Seelbach, appeared early in the parade.

Chris Seelbach, Cincinnati City Councilman

There was a large group of Hillary supporters and also a very large group marching with Procter&Gamble whose world headquarters is in Cincinnati. P&G has been very supportive of the GLBTQ community. Procter & Gamble also supported the equality movement for marriage. They had a large group and they carried signs with photographs of the victims of the Orlando massacre.

It was hot and I finally moved on to a favorite spot for a little lunch. I wore a gay themed necklace, a silver triangle hung with hoops of rainbow colors. I ate alone. My waitress was Molly and friendly asking questions as she appeared and then moved on. At one point she said that she liked my necklace. I told her a friend gave it to me many years ago. Finally, it was time to go and pay. On the receipt, Molly wrote with a hand drawn heart introducing her remarks; "Love knows no labels." I guess I was not totally alone.