BTW I love that everyone kept saying, "Happy Pride!" to each other.
For some reason the major media seem to be really slow with the pro photos of this event, but lots of wonderful people were generous with the twitpics, so our story will mostly be told through their eyes--people who were actually there and who kindly shared their realtime "Wow! Johnny Weir is AWESOME!" moments with the world on Twitter and other social media.
So here he is, your 2011 LA PRIDE Parade Grand Marshal.
First, some close-ups:
Johnny speaks to the crowd from atop the Grand Marshal float.
Dancing to "Dirty Love," which blared from the speakers
At the press conference before the parade, at which he said:
"I'm so, so honored to be here and privileged to be
the grand marshal. It's an incredible, incredible experience.
I'm here representing my community and so many beautiful people
that I'm proud of. I'm here representing my family
for supporting me the entire way through my youth,
my career as an Olympian no matter what.
[I'm] representing our brothers and sisters all over the world--
and even in America--who are still discriminated against,
still don't have equal rights as Americans.
I'm here with love for everybody. I'm so, so proud."
Next, photos from all along the parade route (mostly twitpics, and most of which have already appeared on Facebook and which Gail Turley also kindly gathered and posted on her blog, so please forgive the repeats):
He could be singing "Dirty Love" here, which would be made of WIN.
Rocking out with Tara and Eric, from Jeremy Valadez.
Another great view of everything--
Love Eric's pink mittens, as did Leyla, the City Channel 10
parade commentator, who wanted to go get a pair for herself.
And finally, video of the Grand Marshal arriving on the red carpet.
Thank you forever to Wendy Stevenz for uploading this
at the speed of light for everyone to watch
over and over...
at the speed of light for everyone to watch
over and over...
And all of that was wonderfully exciting and fun and made me full-to-bursting with pride for him, and for all the LGBT community and its allies.
And now a peek at the backstage story--the moments beforehand, with Johnny and two of his best friends in the whole world getting ready to do something they've never done before, twitpicing giddily (for which we are all very very grateful), and then arriving at a particular moment...
who is just absolutely the best at responding
to our desperate pleas for pics pics pics ... !
In the car on the way to the parade, posted by Tara
to her TaraAgent Facebook page.
"This pic says it all #dirtylove."
for photographer Tara as he prepares for his float
to get under way ...
... and then this moment: As Johnny surveys the view
from atop the Grand Marshal float, he takes a photo
and posts it for all of us, though he's especially thinking
of one person in particular. And he writes:
of one person in particular. And he writes:
Patti FTW.
And that's when I cried.
And that's when I cried.
Bonus video #1! Yes, I know it's sideways and I can't even embed it here, but you've got to see it anyway. I had no idea that Johnny was providing warm cocktail chatter throughout the entire parade route. Listen for him saying, "That's a big dog you have … and a beautiful one!" No wonder the uploader wrote: "@JohnnyGWeir couldn't have been a better Grand Marshal."
Bonus video #2! This uploader writes: "11 June 2011. Beach Blanket Bingo in Macy's, Beverly Center. Johnny Weir and Pandora Boxx repartee regarding the limits of their jokes. This occurs right after Pandora Boxx was wondering how she was going to sit down, and eventually did with the comment, 'I'm sitting on a secret.' :D (I'm kinda mad I missed recording that part.)" LOL.
Johnny's everywhere in June!
He has six appearances scheduled in conjunction with
He has six appearances scheduled in conjunction with
Macy's "Pride + Joy" events to celebrate LGBT Pride Month:
Coming up: Chicago, New York, and St. Petersburg, FL.
Check out his Events page for more info,
and don't miss your chance to meet him!!
Please remember to vote vote vote
for Beauty Bear Eric Alt to win "Favorite Salon"
in New Jersey Life Health + Beauty Magazine's A-List awards!
You can vote for both salons at the same time:
Eric Alt Saddle River, and Eric Alt Wood Ridge.
You also can vote over and over in this one
without even having to clear your cache--
just press F5 to refresh the page! #winning
Please help Johnny meet his goal
of raising $10,000 for breast cancer research
by visiting his donor page!
Saturday, June 18, in Columbus, OH!
(Same weekend as the Annually Awesome
Columbus Gay Pride Parade--win-win!)
UPDATE: Johnny will be performing
FOUR times at Skate for Hope!
He'll be in the Headliners' Opening and Closing numbers,
and also will skate two solos!
UPDATE: Johnny will be performing
FOUR times at Skate for Hope!
He'll be in the Headliners' Opening and Closing numbers,
and also will skate two solos!
At last: Pop Star On Ice is now available on DVD!
Order yours today from the Pop Star On Ice website!
"Buy my single,'Dirty Love' via iTunes.
Tell all your friends to as well. The more copies sold
takes me one step closer to making a video! №1!"
THE WORLD NEEDS THIS VIDEO
IN THE SAME WAY THAT IT NEEDS AIR.
IN THE SAME WAY THAT IT NEEDS AIR.
You know what to do.
or just click the "Buy" button on the player
at the top of the blog!
Hey, Welcome to My World also is available
as an eBook! More info on Johnny's website!
6 comments:
Buttons popping with pride over Johnny and the progress made by young people and many of their elders in this country and around the world regarding accepting LGBT and giving them equal rights.
Thank you, Misfit Mimes, for pulling this all together. So proud of fans like you who go the extra mile and parade your love of Johnny.
Awesome feathery headdress (Johnny is a rara avis) and furry pink gloves, Eric Alt. Very cool dress and rockin' Lady Gaga-esque eye makeup, Tara.
Made me cry too. So happy for him.
Thank you so much for gathering all of this so we can relive the joy of yesterday over and over :) I couldn't be happier that Johnny had this beautiful, joyous experience, and that he got to share his AMAZINGNESS with L.A., and with the rest of us! I am proud of this world too, because even though it's far from perfect, and we still have a long way to go, something must be going right in a world that can produce such a bright light and give him opportunities like this to shine. And I'm so, so thankful once again that he had the good fortune to be born into such a wonderful, loving, supportive family.
yay! so happy for Johnny that he got to be Grand Marshall and so happy for L.A. that they got themselves some Johnny! cause we all know what that feels like: magical and lovely and amazing!
how cool it must have been to be up on a float, dancing to his own song and looking like a superstar!
and of course The Lovely and Beautiful One was the best Grand Marshall ever, cause he brought his heart with him - just like he does with everything else.
♥
eeks! i just realized that i forgot to ask a Very Important Question: anyone know who makes those shorts he was wearing?
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