Event Recap: ShanghaiPRIDE 2017 Pride Talk – The Time is Now 想说就说
This year’s ShanghaiPRIDE Pride Talk, was held at the brand new Colca on 10th June.
Volunteers arrived early to set up the reception and souvenirs counters to welcome our audience.
The 10 speakers from different countries and different backgrounds got together to deliver amazing stories and speeches. Song Tian, Menu Yu, and Xiao Guo came to Shanghai very early in the morning all the way from Nanjing, Nanchang, and Suzhou respectively; our cross-dresser guest put on his dress, wig, and make-up and was fully ready to tell his story; Jim was volunteering in an elder’s home in the morning and rushed to the venue to get ready for his talk; other speakers arrived early for rehearsals.
The theme for this year’s Pride Talk is The Time is Now 想说就说. We not only hope the stories delivered by our speakers influence others positively, but also encourage our audience to share their own stories.
Topics covered by our speakers include social work, self-identity, family relationships, asexuality, interviewing LGBT, cross-dressing, inclusion within LGBTQ community, being a straight ally to the LGBT community, etc.
Here’s the top 10 excerpts from this year’s Pride Talk:
“If someone asks me whether my next date will be a guy or a girl, I’d say I’m already so gay that I can’t turn straight”.
“My mission is to bike from Shanghai, China to Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, not only for the thrill of a new adventure, but also to fight poverty.”
“Each of us is free to develop our own potential, so take action! Be a social entrepreneur, take your personal life experiences, share them with others and start a dialog. There are thousands of ways, but the most important thing to remember is that everyone of us should be a change maker, not a bystander.”
“The biggest challenge for me about putting on a dress is that I have to shave my legs. And then I thought, “Who the f- cares!” So I stopped shaving altogether.”
“One time my boyfriend and I didn’t have sex for a month and he seemed unhappy with that. I just totally forgot he had the desire or need for sex. To an asexual, cake is better than sex!”
”The group of us (some girls and a straight boy) rode on a school bus eagerly and went into gay bars in the city to interview the guys there. The straight boy was very happy that there were so many boys looking at him!”
“…we broke down and cried, holding each other. It was just a circle of love, care, gratitude, and apology. Nothing ‘homosexual’. ”
“We don’t have to be too aggressive by saying we shall fight for an egalitarian society right now. Quite simply, what we need most of all is full respect and real inclusiveness within the LGBT community.”
“I was climbing a mountain in Sichuan last year while carrying a rainbow flag. I was exhausted. My teammate told me to throw away the rainbow flag, saying there won’t be many people to see it. I rejected this idea. Even if there is only one person to see it, I will still carry it all the way to the peak and put it there.”
“I hope everyone can invite their straight allies into our community. Tear off their label of being straight. Tear off our labels of LGBTQ. From now on, there is no L, no G, no B, no T, no Q. There is no straight or gay or any other label. There is no “closet” anymore!”
ShanghaiPRIDE 2017 Pride Talk presented real life experiences as well as academic research in snappy presentations under 7 minutes each. We look forward to seeing you next year for more interesting topics.
Last but not least, we would like to give our gratitude to our volunteers, and most importantly to our sponsors, Colca, an amazing Peruvian-Spanish restaurant, and Sweetteeth. See you next year!
