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| From last year's O Bar Pride Party show |
Metro Manila Community Quarantine - Day 106
In the years that Tobie and I have been together, we've celebrated LGBT Pride in different ways. We've marched together in some of the different Pride Marches in different cities and even at different times of the year. We've joined big street parties in old Malate and of course, we've joined friends at O Bar as an annual tradition. We've experienced Pride as a protest, Pride as a statement, and Pride as a celebration.
2020 has been a hard year for all of us and as we enter our 16th week of quarantine it's hard to find reasons to celebrate anything, really. Last night's rather impromptu O Bar Pride show live-streamed from the bar itself was a delight in itself. Watching the show "together" with friends in a Google Meet really added something special to the experience that felt more like we were actually sharing a table together and enjoying the show as a group. And that's something we haven't been able to enjoy all throughout the quarantine.
As much as we have our weekly tabletop RPG sessions conducted over Google Meet or Discord, the lac of in-person socialization really takes away something important in the balance of our lives. We make do with whatever social interactions we can manage safely through online channels, but it never quite replaces what we've lost due to physical distancing. And as this craziness drags on, we are all diminished to some degree.
LGBT Pride is one of the celebrations we always look forward to every year. This year's festivities weren't quite as jubilant, but at least we managed to find a way to still feel connected with other members of the community. Ironically this just makes me miss our friends even more and I look forward to some form of relief from all this stress sooner rather than later. For now, we just have to hold on and stay safe and strong. We shall endure.
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