Okay, kids, it's Pride Month, which is Gay Pride Month or lgbt QI plus month. It's for the queer community or whatever words that you find comfortable that you use for yourself. As this is being released since June third at the beginning, and this is fifty plus, and I kind of just want to give you a little slideshot of of people ask me what I feel about it. Why am I not doing any of the festivities or any stuff, And so I'll tell you a little bit
about why. It's a little bit where I'm coming from. For me, it's just me, and I know some others are around my age are the same, but it's just me. So for me, I lived in San Francisco for sixteen years, and no matter if you were gay, straight, no matter what you were, it's one of the largest celebrations in the country. At one time, it's third largest after the Rose Bowl and something else here in California. No matter where you work Cisco, it was you, you basically worked
Kay Pride. So whether you if you were a merchant or or a business or you just you just you worked it. So for years I worked at the nineties to the two thousands, I and it's it's a working any kind of festival or anything, it's a lot of work. And and so I so so for me, it's just I did it. I got burnt out all the drunks and all the other stuff. To you, that's part of it. It's uh, it's it's very much a lot of work. But that's one hole. And actually want to talk about
that on my show All Access Festivals. That's that's on jail JBD. Also go check out that show. I talk about festivals. I'm not just gonna talk about those years on that for a show. That's one reason why I cycled out of it. Number Two, I am older, and I know I have friends who are older who go to it and have a good time, but I guess it's just not the same for me anymore. I was there in those early years when we were marching seriously
for our lives. I was there for aids and all that, and it was it was a big deal to go to them, and we weren't out as much. There's a
lot of stuff that that wasn't going on. We'd have a lot of acceptance or a lot of things that weren't going on that we do have that because of those early pride praise in those marches we have today and the younger gay youth you don't have to worry about so much, even though our country is in a weird spots and there are some freedoms threatened, but we were way ahead of where we were when I was in my teens and twenties, late teens, early twenties, even thirties.
So I just that's number two. Number three. I'm just not big for crowds anymore, before or even before COVID. Just like just being in crowds just it's not it's not fun for me. My stamina's not the same molders as I'm fatter, older, it's not the same stamina just not there. But here's just so funny. I was looking at my life, and I was looking at the black part of my life and the gay part of my life.
Those are and even maybe even my Latino part of my life.
Was looking at different parts of who I am, you know, my left handed side, my grandparents' side. I've been looking at different parts of my life as I've got I just had a birthday and I'm fifty six, and I looked at my life, the gay parts, and this is kind I make jokes that I'm only gay on paper because literally I don't do it.
It's just This is.
Also why it's so important for people who are not gay to realize.
Many of us are just like you and me are just like you.
We're just we're just we made like us the same sex or different types or whatever, but we're basically can we the same boring people that anybody else can be Like, there's nothing, We're just living our lives. And and one of the things for me that makes me laugh because I was just like, yeah, that's just.
Kind of what you know.
So I don't So I don't have a partner because I would love to have one, it's hard to get one. I don't have one. I'm not dating anyone. It's hard to get true dates nowadays. I mean, as I say, it's impossible. I was dating people last year. They because with them it's all a part not me.
I didn't want to stop dating them, they stop dating me.
Not having sex, I mean, I'll be real aning you, I'm not not not I'm not because I don't want you. I'd love to you, but just not again, I'm not a person who wants to spend money trying to rent somebody to have sex with, all these kind of things.
I just like, that's not me.
I have to have a connection with somebody, so I just that's not because I'm not dating, I'm making connection to anybody, so that's not happening. I don't hang out at any of the gay establishment or shopping any of the gay places because many of them are, to me, support racist agendas within the gay community, which has a loose term. There is no in my opinion, there is
no gay community. It's there is a hierarchy and racism in that community that I talk to my younger gays of color and they fill me in and say it has not changed. Apparently it's it's still there, So you have that. It's such a it's just such an interesting.
Time.
It's just like it's I live in I live in suburbia, and I live in a city that I think I know a couple of gay people live near here, where we don't talk to each other.
I may say, hive they go by, but I don't. I'm not really involved.
It's just craft. I was thinking, like I don't I don't do I mean, I literally I have a couple of friends who are gay, but we don't hang out. We talk online, talk on the phone. We want to try a year actually hang out. I hang out with mostly these straight people, people who identify or identify straight.
I just do, like just my life.
My closest friends, to my club, My closest friends are straight, but they are. For so many years, I was trying to find people of color as friends, period, no matter what they were, and I couldn't get them where I was living. Now I have people who surrounded by people of color, which I love. That's that for me is actually very fulfilling. But I have aged out of the
bars and the clubs. I just I have no desire to be the old guy in the corner and get gig, be ignored or solicited for money from younger people, which happens all the time. I might even try to make that up. It happens all the time, So I guess it's just for me. I'm like, if I were to put my gaineness out there, I am barely I barely watch any of the gay programs, the popuy copular Gate movies.
A few of them I like, I don't like them, and I'm not even just saying this to be like, look at me, I'm like a normal person, not at all. I'd love to be gayer like I used to was. I was very gay at one point. Just like everything, I just don't. I don't. It's I don't feel it
out there. My life has changed into being an older person, being a person who has a who's a business owner, being a person who is taking care of an elderly parents like my, my, My whole world has changed in a way that's just like and I live in a big city where people aren't trying to make community happen and they aren't trying to get together. And I'm also on TV and I'm kind of well known, and it's that whole element who do you want to let endo your life or do you want to know where you live?
And it's just it is the it is the craziest thing. And so for me, it's it's a very it's a big thing of Wow, I'm literally just gay on paper. I just I'm gay because I say I'm gay, But like, I literally do nothing in that world. And it's so we I never I neared until recently. I was like, that is crazy talk. So my views are on pride basically are kind of are very different. But my general view on pride is that there's a lot of work still to be done.
There are things are being threatened.
If you're young and coming out and I want to have a good time and have some fun for a couple of weekends here and there, then I say go do it. Experience at least once, have a good time. That's kind of where I'm at with that, Like, you just have a good time, just do it, have a good time. And and you know I want. What I want is I want people no matter what you who,
what you who, you like, who you don't like. I just want people to be able to be freely who they are because when you get older, I've had I was. I was free for years. I did whatever I wanted. Basically, we know within reason, I had a good time. Like I'm not sitting here going I never did anything like. I don't feel like I've missed out on anything. I don't feel like I have no regrets. I mean like I lived a full gay life, a full life period that I don't I don't feel like I'm missing anything.
And I just I did it. I really can. I can sit back and look at and have. I have a million memories I can draw from.
I know. Someone say, but you still have more to come, and maybe I do.
But it's a different form now because this show is called fifty plus, it's about being fifty plus.
I'm heading towards sixty. It's a different world.
And my world is so it's not about dancing with the shirtless and palm springs doing poppers.
That's just not my life.
My life is taking care of my mother and handling business, and I have clients and I'm trying to make trying to make the world a better place. I have things that I want to do in my life. But for all those who have none of those concerns, I'm like, live your life fully, don't let anybody tell you otherwise. So when you get to fifty plus, you can say, like I'm saying, you know, I did good.
I had a good time.
I lived so I did some stuff and I'm here still and no regrets. That's kind of what I hope for this and all my older Pride brethren. I hear you, I see you. You're out there. I know you are. Some of you are caregiving, some of you are disabled on disability some of you are still working hard. Some of you are just coming out.
I know.
If you are just coming out, congratulations to you. It's just it's over fifty. It's different. It definitely is my gen xer is my baby boomers. I get it. So that's for me. But happy pride to anyone who is celebrating, wants to celebrate, and who is celebrating it. And this time next year when I come back on the show, maybe things were different for me. I have no idea. Man, I may have a different store. Worry for you. That's why doing the show, because it's a time capsule where
I am in this journey of being over fifty. And maybe you'll can relate to it. But we'll see. But I have just on a side, do I have some pride programming here on this channels. We are we are an ally. We are a channel that's walk away from issue.
We talk about everything. So it's on. We have some stuff on this channel for you, some pride stuff, fairvuew Heights, Manchester Avenue, a few just two shows that I have to audio dramas right there and then you just we do we touch on subjects and I've had some pride talks and things and that. Some stuff coming up. So like this, I'm James Junior. I have fifty plus. We're on all audio streaming service platforms. They have a few
videos on jamil on YouTube. Subscribe there to you. I'll talk to you next time.