Welcome to Independence Gay, Bryan Blanchard's weekly blog about his experience being a summer intern for BRAVO!. We love our intern blogs and hope you enjoy following Bryan!
Week 3
June 15-19, 2015
Hey, welcome back! Let me give you the low down on what I’ve been up to since my last post. Capital Pride was last weekend, and it completely blew me away. From the Pride Parade to the festival on Penn. Ave., my weekend was nonstop fun. My hometown would never have anything to do with gay rights, other than maybe lobbying for a ban on marriage equality, so this was my first big, fat, gay extravaganza.
Through the multi-colored flag and glittering drag queens, it’s important to remember the meaning behind this event, especially in the nation’s capital. I know my own story of coming out and owning who I am has been a large part of the person I have become. To look at my fellow community and see not only the smiles and laughter, but also know there were tears and hardship that pushed us to this moment in time is something I will never be able to forget.
I don't want to get too emotional, even though this was such an amazing experience for me, so let's move onto some related client news. Whitman-Walker's contingent in the pride parade was just too fabulous! My voice is still a little raspy from screaming for those rainbow beads. Now that we've wrapped up two big events, the VIP Grand Opening of 1525 and Going the Extra Mile, it's been a little less chaotic in the BRAVO! office. You wouldn't believe the honor it's been to work so closely with this client and see them reach outstanding fundraising goals. If you haven't seen our gift from Amy and Lee from legal, you should check out our Facebook page! I never knew how creative you could get with prophylactics.
Anyway, the pride festival was also a ton of fun and I got to meet Damien from Mean Girls. Team You Can't Sit With Us. But side note, it was so humid Sunday during the festival that my light grey shirt was at least three shades darker after walking around in the first hour. There was no glistening. It was definitely just sweat. Fun fact though: it's appropriate to wear a crop top out on a Friday night, never thought that would be a thing for me but there are pictures on my Instagram (shameless plug @independencegay). There’s no denying that my community knows how to throw a party, and we really do rock at it.
I'm sorry if this feels a little short this week, but we’ve begun prep and planning for events coming up in the fall, like Mautner Project's 25th Anniversary Celebration, The Walk to End HIV and the Be the Care Gala, all for Whitman-Walker Health. I did get to do my first venue walkthrough at DOCK 5, which is located above Union Market. So cute and it really is a great space for the Mautner event. Our team is working so hard to make sure these event experiences are above and beyond any expectation and I'm so grateful to have this opportunity to make my mark in D.C.
So always and forever, stay fab!