One of the main indicators of the success of gays and lesbians in organizing and in social acceptance has been the growth in the number of cities with gay pride celebrations in June. Gay pride festivals have been around for decades in most every large American city (Chicago is celebrating its 39th this year). But community organizations in many smaller cities now organize pride festivals as well, including Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids and Lansing here in Michigan. This weekend was Michigan Pride in Lansing, and so I did my best to live up to the occasion. I had a first date ...