i've never been to pride and i don't really have strong associations with it.
in my queer muslim circles we call it eid-ul-queer...i.e., like muslim gay christmas
and we wish each other happy eid-ul-queer.
but i've never lived anywhere with a big pride - most people go out of town for pride where i've lived, and i couldn't go. i guess i associate participating in pride with my friends who live in locations with huge pride events (i love seeing the pictures on facebook), and with having financial ability/mobility to be able to travel to pride, which is something a lot of people i know don't have. i "come home" to my queer family at a couple of other events throughout the year...for me those events hold the symbolism that pride seems to hold for many people.
i help organize a local queer youth group...since there isn't a pride parade in lawrence, we organized a small pride parade here this year that was entirely put on by queer and trans* middle and high school youth. unfortunately i got sick and couldn't go. i'm looking forward to seeing it grow next year, though
