In the next few years, Marks is looking forward to retirement with Wallace. You’ll find your people!” Over the years, Mark has found his people. Love yourself for who you are, and choose to be with friends who will respect and support you. When I asked him to offer some advice to the young LGBT people in San Diego who might be experiencing some of the bullying he went through as a youth, he didn’t miss a beat: “Don’t take anything anyone else says about you to heart. These upbeat lyrics of self-acceptance match Mark’s positive attitude about being a proud, out gay man. “You-ou-ou, you got the right! Stand up for yourself, we’ve just begun to fight.Īin’t no way we’re going back in time – forward to the future baby, yours and mine!” “We have been ‘joined at the hip’ for over 38 years and legally married for six.” They requested that RuPaul’s song “American” be played by the DJ while they floated down University Avenue:
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Mark also revealed that he was “thrilled” to be able to share his first experience being in the parade with his husband Wallace. He especially loved that the elected officials and police officers who used to shun the event were now “enthusiastic participants,” as he called them. When I asked him what struck him as the biggest change from 1978 to 2018, he said he was “truly overwhelmed by the outpouring of positivity and support he felt from the thousands who attended the parade.” He marveled at not only the size of the crowd, but also the diversity of the audience that included every race, ethnicity, and age cheering the contingents on. I was touched by the tenderness in his voice as he shared his memories from 40 years ago. His favorite part was at the end of the parade where LGBT attendees were encouraged to link arms together, and follow the parade down to the park. Some protesters went as far as to throw trash at or even spit on the parade participants. Police did not participate in the parade back then, but rather would keep anti-gay protesters at bay on the sidewalks. While the LGBT civil rights movement was growing, Mark remembers that many people still feared being “outed” and potentially losing their jobs for attending the parade. It was far smaller than today’s event with just a handful of floats and a few convertibles thrown in with the marching contingents. To meet others, he also attended the 1978 Pride Parade when he was just 24. He found a sense of community in gay bars such as The Hut, The Shadows, and The Brass Rail, even though it was common at the time for the bars to experience regular police raids.
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He began to look for other people that were like him. Mark eventually left the rural life for sunny San Diego. I even volunteered as the assistant to the school nurse in his high school.” Despite the hostility, Mark never let the taunting he faced affect how he felt about himself or his love for people. “I faced teasing and bullying on a daily basis! I was called names, had my books knocked out of hands and was even shoved in a locker by the class bullies.” I could see the frustration on Mark’s face, but I could also see resolve. Once I heard that Mark had attended both our most recent Pride AND one of the first Pride celebrations in San Diego, I had to sit down with him to hear what he thought about the changes in the event and our community over the past 40 years.ĭuring our chat, Mark shared with me that he is from a rural, small town and came to San Diego to, as he put it, “gain more freedom and independence.” Even before coming out though, he knew he was different, he just didn’t know how or why. Mark attended his first San Diego Pride Parade in 1978, but we met because his company’s LGBT Employee Resource Group invited him to ride on their 2018 parade float with his husband Wallace. Recently, I had the good fortune to meet Mark Lawrence, a wonderful 64-year-old nurse who works for Blue Shield of California as an inpatient care manager. One of the most wonderful things about working for San Diego Pride is that I have the opportunity to speak with so many people in our LGBTQ+ community and hear their stories.