In many cities, summer means Pride, and in the United States, you could go to a Pride parade, festival and/or dance party almost every weekend. This weekend, June 22-24, is the big daddy of all Pride weekends: Our GLBT friends in San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, Houston, Minneapolis, Chicago, Toronto, New York, Atlanta and Ft. Lauderdale will all be celebrating. (Check out all the Pride dates at www.interpride.org or www.gay.com/pride.)

Here in San Diego, Pride is only four weeks away. With half a million people expected the weekend of July 20-22, most of us will be playing host, playing around or skipping town.

Two weeks ago, I watched the Pride parade in West Hollywood, and as you’d expect from one of the world’s most gay-friendly cities, tens of thousands of gay and straight people converged on Santa Monica Boulevard. But had I flown to see the Pride parade in Sao Paulo, Brazil, that same weekend, I would’ve had to jostle for a parade view with 3 million other people. Not only is that a Pride record, but it’s a helluva lot of glitter and beads to clean up!

These days, some of us claim that Pride is no longer necessary because we have more gays on TV, more out celebrities, more straight support and more rights than in the past. Some of us complain that Pride is too commercial, too crowded, too boring, too crass or too disruptive. One comment I recently saw on Gay.com dissed L.A. Pride as “a somewhat large group of shallow, drug-addled circuit queens [who] take to the streets demanding free lube and stronger cocktails.”

I’ll agree that L.A.’s Pride parade may lack some of the excitement of San Francisco’s and even San Diego’s parade, but like San Diego’s, L.A.’s Pride was far more than shallow beauty queens: there were transgender folk, PFLAG parents, leather lovers, dykes, go-go boys, cheerleaders, bands, police officers, politicians, war protesters, non-profit groups and business people – all the colors of the gay spectrum. The crowds around me weren’t as boisterous as those I’ve seen in San Diego, but gays and straights alike still cheered, clapped and took photos.

It’s a shame that many of us now unfairly criticize Pride or take it for granted. Each week, this paper tells stories of gay people overseas who face huge difficulties in gathering and celebrating their uniqueness. A few weeks ago in Moscow, for example, a small group of gay activists who’d gathered in front of the mayor’s office to petition for a Pride parade were outnumbered and beaten by protestors and police. Ironically, just about 1500 miles away, on the other side of Europe, London’s Pride is expected to draw half a million celebrants.

Recently in New Delhi, hundreds of GLBT people celebrated their diversity at a 10-day festival. In a country with 1.1 billion people, a turnout of a few hundred or even a few thousand might seem disgraceful. But India is still a country where gay sex is illegal and sexual orientation is kept private. Although it now embraces Western businesses and pop culture, India is still an ocean apart in sexual tolerance.

Gays in Bucharest, the capitol of Romania, tried to show their Pride the same weekend as those in L.A. and Sao Paulo. Although only about 500 marchers turned out, their success wasn’t measured in numbers but in progress. This year, the organizers won over Romania’s president, who in turn pressured the mayor to allow the parade. Obligated to protect the marchers, the police had to fire tear gas at about 100 anti-gay protesters who were throwing stones and firecrackers.

In Turkey, a Pride parade is slated for July 1 in Istanbul. Given that more than 20 police officers raided a popular Istanbul gay bar this past weekend, we can only pray that there won’t be more violence during Pride.

I visited India, Russia, Romania and Turkey in the early 1990s, and I hope to revisit those countries during future Pride festivals – hopefully at a time when GLBT people can gather, show affection and show pride without fear.

Until then, I’m glad to be here, and I hope you are too. We in the United States and especially in Southern California have much to be thankful for and much to feel proud of. So when you meet other GLBT friends who’ve never attended such a large, colorful Pride event as ours, relish in their excitement and remember how excited and proud you felt at your first Pride.