On July 3rd, the North County LGBT Coalition, DOD Fed Globe, Equality California, and the Imperial Court took part in the Oceanside Freedom Parade, making them the first GLBT contingent in this event’s history. This year’s theme of the annual Oceanside Freedom Parade was “Celebrating 68 Years of Military History” and thousands of people lined the streets of this military town to show their support for America’s troops and veterans. Oceanside has always had a reputation of being a majority conservative, military city. But this year’s parade opened its arms to this diverse group of community leaders, friends and family. Thousands of residents lined the streets, as they do every year, and offered their cheers for the historic new contingents. While there were only slight hints of “boos” coming from the crowd, the parade went well and the contingent achieved what they came to do, create a sense of community, represent that community and to draw attention towards national issues affecting the GLBT community such as DADT. It was thanks to the hard-work, planning and efforts of the North County LGBT Coalition and its partners that made this historic event in North County possible. They represented the community with grace and pride in an event that is more often than not considered quite conservative, and their efforts that 4th of July weekend will be remembered for years to come.