Reykjavík Grapevine - 14.08.2009, Qupperneq 36

“I’m the first openly gay, fully
licensed ship captain in Iceland!”
Einar Örn Einarsson announced
over the ship’s loud PA system while
welcoming everybody aboard. The
Elding Queer Cruise burst into a
chorus of cheers and a roaring wave
of applause.
The overwhelming feeling of
camaraderie and mass-esteem
that filled the ship at that very
moment was one that punctuated
the entire weekend, as same-sex
couples engaged freely in PDAs,
drag-aficionados were out in large
numbers and the city was awash with
rainbow colours. With an estimated
80,000 people partaking of the 11th
annual festivities, Reykjavík’s Gay
Pride 2009 was a force to be reckoned
with.
For all y’all not around to take in
the weekend first-hand, and for the
rest of you who just can’t get enough,
here are some highlights of the
weekend:
ALL HANDS ON DICK DECK:
QUEER CRUISE, FRIDAY @ 21:30
While the official Pride program pegs
the Queer Cruise as the first of its
kind in cooperation with Reykjavík
Gay Pride, Elding is no wallf lower in
the world of gay cruises.
“We did our first Gay cruise in
2002 and it was a whale watching
tour,” explained Queer Cruise
captain Einar Örn Einarsson. “It was
great, we had 50 or 60 gay men—
mainly leather men!—and we had
the gay f lag f lying. Other boats
around us asked us ‘What nation is
this? Do you have a group from some
Pacific island, or what?’”
The gay f lag was f lying on the
second level of Elding’s ship Friday
evening for the hour-long cruise that
took gay and lesbian partiers around
Viðey Island, stopping brief ly to
ogle the puffins on Akurey Island.
Beyoncé’s Single Ladies was the
unofficial theme song of the cruise
(and of the entire Pride weekend, as
other events would confirm) and the
cruisers danced along, drank and
cheered as a wet-suited man wake-
boarded behind a Sea-Doo in the
chilly waters of the north Atlantic.
THESE 15-CM PLATFORM
STILETTOS WERE MADE FOR
WALKING: GAY PRIDE PARADE,
SATURDAY @ 14:00
The belle of the Pride ball, the
Pride Parade, made its way down
Laugavegur in style Saturday.
Onlookers lined the streets
numbering in the tens of thousands,
applauding the rainbow-f lag-
adorned motorcycles that lead the
way and keeping the positive energy
going for the f latbeds-turned-dance
f loors carrying outlandishly dressed
dancers.
There was a bit of confusion,
however, as the parade seemed to
have ended prematurely, prompting
the crowds to take to the streets
following what they thought was
the final f loat toward the concert
at Arnarhóll. This actuated parade
organisers to take to the streets
themselves, directing bystanders to
clear the way for the remainder of the
procession.
Then came the queens. Goddamn.
As that Beyoncé anthem blared
from a boombox behind them three
queens in asymmetrical leotards,
nylons, stilettos high enough to
induce sympathy pains in anybody
with a nervous system and smeared
with enough fake-tan to keep Paris
Hilton bronzed for a year, shook what
their respective mothers gave them.
Their choreography could put Sasha
Fierce herself to shame—props to
Miss B if she could work it the length
of Laugavegur with half the stamina
of these three. Hell, I’d put a ring on
it.
WHO LIKES SHORT SHORTS?
ARNARHÓLL CONCERT,
SATURDAY AT 15:30
The concert was alright. Crowd
watching was more entertaining
than the performances at this point,
at least for foreigners not familiar
with the Icelandic tunes pumping
from the loud speakers into the
waiting ears of the masses covering
every available space on the hill.
Highlight: Haffi Haff’s mind-
bogglingly short shorts. They beg
the question: at that length is the
title “shorts” really appropriate or
should one refer to such a garment as
“denim panties”?
Lowlight: Four American men
who, when asked whether they
had been enjoying Pride thus far,
commenced a diatribe along the lines
of “we’re not here for Pride, we were
out of town salmon fishing and if
y’all want to continue to receive our
American dollars to save your failed
economy you had better work out
a way to stop this queer stuff from
messing up local traffic. It was a pain
in the ass driving back into town
today.” Charming.
GOT ME TIGHTER IN MY DEREON
JEANS: SATURDAY, SÓDÓMA @
21:00 & NASA @ 23:00
It was a packed-house at Sódóma,
where The Creamgirls performed
ahead of schedule. It’s a shame that
the place cleared out rather quickly
following the band and a dwindling
crowd took in the energetic
performance of Robotron, a rock
duet from Berlin. The front-man/
keyboardist was bouncing around
that stage and the surrounding area,
singing (screaming?) out lyrics like
‘do you want a banana?’ as if he were
a cartoon character of himself.
Páll Óskar at NASA. Awesome.
The club was at capacity as the man
himself — donning a puffy sequin-
adorned blouse tucked in to metallic
stretch pants — gave the crowd
what it wanted. ABBA medley? Yes
please! Single Ladies (Put a Ring on
It)? But of course! The gay-Reykjavík
spokesman kept the energy up
and made bodies sweat, provoking
roaring cheers when he stepped from
behind his disco-dance f loor inspired
podium to shower his adoring crowd
with colourful confetti.
THE DAY OF REST: SUNDAY, ALL
DAY
Leave it to Reykjavík to live up to its
party moniker and serve up a world-
class Pride to put all others to shame.
As a trio of Pride-tourists from
California and Ohio said: “You have
more events leading up to Pride than
even San Francisco; we don’t have the
Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday
thing. It’s amazing!”
For some Pride continued
throughout Sunday, with the T-Dance
at BARBARA and the Rainbow
Church service at Háteigskirkja, but
for others Sunday was a day of rest
and recuperation from a whirlwind
weekend of non-stop LGBT craziness.
Those who went the distance should
give themselves a hearty pat on the
back and the rest should strap on
their stilettos and begin stamina
training for Pride 2010.
Festivals | Gay Pride 2k9 revisited
20
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 12 — 2009
You’ll Have (Had) A Gay Ol’ Time!
A run-down of Reykjavík Gay Pride 2009
CATHARINE FULTON
CATHARINE FULTON
The excitement of Pride is contagious;
everybody meandering their way through
the crowds on Laugavegur, Lækjatorg and
Arnarhóll with a smile on their face and
spring in their step. The following are some
of the good folks that were out and about
and enjoying Reykjavík Pride 2009.
Names: Daniella &
Michaella
Country: Germany
“We weren’t planning on
being here for Pride, it’s
just a happy coincidence,” said Daniella.
Commenting on what their favourite part
of the festivities had been so far Michaella
said: “I like that so many people attend. So
much diversity. The children participating
was great.”
Names: Mark & Klaus
Countries: Denmark &
Germany
“I came here for Pride
but I lived here previously
so I’m here visiting friends as well,”
explained Mark, with Klaus adding that
he was visiting friends and enjoying Pride
simultaneously. As for what they had
enjoyed most so far, Mark spoke for the
pair, saying, “I liked the drag show the best,
it was great!”
Names: Andre & Daniel
Country: Iceland
“The parade was alright,
maybe they were short
of money this year. I
wasn’t here last year but the year before
was much better,” explained Andre, who
elaborated that their favourite part of the
parade were the two floats from Thailand.
“They just looked happy and in a good
mood and dancing; it was nice.”
Name: Magnús
Country: Iceland
Magnús walked in the
parade for the sixth time
this year and planned on
checking out the Creamgirls and Robotron
concert at Sódóma Saturday night. “I like
everything about the weekend,” he said.
“This mood that everyone has is great.
Everyone is happy, there’s no prejudice or
anything like that.”
Names: Thomas &
Herald
Countries: Denmark &
Germany
“The parade was much
fun,” said Herald, who had walked in the
parade with the gay association of the
university. “I very much enjoyed having
good weather, which is expected, of
course, because it’s GAY pride, so the sun
must come out!” As for their plans for the
evening, Thomas said, “there’s something
everywhere—8pm at Sódóma, 11pm at
NASA—there’s something everywhere so
I really have no idea what I’m going to do.”
To which Herald added: “You don’t have to
be gay to be queer and I’m definitely going
to be queer tonight!”
Name: Óli
Country: Iceland
“I love it! It’s amazing! I’ve
gone to all the events that
gay pride was offering.
I was also in the parade, I had a truck.”
Aside from taking part in the parade, Óli
was planning on hitting up NASA for the
Páll Óskar DJ set and then to party the
night away BARBARA’s ongoing Pride
party.