Gay pride gaining acceptance, in an unlikely place

A Gay Pride Parade in a conservative town like Bakersfield might seem like a dangerous enterprise.  But the annual parade has become a welcome event.  In lieu of the exhibitionist style of San Francisco, this parade celebrates LGBTQ communities while reflecting the town's publicly affirmed values: low-key, family-friendly and conservative.  Bakersfield even gave its 10th annual Gay Pride event the theme, “A Family Reunion.”  “People in San Francisco might think of places like Bakersfield and think, ‘Oh my god, it must be like Russia,’ but it’s not like that at all.  There’s a very small, very vocal minority of people who I’ve come to understand are very much a minority; but for the most part, it’s very live-and-let-live.”   More about the parade and the local wrangling over acceptance of gay and transgender residents is on South Kern Sol.