As every year, QAPA had a blast marching in Pride alongside MAP for Health and MASALA. This year was made extra special because we were joined by the Odaiko New England taiko drumming group. The QAPA truck pulled them on a flatbed behind the truck and as you can see from the picture, they put on quite a show! They really kicked our presence in the parade up a notch and we thank and appreciate them for their spirit of volunteerism and community. Extra thanks to  Odaiko for reaching out to us!

Odaiko NE drummers

As for the MAP for Health contingent, the staff at MAP kicked some ass preparing the truck with flags from different Asian nations and banners. They were greeted by throngs of parade-goers as the MAP folks stuffed attendees’ hands with safe sex packets.

MAP truck

MASALA changed up their routine this year — in addition to the fabulous tricycle-pulled rickshaw, they also had rainbow colored hot boys marching in unison, and you can bet they got some cat calls and cheers as they made their way through the crowd.

MASALA

And last but not not least, QAPA people represented by carrying our fuchsia banners down the parade route (no easy feat when it’s windy!) We used the same banners last year, and they had such a good reception, we decided to use them again this year. Among the QAPA banner carriers was our own Kristin, who announced that she’ll be stepping down from the QAPA steering committee due to her relocation to SF. She’ll be sorely missed, but we wish her well and thank her for her countless hours of dedication to QAPA.

We'll miss you, Kristin!

Looking forward to Pride 2010!!!