Friendship In A Big City

I just read a rather intriguing article in the Guardian today about the possibility of 'renting a friend'. Yes, you can look at it and roll your eyes at the commoditisation of our social lives, and in this world where everyone appears to have a few hundred Facebook 'friends' you have to wonder why this is even necessary.

The reality though, is that even (or perhaps especially) in big cities such as London, it is possible to be very lonely indeed. Even if you have the odd mate who lives in London, breaking out of the circle of work colleagues is hard, and making friends who you can hang out with because you enjoy their company is a mammoth task. The Pink Insider has been in London now for 8 years, and the first two or three were spent in the company of old college mates.

Now, of course, I look at my friends in London and see that they neatly partition into people from school, people from work, former neighbours (a rarity I can tell you!), acquaintances of acquaintences (who are now my friends) and, of course, Pinkies.



There are many advantages to joining a social group, but particularly one like the Pink Singers, because everyone out of necessity has to work together. This means that you already share something in common such as the love of singing, but your experiences also develop together, which to me is a prerequisite for any meaningful relationship. Picking up someone in a pub can lead to a long-term friendship but, for me at least, is a rather difficult way of going about it.

Reading the article, the writer rents his friend for £40 an hour. In comparison, membership of the Pink Singers is a complete bargain!

What More Can I Say?

I'm afraid the Pink Insider is even busier now that we are in the summer break than ever before, so things are going to be a bit quiet on this front for a while. Until the winter season begins again, however, I leave you with this wonderful little song by Simon W, accompanied by Ben L on piano. Both Simon and Ben are in the second tenors, and Simon's other half is a first tenor. I know I am biased, but the Pinkies really do put on a good show!

Pride In Yourself, Proud To Be

There are few things which tire me out as much as a full day of Pride: that is, marching the long two-hour stretch from Baker Street to Whitehall, followed by waiting around to perform on stage. Yet I do it year in year out, even if this year I found it so tiring that after dinner in Chinatown, this Pink Insider wanted nothing more than to conga-line his way through the throngs of Soho in order to get home. Note to self: do not wear flip flops as there is a distinct risk of being stabbed by broken glass from below and a spikey stilletto from above.

So, why do I keep doing it? Well this quote from a commentor (Joanne in Twickenham) in the Metro newspaper really struck a chord with me:

The reason Pride - which is a celebration of all human sexualities [...] - includes a march as well as the rally is because Pride began as a protest march against intolerance and injustice. Nobody marched for any special rights or privileges. The Gay Rights movement worked towards equality, to bring their rights and their place in society into line with the straight majority.

We're almost there and getting closer every day. The freedoms that I enjoy today were won through blood, legal oppression and police brutality. I honour that struggle every year at Pride, while acknowledging that every human is born able to grow into someone to be proud of.

Hooray to Pride, and to many more to come!