Sunday 2 August 1998, 21.35

Stockholm returns gently to its new normality, and so do I. Kind of. EuroPride is still a big topic of conversation among the people I meet - last night's little gathering at Spisa hos Helena had us comparing notes from different points in the parade, and exchanging views about transsexuality, in way way we wouldn't have done three weeks ago. In a place most of us wouldn't have even been in three weeks ago. I keep running into people I got to know during EuroPride, people I got to know better during EuroPride, and people who've changed from just friends to really good friends as a result of EuroPride. And again, this must be happening all over Stockholm. If not elsewhere - but then the Gay Games have started in Amsterdam (kudos to Swedish radio P3 for an excellent item in 'Radio Europa' today), so that'll set another wave of good things in motion.

Looking back I regret terribly not going to the seminar 'The Multisexual Society'. I really hope somebody's written a good account of it somewhere, so the rest of us can be in on what happened when Stephen Whittle and Petra Östergren and Don Kulick and Carol Queen and Alexander Bard were all there in the same room. I also never made it to the Quilt in Hagaparken, or the Tom of Finland exhibition, or Kalle Hamm's 'Party Size', and I am still an SLM virgin. Mind you, I've got a lovely pile of lesbian books to read now (loaned from Ann, natch) and intend to look more into things butch (and femme, for the sake of balance). And heavens, I had one gay male friend come out to me as a another butch wannabe this week. Should we start a support group? A branch of LASH? Or a rock band?

There's a lot of talk about next year, too. Contrary to two pernicious rumours, London EuroPride '99 is on, and RFSL Stockholm does intend to be involved in organising next year's pride festival in Stockholm. Which clearly can't be called 'Homofestivalen' any longer: our bi and trans brothers and sisters are here to stay. It's going to be an exciting autumn, anyway, even before we stop partying like it's 1999 and start partying because it's 1999. Ugh, cheap joke. Put it down to post-EuroPride something-or-another...