In celebration of having many loves, not lovers, New York City has once again served as the platform for the nation's activists. Polyamarists across the county came together at the 8th Annual Poly Pride Weekend in Central Park.
Sure, it doesn't have the turnout of the annual
Gay Pride Parade in New York City but the Poly Pride Weekend made its way to The Big Apple and just celebrated its 8th annual event.
To kick off the celebration, there was a
Super Massive Cuddle Party that allowed registrants a discounted opportunity to engage in multi-person, multi-gender activity and was "...a place for people to rediscover non-sexual touch and affection, a space to reframe assumptions about men and women, and a great networking event to meet new friends, roommates, business partners and significant others." For an early registration fee of around $16 US for a foursome, it was apparently quite the deal. However, it was held in
room 101, a number that conjures up images of, well, things not so good.
On Saturday, a parade and picnic in Central Park filled the day with non-alcoholic fun for the entire family with speakers, an MC and poetry reading all part of the poly entertainment. The afterparty, well, I shall not mention.
So what is Poly Pride?
Polyamory, or Poly for short, is
defined by wiki as "the desire, practice, or acceptance of having more than one loving, intimate relationship at a time with the full knowledge and consent of everyone involved." It differs from polygamy in that it isn't a cultural or religious structure but rather a type of relationship choice that is open minded.
What it isn't is promiscuity in that the group of consenting individuals focus on relationship, similar to that of the old commune days. Its not just about sex and may be less about it than many believe. A concept that some professors and sex researchers do not agree with in that they dismiss the practice as a lack of finding the right "ONE."
An article in the NYT gives a sneak peak into the life of Diana Adams, a Cornell-educated attorney and the VP of Polyamourous NYC. Adams, who use to be a youth minister in a Christian church and is now involved with both men and women on a regular basis. The article does explain that the majority of polys are heterosexual.
As an outsider, I guess I would view the matrix as one of many very close friends who equally share each others goods and bads, including the, well, you know...And according to the article, they do a lot of sharing in the verbal arena.
In
another article that describes polyamory in a bit further detail and although it is a natural way of life for some, it isn't for all.
If you didn't know, well, now you do. If you didn't want to know, I won't make any apologies. But as Poly Pride Weekend has come and gone, just remember that even some of the most educated and talented of individuals have a life that may extend beyond our own knowledge base, no matter how different it may seem.
