The "Fagbug" Adventure at Toronto Gay Pride 2010!

Greetings TV Garth readers! Before I do my official Toronto Pride recap (including my adventures with TV personalities, reporters and reception) I wanted to blog about marching in the parade with an awesome car known as the "Fagbug" and present my interview with the women behind it!

At last year's Toronto Pride I was dressed in drag as "Anne Tenna" as a tribute to my love of television reception. This year because I was slightly lazier and didn't want to spent a giant chunk of the weekend shaving, I was "Man Tenna". As Man Tenna, I had a shirt created that showcased some of my favourite TV station logos (all from pics of my actual reception!)



I was strutting my stuff, and getting ready to march with a few friends when I saw the Fagbug fabulously sitting in the Parade route. I spotted the New York state license plate and was curious what city the car was from. (My dream was to bump into people from out of town and see if they were from any of the cities I've picked up long distance reception from.) We struck up a conversation and when they mentioned being from Syracuse, NY I shrieked and told them that I pick up WSYR occasionally from my house! That's Sonya Parrish and her partner Erin Davies pictured with the Fagbug below.



Davies recently created a documentary about how the Fagbug came into existence and her experiences travelling with it. It all started in Albany, NY when a rainbow sticker on Davies' car led to someone spraypainting the words "fag" and "u r gay" on the vehicle. Davies eventually decided to leave the graffiti on the vehicle and embarked on a roadtrip through the US and Canada to collect peoples' reactions to it. A year after that roadtrip, it was made over into the version you see here. Find out the whole scoop on http://www.fagbug.com Also check out a great article from the Syracuse Post-Standard here.



When we were talking with Erin and Sonya, they asked if we'd like to march with them and carry a Pride flag behind the car. It was a neat opportunity and we agreed. You can see us carrying the flag below (photo by Louie Chan.)



I also took the opportunity to interview Erin and Sonya about the car, the film, and Syracuse television! Watch the interview here:



Roughly two weeks later the Fagbug travelled to Rochester, NY and I squealed when I saw it was featured in a story by Matt Molloy on WROC! Click here for the article and video.

I was a little sad I didn't get to capture the Fagbug story "live" on WROC (I was at work so I couldn't even check if I was getting reception of it.) But I was picking up Rochester, NY stations during the closing weekend of their Pride festivities. Guess what I saw on the late Sunday news?



That's right! I got to DX the Fagbug via Rochester's WHAM (RF13) only a short time after marching with it! The pic above was from the July 18 newscast.

Stay tuned to TV Garth for more fabulousity and TV related treats!