What better way to show off Colorado’s Truck of the Year than by having a bunch of big and beautiful bears feature it in a Gay Pride Parade?

This year, Melissa and Wendy, two fabulous people at Fiat Chrysler, loaned us their big, bold and beautiful Ram 1500 Longhorn Crew Cab so that we could pile on the bears and the fun. Even with ‘the’ Truck of the Year, just add bears, plenty of food and beverages and perhaps some glitter and air horns – and the Pride Party is on.

The photos here – taken by Bear photographer Gary Van Doren at Denver’s Gay Pride Parade earlier this summer – show just how much fun we had – and how great the Ram looks even in the gayest of settings. If you need a truck that can literally haul ass (and lots of it), this is the truck. There were a lot of full-figured bears in the truck bed, inside the cab and on the trailer. For a parade, I’ve learned to keep it in low-low-low gear and just let the vehicle coast as the rolling gayness crawls along a hot busy downtown street. Sometimes you stall but that beats slamming on the breaks for some queen in roller skates who just darts out in front of your Hemi.

If you are in the market for a truck, now is the time to go shopping for a Ram. Dealers are trying to get rid of their 2015 inventory, and while you may have to shop a bit, there should be a Ram somewhere that will be cheaper than if you bought it just nine months earlier.

Keep in mind, however, that these last-minute 2015 deals will be the ones on the lot that have not sold. No reason to think there is anything wrong with them, but they just may not be exactly how you want them. The biggest complaint I’ve heard is that the last-minute Rams are not Crew Cabs and are the basic models with few frills. A truck is a truck is a truck, right? If you are a Ram, that is correct.

Once again, some basic advice:

If you live in the city and have lots of sex in the city, you might not want a truck. These Ram-blers need room to roam and even your $700-a-month indoor parking space may be too cramped. Many LBGTs now live everywhere in the USA (surprise) and some need a reliable truck for all their tough work, home work and farm work. And just because you need a truck doesn’t mean it can’t be fashionable…..

…. You are always an A-Lister with the Ram, even when you pretend not to be. Your clean-cut, perfectly groomed friends may be driving a leased E350, but when you pull up in a Ram (and look like you might run over a schwag bag or two), the stage is yours, no question about it.

Drive it with pride. Show it off with pride. When people ask to hop in and feel everything, be kind and be charitable. And let them know who’s the boss.

Or who’s your daddy….