November 12, 2004

New Cincinnati Pride committee elects co-chairs

by Anthony Glassman

Cincinnati--Plans for the 2005 Cincinnati Pride celebration continued during the monthly meeting of the new committee on October 16, with co-chairs being selected for the coming year.

Marti Kwiatkowski, president of PFLAG Cincinnati, and John Pennell, publisher of AllOut magazine, were elected as the co-chairs at the meeting, which drew around 40 people to St. John?s Unitarian Church.

In addition to selecting co-chairs, five subcommittees were formed to organize the event: parade, festival, rally, media and finance.

Organizers estimate that it will take 50 to 75 volunteers to put the parade and festival together, along with $30,000.

?We?re asking everyone who enjoys Pride here in Cincinnati to send a donation for start-up costs,? said David Epplenhill of Clifton Woods Apartments, who have already signed on as sponsors for this year?s event.

?November 2 will determine if it will be a Rally for Equality or a Parade in Celebration,? said Pennell of the upcoming festivities.

The original Pride committee disbanded in September, with members noting that they were burned out and that no new leaders had emerged to take their places.

After the announcement, Harold Keutzer of the Cincinnati GLBT Center organized a meeting to try to re-establish a Pride committee, which is now being run through the auspices of the Cincinnati GLBT Coalition, an organization of representatives from GLBT groups across the area.

The committee meetings are on the third Saturday of each month at noon in St. John?s Unitarian Church, 320 Resor Avenue. More information is available by calling the Cincinnati GBLT Center at 513-5910200, and the group has an email list that can be joined by e-mailing cincycoalitionpride-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.