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GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE MARCH 19, 1993

Pride festival to be on Public Square this year

The board of Cleveland Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Pride has announced that this year's Pride Festival, scheduled for Saturday, June 19, will take place in the northwest quadrant of Public Square from noon until 5 pm. The March will start at 11 am from near Cleveland State University on Euclid Ave., ending'at Public Square.

There will be no admission charge for the festival. To cover expenses, Pride organizers are requesting that the community donate money in advance. Sponsors will receive special "thank you" gifts or recognition, depending on the amount given.

Center Executive Director Leigh Robertson issued the following statement: "There was never a question of the Pride committee meeting at the Center. And for the festival, it was held on the street out front, which is city property. We couldn't tell them 'no.' We did recommend and highly encourage the Pride celebration to happen downtown, but not because it was too confusing at the Center. The space around the Center is small; downtown can accommo-

date many more people. Also, most other pride and ethnic celebrations happen downtown. This is the day we need to be downtown, out, loud and proud in the center of Cleveland on a Saturday afternoon.

"Pride has never been a Lesbian-Gay Community Service Center event; that's not what the staff is for. It's important for the community to know this: we're part of it, we're on the committee, we have a table, but the Center is not responsible for it, nor

is it a legal or fiscal agent for it. Our staff is involved and yes, it is a lot of work put on us, but that's not the reason Pride moved. We have to work no matter where the festival is."

The Pride committee continues to need financial assistance and volunteer help. The next general meeting is set for 7:30 pm on Monday, April 12 at the Chronicle offices, 2206 W. Superior Viaduct. Call 621-5280 for directions or to volunteer.▼

Purchasing a booth will be a separate proCleveland lesbians and gays to be surveyed

cess and not part of a larger sponsorship donation, as in previous years.

In the past the festival had taken place at West 29th and Church Ave., partially in front of the Lesbian-Gay Community Service Center. The Pride board and committee members were told privately in 1991 and 1992 by Center personnel that the festival created a strain on the Center's and Living Room's facilities. The Pride crowd would take advantage of the open doors and congregate inside, using the Center's chairs, phones, bathrooms and supplies.

The Pride committee also had to ensure that private houses and businesses in the blocks around the Center were alerted and not inconvenienced by the festival. It became clear that a new location was needed.

Public Square was chosen because of its easy accessibility, low cost, and because it was a park, not an industrial side street. Board president Nancy Logan said that the board considered how some people may feel more vulnerable or exposed in this downtown location, but that the purpose of Pride was for the lesbian and gay community to be visible. This year's theme is "A Family of Pride.”

In response to criticism leveled at the Center for chasing Pride from its doorstep,

by Martha Pontoni

Cleveland State University and the Gay People's Chronicle are sponsoring a survey of lesbians and gays in Cuyahoga County to confirm demographics and spending styles and compare them to the general population.

A random sample of 500 Chronicle readers will be asked to complete the anonymous survey. The survey will be sent to a randomly-picked group of people from the Chronicle's database, and will cover four

questionnaire they will be asked to give it to a lesbian or gay man they know.

"It is very important that our advertisers know more about our readers, says Chronicle advertising sales manager Patti Harris. "We are really trying to attract bigger, more established advertisers and this will help us tremendously in achieving that goal."

The results will be published in the Chronicle, the Plain Dealer, and Crain's Cleveland Business.

"The importance of this survey cannot be overstated," comments managing editor Kevin Beaney. "We really need this information to continue to grow. We hope that everyone who receives the survey will fill it out and send it back as soon as possible.

major areas: demographics, spending styles. House bans HIV+ immigrants

spending trends and readership responses to advertising. The survey will also include specific questions about each Chronicle department.

The survey is completely anonymous. No names will be asked and no Chronicle employee will see individual completed surveys. A graduate student in marketing at CSU will open and compile the statistics and only totals will be given to the Chronicle to use as marketing information.

This survey is unique in that only lesbians and gays will be asked to fill it out. If someone else from the database receives a

The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly endorsed a ban on HIV-positive immigrants March 11, handing President Clinton his second lopsided defeat on the issue.

"The president has to work with Congress. He can't act unilaterally on issues like this," White House spokeswoman Dee Dee Myers said, indicating the White House was ready to give in, even though Clinton doesn't think immigrants or refugees should be turned away simply because they're infected with HIV.

Last month, the Senate added the ban to a spending bill for the National Institutes of Health.

The White House had indicated that Clinton would not likely veto the legislation.

House-Senate negotiators who will study the AIDS ban in conference will have the leeway to find some middle ground. For instance, negotiators could keep the government's ban in place temporarily while the issue is studied.

YOU DON'T HAVE TO LIFT A FINGER.

It doesn't take any effort at all to just sit back and allow hate-driven, highly motivated and very active people to trample on YOUR basic rights. They did it in Colorado. They did it in Florida. And they're looking at Ohio.

BUT YOU COULD.

With just a little effort, YOU individually could do so much.

YOU

COULD...

show up at the next Pride meeting (April 12th, 7:30 PM), stuff letters, make telephone calls, march at Pride and bring your buddies, stay for the Pride festivities and get caught up by the tremendous energy and pride that fills the air, attend the Pride weekend events, recruit your friends, family, lovers, run errands, share your ideas, talk about it, sell ads, sell booths, buy an ad, buy a booth, send a donation, encourage others to do the same, volunteer behind the scenes, volunteer in the very front, help in pre-planning, help out the during the event, help with post-Pride to make next year even better, list Pride activities in your church bulletin, your group's newsletter, your company's bulletin board, your favorite bookstore, coffee shop, restaurant, hairstylist, bar. Get fired up!

WE'RE FIGHTING FOR OUR FAMILY. WE'RE FIGHTING FOR OUR LIVES.

A FAMILY OF PRIDE PRIDE '93 ▼ PO Box 91031▾ Cleveland, Ohio 44101