AUGUST 5, 1994 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

15

COMMUNITY GROUPS

Pride '94: A community to be thankful for

by Brynna Fish

PRIDE CO-COORDINATOR

It's been eight weeks since our June 11 Community of Pride Sixth Annual Gay-Lesbian-Bisexual Pride celebration in Cleveland, and the "afterglow" still shines. Our committee continues to meet, fundraise, bask and give thanks. Giving thanks is no small task. While our planning committee is diligently writing over 200 personal thank-you letters, we wanted to get a big thanks out to you, our community.

It may sound trite, it may sound corny, but it's true, and bursting with pride-thank you-we could not have done it without you. Now let's get a little more specific. Here's to thanking some dedicated, maybe slightly crazy, folks without whose help, dedication,

loyalty, passion, time or money we could not have pulled off the most successful Cleveland Pride to date.

Our board and committee: Nancy Logan, Jay Ruffner, Sharon Bair, Tim Hilyard, Kevin Jiger, Jerry Knasel, Kimberly Knudsen, Scott Hare, Ray Newborn and Jeff Wobbecke, who died of AIDS just before Pride.

Our vendors: We grew from 43 vendors and organizations to 75 this year. Next year, 100!

ers,

The march: We had over 1,000 march16 floats and many gay-lesbian-bisexual and straight organizations walking in solidarity. This is up from 600 marchers last year. Keep coming!

The voting 'thing,' and what it will bring

by John Nolan

"He's on that voting thing again."

You're right. In fact, I'm stuck on that voting thing. It seems to me to be one of those issues on which we can all agree, i.e., that we have the right and, I believe, the responsibility to vote. And we need to do it in greater numbers and with greater information than we have in the past.

My interest in the voting thing can be divided into categories. One would be information about candidates. Voting records, comments made by them, appearances, supportive legislation, etc.

are all pieces of this aspect of voting. If we are able to see what a candidate has said in

the past, and

will in the future, continue to survey the candidates on their views on issues of concern to our community. If you have some ideas on what those issues should be, I invite you to attend a meeting of Stonewall Cleveland (the first and third Mondays of the month at 7:00 pm at the Archwood United Church of Christ, 2800 Archwood Avenue in Cleveland) and share those ideas with us--and help us conduct the surveys, if you're really interested.

I suspect that, in the future, we'll also be developing some kind of list of people by ward or district so that, when we need to contact a politician we can ask his or her constituents to

STONEWAL

CLEVELAND

A lesbian gay political organization of Northeastern Ohio

compare that with what the candidate has actually done, then we might begin to get an idea of who really supports us. This kind of information is not always easy to gather, but I don't think that should deter us from trying.

Another aspect of voting is the breakdown by district, i.e., who represents each of us. Cleveland city council president Jay Westbrook, for example, is one of those politicians who is fortunate to have many lesbian, gay and bisexual constituents. It shouldn't be hard to find a good number of people in Westbrook's ward who can keep in touch with his office on a regular basis. Other elected officials represent districts where the number of lesbian, gay and bisexual residents may not be as great. It will take more work to identify people in those wards or districts. But, again, that shouldn't deter us from finding those folks and getting them in touch with the politicians so that they come to recognize us as an important part of their constituency.

Now, all of the information can be given to all of the people in each voting district and, if those people don't actually vote, it won't accomplish much. So we're back to that question, "How do we get the lesbian, gay, and bisexual vote out in every election?" I still believe that personal accountability to one other person will be a big help. By agreeing to accompany another person to the polls, we guarantee that both people vote. I really think that, as a community, we're on to something with this idea. Further support from businesses and other organizations will serve to reinforce this attitude in the community: We vote!

Stonewall Cleveland has in the past, and

help

make that contact for us, since politicians are more likely to listen to their own constituency. During that

process I hope that volunteers will identify themselves and offer to help with these contacts. I think that it will allow people to get involved, initially, in a somewhat limited way, and will enable politicians to recognize that we are an important part of every constituency. Think about it and, when we're at the point where we're looking for residents of this or that district, I hope you'll consider helping out with this effort,

In the meantime, we will continue to work on the process of developing our community attitude: We vote! Again, if you have suggestions on how to better get the message out, I'd be happy to hear them. If your business or organization would be willing to include this voter drive as part of its agenda, we'd appreciate the help. This could be as simple as a short article in your newsletter which encourages people to make their vote count on election day, or handing out flyers reminding your group members to get to the polls.

The early stages of this work may be frustratingly slow, and will definitely not provide immediate, recognizable results, but I think that developing the habit of voting will eventually make an enormous difference in how our community feels about itself. It will improve our access to political power, and how we are viewed by others as they recognize our voting strength. Ultimately, we'll pass laws and elect politicians that support our rights. Not a bad payoff, for a relatively small investment of our time and energy!

I'll ask once more for your suggestions and help on this "voting thing." I think we all benefit from cooperating on this kind of issue. And, as always, I thank you for reading this far.

adolecents an • parenting

Becky Streem

LISW, CCDC III 953-8809

en McGee & Associates, Inc.

Chardon Road Suite 102

bby Hills, Ohio 44094

The festival: Again, our attendance was up to over 2,500 people, we ran two stages for the first time, had over 35 speakers or acts on stage, dancing, and had to send folks home when we ended.

Volunteers: We recruited over 170 volunteers for the day of the event and could not have done it without the help of Traci Sorensen and Patti Harris. Hats off to all you who pitched in a few hours of your time. Proud

sponsors: We rely on a small group of

you to make direct contributions to Pride annually.

MUNITY

Anti-discrimination support statement: The work of this year's Pride committee accomplished an amazing thing. We pulled together a remarkable group of gay and straight community leaders to make a strong anti-discrimination support statement in light of our celebration being the same weekend as a Billy Graham crusade. We also invited Graham or a representative to speak at Pride or meet with us, but guess what, they declined.

pride 94

CLEVELAND'S 6TH ANNUAL

LESBIAN GAY BISEXUAL MARCH & FESTIVAL

We're thrilled to have received our 501-c-3 tax exempt status just a few months ago. Thanks to all who sent us checks. If you'd like to still contribute, we're happy to accept. Checks, payable to Pride, Inc., can be sent to P.O. Box 91031, Cleveland, OH 44101.

Bar nights: Our fundraising efforts began many months before Pride, and will continue throughout the year as we pay off our 1994 bills (only $1,500 to go) and begin filling our coffers for next year. Heartfelt thanks to Sue Steele and Sue Ballard of the Metronome for sponsoring not one, not two, but three bar nights raising over $1,000!

Nightsweats and T-cells: If you have T-shirts to print, please consider giving Gil and Mike your business. These guys created a fantastic shirt for us this year and we sold out of our first order even before Pride. We're just about sold out of our second order so if you want one give us a call at the Pride line 595-8788.

We collected over 20 signatures from representatives of civic, political and religious

groups. We're still collecting signatures. If your group wants to sign, please call the Pride Line. [The letter is in this issue's Community Forum.]

The Gay People's Chronicle and Alice Paul Printers: Our community enjoys a twice-monthly publication that holds us together, celebrates every aspect of our community, keeps us informed, entertained, educated, alert and proud. Please support this newspaper because they support us and Pride! Great "Pride Guide" this year! Wait till you see what we have in store for next year.

Pride '95: Watch for a date announcement soon. We're already getting requests from vendors and entertainment. But, we need your help. We are currently expanding our board and committee. Call to get involved! It's a simple matter of Pride.

And, once again, from our overjoyed and very proud hearts-thank you for being a community of Pride! ♡

PRIDE RIDE

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