PRIDE GUIDE 1996 GAY PEOPLE's ChronICLE B-15

Toledo to be Decked Out, Stepping Out, and Cooking Out

June will be an exciting month in Toledo. Gays and lesbians will be Decked Out, Stepping Out and Cooking Out.

Saturday, June 1 will kick off Toledo Pride month with a "Decked Out" dinner and dance aboard the Willis B. Boyer to raise funds for Gays and Lesbians United. The Boyer is a retired lake freighter museum moored in International Park, and offers a panormaic view of the Toledo skyline and bridges. It can accommodate over 1,000 people, so there's plenty of room for dining, dancing, and strolling.

Captain's tickets include a sit-down dinner, tours, and dancing from 6:30 pm to midnight and are $75 in advance. Boarding passes include dancing from 8:00 pm to midnight and are $15 in advance, $20 at the gangplank.

The dinner coincides with Toledo's Olde West End festival June 1 and 2. The Olde West End is a gay-friendly neighborhood, that offers an eclectic collection of restored homes and architectural designs from the 1890s to the 1940s.

March and picnic June 22

Toledo's pride march will be on Saturday, June 22, gathering at 11:30 am at the Lucas County Court House, Adams and Ontario, in downtown Toledo. The march steps off at noon. Bring your organization's banner or come early to make your own on the court house green, beginning at 10:30 am.

A van will be available for those who want to participate in the Pride March without walking. Grand Marshal Pam Jackson from Findlay will lead the marchers over Martin Luther King Jr. Bridge to the rally at International Park, where a slate of younger and older community personalities will give speeches and play music.

After the rally, the pride marchers will make their way via automobile to the lawn of the Good Samaritan Parish Metropolitan

Community Church, 720 W. Delaware in the Old West End, for the cook-out co-sponsored by Dignity Toledo, beginning around 2:00 pm. Bring a dish to share.

Pastor Elaine Thomas of MCC welcomes any gay-friendly organization to put up a table with membership information on the lawn.

Other co-sponsors of Toledo's second annual Pride Day are Gaysand Lesbians United (GLU), Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (P-FLAG-Toledo), the Lesbian and Gay Alliance (LAGA) at Bowling Green State University, and the GayLesbian Student Union (GLSU) at the University of Toledo.

Come out and make Pride '96 a day to remember for all of Northwest Ohio! For more information about Stepping Out, call the information line at 419-874-1809.

Pride events at Tallulah's

Tallulah's, a women's specialty shop in Toledo, also has events lined up for Pride month.

On Saturday, June 8, Sara Lovell will perform in concert at 7:30 p.m. Lovell is a singer-songwriter who spent much of her childhood and young adulthood in Toledo. Currently living in San Francisco, she's coming back to perform for one night at the Tallulah Community Center.

Having recently released two independently-produced CDs, Calling and Solo, Lovell is carrying the tradition of women songwriters from Carole King and Joni Mitchell to Kate Bush and Jane Siberry. She will be performing solo, so come join her for an intimate evening celebrating heart and soul. Advance tickets are $6 and available at Tallulah's. Door price will be $8. CDs and cassettes will be available for sale at the show and also at Tallulah's.

The Tallulah Community Center Board of Advisors is sponsoring a fundraising euchre

Grand Marshal Michael Johnson, Toledo's three-time gold medal winner in the 1994 Gay Games, leads Toledo's first gay and lesbian Pride March last year followed by officers of the University of Toledo Gay and Lesbian Student Union.

Dr. Pam Allen-Thompson, author, activist, and cochair of Toledo's second annual Pride March, speaks at Toledo's first rally, in front of Government Center.

'party on Saturday, June 15, beginning at 7:00 p.m. in the center. The $6 per person entry fee includes all the euchre you can play and plenty of munchies and non-alcoholic beverages. Prizes will be awarded to the top teams. To compete, you must register (alone or by teams) by Thursday, June 13 at the store. The first 16 teams registered will qualify to play.

A women's coffee house will take place on Thursday, June 20 at 7:30 p.m. This is a

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monthly informal social gathering to talk, laugh, meet new friends, and have fun! Light refreshments are served at this free event.

Tallulah's is located at 6725 West Central Ave., in Somerset Plaza at McCord Rd., just west of U.S. 23 and I-475. The Tallulah Community Center is in the theater space of the Somerset Plaza. Call 419-843-7707 for more information.

Toledo Stepping Out

Toledo Pride Parade, June 22, 1996

11:30 Lucas County Court House Lawn

Keynoter: City Councilman Jack Ford Grand Marshall: Activist Pam Jackson

Toledo Cooking Out

2:00 Good Samaritan Parish Metropolitan Community Church Bring a dish to share

Pride Day CoChairs: Michael Barthold, Pam Allen-Thompson, Di Allen-Thompson

Sponsoring Organizations: Gays/Lesbians United (GLU), PFLAG-Toledo (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays),: Gay and Lesbian Student Union, University of Toledo (GLSU), Lesbian and Gay Alliance, Bowling Green State University (LAGA), Good Samaritan Parish Metropolitan Community Church (GSP MCC), Dignity-Toledo, John Domrose Foundation.

info line 419/874-1809