GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE JUNE 19, 1998

EVENINGS OUT

Imagine Pride as a citywide event, like St. Patrick's Day

The heads of Cleveland Pride '98 share their thoughts on ten years of festivals, and the future

by Stephen Lux

Cleveland-On a recent sunny Saturday afternoon, I sat down with Brynna Fish and Brooke Willis, co-coordinators of Cleveland Pride '98, to gather some of their thoughts about this year's Pride parade and festival.

Willis came to Cleveland 19 years ago from Wilmington, Delaware. He is as editor in the Center for Business Knowledge for Ernst and

Brynna Fish

Young, and does volunteer work for several AIDS service organizations. He makes his home in the Tremont neighborhood.

Fish came to Cleveland from Youngstown 19 years ago to work as a youth director for a Jewish youth organization. Presently, she runs a family violence program for the Jewish Family Service Association and teaches religious school in a Reform synagogue. An active member of the lesbian and gay congregation Chevrei Tikva, Fish lives in Cleveland Heights with her 13-year-old son.

The following is some of what they had to say on the tenth anniversary of Cleveland Pride, and their vision for the future.

Stephen Lux: What does Pride mean to you?

Brooke Willis: A wonderful big huge annual celebration of everything that we are and every part of our community: gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, whatever. So everyone is included, at least on one day of the year, and can party together and celebrate our diversity together.

Brynna Fish: I think Pride is an amazing symphony. Because if there is one thing universal about our community, it is that we all somehow feel passionately about our sense of self. It is so much more than our sexuality, but there is something common about our sense of selves in being identified as gay, lesbian, bi, or transgendered.

At Pride, somehow, all of those differences can come together to create a day that is like one great huge song. You know, you have the vendors, the marchers, the people that are entertaining, the volunteers and the participants. And each group is like a separate movement or section of this huge symphony or song we create just by coming together.

How long have you both been involved in Pride, and in what capacities?

Willis: This is my second year as a cocoordinator. Before that I volunteered in two Prides. So, this will be my fourth year.

Fish: This is my fourth year as a coordinator. I have been involved with Pride on and off since its inception in Cleveland. I began with Pride when Oven Productions was handling the entertainment stage in the first few years, and then volunteered until I became a coordinator.

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What makes this year's Pride stand out most in your mind?

Willis: Mostly that this is our tenth year. We expect this year to be really big and really successful. Because of how long I have been out, ten years seems like a childhood. But for cities of this size, that is really an accomplishment, really a long time.

Fish: I think the anniversary also stands out in my mind. But also, sort of like a chemistry or physics project, the anniversary combined with the growth we have be seeing. From less than 1,000 we grew to about 2,000 people on Public Square four years ago, then we went to 2,500, then we doubled to 5,000 and then got up even higher than that last year. This year we are expecting between 7,500 and 10,000 attendees.

How do you envision Pride five years from now? And ten years from now?

Willis: Five years from now, they are not going to have a park to hold us. We are going to be all over the downtown area. Every street, every comer. It will be a huge festival.

Fish: I think that five years from now, I'd like to see this be a place that feels safer for more gay and lesbian people to come to, and I hope that as society's attitudes are evolving, this dream can come true and that more straight people help make it safer by standing up with and for us.

Not only do we see more of the GLBT community present, but that we see more of our family members, co-workers, and friends so that it really becomes a celebration of diversity that is not just attended by primarily the GLBT community.

In ten years, I would love to see it like something like San Francisco or Toronto, where it is an entire weekend of many different organized events that go on throughout the city. And they will definitely need to expand the waterfront for us!

Also, five years from now or sooner, I want to see the entire city of Cleveland lined up along Euclid Avenue to watch us march.

What's it going to take to meet your vision of the 'ideal' pride ?

Willis: I think its going to take people feeling safer in their lives, and not just at Pride. I think its going to take legislation. Hopefully, ENDA [the federal gay and lesbian Employment Non-Discrimination Act] can be enacted. And when people start to feel welcome in their families, and their businesses, and their churches and synagogues; that people will want to come down and celebrate with us.

There are things like Breast Cancer Awareness Month, National Women's History Month, African-American History Month; there's things like that the whole community draws attention to. I hope Pride can be like that. That it can become something that is an integral part of the community. But it's going to take people to do that work.

Tell me about how you plan to involve the community more in Pride.

Willis: It's a big job to communicate with the allies of our community, and help them realize that they are a part of our community as well. Whether it is the businesses we patronize, our families, or the schools we attend. I think it is a matter of communicating with people and places that we already interact with on a daily basis and help them to understand that this is not a festival exclusively for the GLBT community.

Fish: We are doing a couple of things differently this year and I think they will help us to grow. We sent an outreach letter to 150 GLBT and straight churches or synagogues, and businesses.

We are constantly reminding them that we are here, and that we exist. There has also been a concerted effort to contact and follow up with key organizations to make sure they understand how important we feel their participation is. And the corporate outreach has also been much more intense this year.

I think the corporate community lending its support to us tells not just Pride and the GLBT community, but more importantly the straight community, that this effort is an effort worth spending money and energy on.

Brooke Willis

DOREEN CUDNIK

We have sponsorships from folks like Ameritech, United Airlines, Roche Laboratories, Subaru, among others, all saying that they want their name associated with our event, because it is the right thing to do.

What have you gained or taken away personally from your involvement in Pride?

Willis: By doing this work, I have been able to become more comfortable in my abilities as a communicator; doing things like public speaking, interacting with the media, asking for things over the phone, negotiating. It makes me more comfortable with myself at work, in my church, and I can use these skills in other places. And also, just knowing I am helping build up a sense of community in Cleveland, that makes me really proud.

Fish: I get incredible gratification knowing the work I do behind the scenes helps in holding the largest event that brings all of the elements of the GLBT community together: gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, young, old.

The other thing for me, I am a real kind of a get-the-job-done person. It has been real gratifying to me to work with people that remind me that I should have fun doing what I am doing, and take the time to get to know the people I am working with. I have met some wonderful, amazing people that I would never have had the opportunity to meet before.

I think maybe the thing that puts it all into perspective is when I am just living my life out in the community, people I don't even know walk up to me and say things like, "Wow, I'm really looking forward to Pride!" or "That was a great festival this year." To recognize the impact that this event can have on individual lives just makes this worthwhile.

How can others get involved?

Willis: Start decorating a flatbed truck, make signs about your organization, or build a float that relates to your group, put together a fun costume. We really are emphasizing the parade this year. We really want it to be as large as possible this year.

Be there at Cleveland State University at noon, with as many friends, relatives, and groups you can muster.

We also need people to sign up to work two-hour shifts the day of the event, selling T-shirts, pop, hats, helping with set-up and clean-up, moving tables and chairs, and manning the donations booths at the gate.

Fish: For people who are reading this and thinking, "Oh, boring stupid article about Pride and I'm not going to volunteer," I would ask you to come, and make sure you bring every person you know. Talk to your friends, family members, and co-workers, and make sure everyone you know is coming. Have an open-mind about it, because it is definitely a phenomenal day. And bring your suntan lotion!

Stephen Lux is a member of the Cleveland Pride Committee.