Duo brings titillating tunes

to the Cleveland Pride stage

Cleveland The Murmurs, musical duo of Leisha Hailey, 27, and Heather Grody, 26, will bring their sweat-inducing and titillating tunes to the Cleveland Pride Festival main stage June 19.

They will perform songs from their sterling and brilliant new release Blender, as well as some favorite tracks from last year's Pristine Smut-produced by Hailey's girlfriend of two years, k.d. lang.

Among the new tracks are

"Smash," which they co-wrote with Charlotte Caffey and Jane Wiedlin of the Go-Gos, and "Misfit," which they wrote with Matthew Wilder of the alternative pop band No Doubt.

Writing with Caffey and Wiedlin was a real kick, Hailey and Grody said.

"They were huge pop stars when we were teenagers," Grody said.

Hailey agreed, "We were nervous, but then we saw that the way they interact with each other was just like me and Heather. It was exciting and surreal, and we learned so much."

Grody says being openly gay has never hurt the band commercially. But she also thinks that label is beginning to fade a bit as people look beyond their sexuality and more towards their music.

"I think it's so important for young gay people to see, a band that's made up of people who are like them, and to see that being openly gay is not an issue any more. In our individual, personal lives it may have been at one point, but it's not at all for either of us now," she adds. "It's good

The Grade 1 and Leisha Hailey

that we are out of the closet. In a way, we are role models for young gays and lesbians."

The Murmurs will appear at the Cleveland Pride Festival; see their center spread, pages B-15 to B-18, for time. ♡

Condensed by Doreen Cudnik from previously published material by Chronicle contributing writer Jeffrey L. Newman, and Murmurs press materials.

Corporate Pride sponsors grow to record numbers

by Michael H. Flickinger

Cleveland-This year was a record-setting one for corporate sponsorship growth at Cleveland Pride.

Fourteen new sponsors have joined ten returning from last year to set an all-time record of 24 sponsors at three levels.

At the Gold level, American Express Financial Services, Ameritech and Suburu continue their support of the event. American Express Financial Services is managed locally by Tim Jenkins and Toby Oster. Ameritech continues their support with their employee group GLEAM, while Subaru returns as the official automotive sponsor.

Newcomers for 1999 include GayCleveland.com, Lakewood Hospital, Coors beer and the movie South Park. GayCleveland.com is a new community based web site started by community leaders Sheri Morabito and John Farina, while Lakewood Hospital extends its involvement in the community as the exclusive hospital sponsor of the event. Coors is the exclusive beer sponsor of the event, while South Park, The Movie says that that it is "Bigger, better and longer."

Why Coors?

Many people have asked: Why would Cleveland Pride include Coors as a sponsor? As the corporate sponsor chair, I too initially asked that question.

Pride coordinators from both coasts recently demanded that all Pride celebrations avoid Coors. They said that Coors was antigay. I don't know about you, but when somebody tells me to do something, I like to check it out for myself and make my own decisions.

What I found was quite different from what was said. Yes, the Coors of ten years ago was not the ideal gay-friendly company. But the Coors of today has made significant progress.

I found that Coors is the first and still one of the few brewing companies to offer domestic partner benefits to its employees. Coors employees have a GLBT employee

association and the company includes sexual orientation in its nondiscrimination policy. Coors at both the local and national level has made a commitment to gay events and charities. The GIFT bowling tournament's cruise on Lake Erie and Cleveland Pride are two events supported by Coors.

Is Coors perfect? The answer is no, few companies are. However, Coors has made a commitment to our gay community and specifically to local Cleveland events.

So the next time someone tells you to avoid a company because of their anti-gay policies, you might want to dig a little deeper or ask a few questions. And the next time you down a glass of any other beer, you might want to ask if they are following the lead of Coors and offering domestic partner benefits.

Silver sponsors for Cleveland Pride 1999 include the Confidential Connection dating service, the Gay People's Chronicle; the Human Rights Campaign, United Airlines; the Grid, Code Blue, and 5¢ Decision nightclubs; and Wet International.

Bronze sponsors include Roche Labs, Real Estate Mortgage Corp. (Tom Rankin), the Cleveland State University Gay, Lesbian and Straight Alliance, Cleveland council members Joe Cimperman and Nelson Cintron, the Western Reserve Association of the United Church of Christ, Alice Paul Printers, Kevin McDermott and Freelance Design. What a diverse group of sponsors! From international to local, a start-up web site to an established hospital, from a dating service to a division of a major church, from the powers to lend you money for your house to the powers to run our city.

It is these sponsors that allow Cleveland Pride to grow and fund the entertainment for the event. These sponsors are making a com-

mitment to our community. They truly are showing their "Peace Love and Pride." Please consider them when making your purchasing decisions. ♡

Michael H Flickinger is the Cleveland Pride corporate sponsor chair

Pride Guide 1999 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

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