Pride Guide

Culture Club to kick off Out in Akron this October

By Chris Hixson

Akron-The fourth annual Out in Akron Queer Cultural Festival is taking shape and promises to be bigger and better than ever.

Kicking off this year's festival on Friday, October 6 will be Culture Club, live on stage at the Civic Theatre. This event is being produced by Belkin Productions and the Budweiser Concert Series to benefit Out in Akron.

"We're thrilled to be working with Belkin for the first time," says festival co-chair Sandra Kurt. "Boy George and Culture Club are cultural icons both in the queer community and in the community at large."

The Culture Club show will be held at Akron's Civic Theatre, instead of the Highland, to accommodate the larger audience, although tickets are expected to sell outquickly. Ticket sales begin Friday, July 14 at 10 am, but Out in Akron will release a special block of the 400 best seats in the house at its

booth at Cleveland Pride on June 24. "We want to encourage people to attend Cleveland Pride, and to give the first chance at the great concert seats to these folks, ex-

Trans Pride explores gender issues in open, safe spaces

Akron-Trans Pride is a diverse group of individuals building gender understanding throughout the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and supportive community.

Since the group started at the Akron Pride Center in early 1999, Trans Pride has attracted a very diverse following by offering dynamic programs exploring gender related issues.

All meetings include a format of a potluck dinner followed by a moderated program with interactive discussions. Programs have ranged from "subtle gender traits forged early in life" to "developing a realistic vocal identity" as presented by a voice therapist.

The basic strength of the group is rooted in its operating within the open yet safe space of a GLBT community center.

The group is open to all people interested in gender issues. There are no set membership requirements, nor is there any specific identity limitation. Everyone is encouraged to come to meetings with an open and friendly acceptance of the great diversity within our community

New Cleveland

group meets

Trans Pride is growing while maintaining a strong Akron group. A second dynamic group has been formed at the wonderful new offices of the Cleveland Lesbian-Gay Center.

The Cleveland group had its first meeting on May 26 with a very diverse attendance of 24. A full diversity was represented by transsexuals (M to F and F to M), cross-dressers, gays, lesbians, bisexuals and supporting others.

The Trans Pride meetings are held in Akron at the Pride Center at 7 pm on the third Friday of each month, and in Cleveland at the Lesbian-Gay Community Center at 7 pm on the fourth Friday of each month. Potluck dinners, with entries furnished, precede insightful programs at both locations.

The Pride Center is at 71 North Adams Street, Akron; 330-253-2220. The new Cleveland center is at 6600 Detroit Ave., Cleveland; 216-651-5428.

Akron and Canton groups to march together in parade

by Eric Resnick

It will be easy to find Akron-Canton organizations at this year's Cleveland Pride festival. They will all be sharing booth space or marching in the parade together, eliminating those difficult choices of deciding which groups to march with or support.

The Akron chapter of the National Organization for Women will be selling Pride items at the festival as well as marching in the parade.

In addition to Pride, Akron NOW has a busy summer planned with activities culminating around Women's Equality Day August 26. The group is accepting nominations for its annual Feminist and Chauvinist of the Year awards to be announced that day.

They will be also sending representatives to the National NOW Conference in Miami, June 30-July 2.

Stonewall Akron will march in the Pride parade as it has done every year. Stonewall Akron is most proud of its participation as a sponsor and fiscal agent for Equality Begins at Home 2009, a statewide legislative initiative for GLBT civil rights.

In September, Stonewall Akron will again host its traditional Candidate's Night Out forum, giving candidates for federal and state offices the opportunity to face the GLBT community and the media.

Additionally, Stonewall Akron is the facilitating organization in a federation of organizations and individuals proposing and working to pass civil rights legislation in the city of Akron that is inclusive of GLBT people.

The Akron Pride Center will join Northeast Ohio Visions at a table urging people to join and distributing information. The center will focus on fundraising.

"We have been open a year and a half,” said Tom Beck chair of the Akron Area Pride Collective, which operates the Pride Center. "After the initial donations, they sort of dry up a bit and people need to be reminded why they supported the center in the first place and need to do it again."

The collective is looking forward to Key West Night at the center June 10 and is proud of all other activities that meet at the center, including Trans Pride, which reached out and started similar groups in other communities, Bi Pride, Women's Pride, and Men's Pride.

Having just been honored by the Human Rights Campaign, Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays of Akron will go into the Pride celebration boasting many accomplishments, including speaking engagements at the University of Akron Social Work program and the establishment of a permanent scholarship for GLBT students at the university.

P-FLAG Akron is also proud to have completed training programs in GLBT sensitivity for every Akron city police officer. Similar training for Akron firefighters and emergency medical services are scheduled to begin in the fall.

All these organizations serving the Akron-Canton area and surrounding communities can be visited on the web at http:// www.rainbow-akron.com.

Boy George

plained Susie Davis. "We've pulled the greatest seats in the front orchestra section and will be selling them first-come, first-serve at Cleveland Pride. When they've sold out, you'll have to wait until tickets go on sale to the public on July 14."

Ticket sales at Pride will begin at 3 pm with tickets $36.50, cash only, no service charge, limit six per person.

The Out in Akron Festival Weekend will be October 13 through 15 at Akron's Highland Theatre, same site as in previous years. The Highland is being restored and the festival will be one of the first events in the newly renovated theatre.

As always, most Out in Akron events are free. The Out in Akron weekend celebration will begin on Friday, October 13 with "Queer Shorts 2," a one night festival of new short films.

"We put out a call to filmmakers across North America seeking entries," said film night chair Lori Grant. "We expect to narrow down over 100 entries to the top choices for screening."

The annual Out in Akron Forum will be moved this year to Saturday afternoon and will feature a conversation with Keith Boykin, followed by a panel discussion. Boykin is

author of One More River to Cross: Black and Gay in America, and one of the nation's foremost commentators on issues of race and sexual orientation.

A graduate of Harvard Law School, Boykin was the highest ranking openly gay person in President Clinton's administration. Afterwards, he served as executive director of the National Black Lesbian and Gay Leadership Forum. In this presentation, Keith examines the issues of race and their impact on sexual orientation.

Then, Saturday night, it's Queer Comedy Jam, with several of America's top comics (we can't give away the names quite yet). Admission will be around $10.

Sunday's events will include a 2:30 pm talk on gay artists at the Akron Art Museum, and the return of Cabaret Q at the Highland.

Additional events are in the works, and event details will be announced as they're available. Major support for Out in Akron 2000 is made possible through a grant from the Akron Community Foundation.

"A festival of this scope can be expensive to produce,' ," said treasurer Matthew Frericks. "We're calling on our friends and supporters to help us fund the weekend by becoming festival sponsors. Sponsorship opportunities range from business, foundation and organizational contributions to individual or family sponsorships. It's unheard of for a festival like ours to offer so many events free of charge, but we think it's the right thing to do."

Volunteers play an important role in the planning, too. Out in Akron volunteers serve as "ad getters, bar blitzers, event assistants, ticket takers, ushers, caterers, and T-shirt sellers. In fact, we'll take advantage of everybody who wants to be a part of Out in Akron," laughed Kurt, "whether or not you think you have the skills we need."

The Out in Akron web site will be launching in the next few weeks at www.outinakron.org. It will have full details on the festival, volunteer opportunities, and

more.

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