February 16, 2001 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE 7
communitygroups
McClarty to be keynoter at Cincinnati Pride rally
by Ken Colegrove
Cincinnati-The 2001 Cincinnati GLBT Pride Parade Committee is pleased to announce that the keynote speaker at this year's Cincinnati Pride rally on June 10 will be Scott McClarty.
A former Cincinnati resident, McClarty was a long-time gay civil rights activist in
this city. He currently resides in Washington D.C., where he remains politically active. Other rally speakers will be announced in next month's column, so stay tuned.
We are also pleased to announce that this year the rally will be interpreted for the hearing impaired by Chris Owens, who is donating his time and talent to the event.
Our next committee meeting will be on
Akron Pride Center has its first Rainbow Prom
Akron-Every year, thousands of young gay men and lesbians give in to societal pressures and, despite their own wishes, take a member of the opposite sex to their high school proms.
On Saturday, March 31 at the Oakes Lodge in Chippewa Lake in Medina
by Vicki Lantz. The photographs will be taken between 5:30 and 6:30 pm.
The prom will begin at 5:30, with seating for dinner at 6:30. Entree choices are filet mignon, chicken
AAPC
County, we will finally get Akron Area pride Collective to take who we want to the
prom!
The evening will have all the trappings of traditional proms, from a sumptuous meal to prom photographs and dancing.
Music will be provided by Joe-N-Paul of Y2K-araoke and prom portraits will be done
speakout
Continued from facing page outright condemnation of gays in many black churches has an untold impact on black gay men.
The church has long been one of the strongest influences on black life-sustaining African Americans socially, culturally, politically and spiritually through a history of slavery, oppression and racism. And while some black ministers have bravely taken up the battle of HIV and AIDS for black gay men, their numbers are still too small.
In other instances, even when AIDS is mentioned, the gay factor is left unspoken, purposely leaving people to believe that the problem of AIDS in the black community is solely related to things like drug use a social ill that can be more easily linked to the history of racial inequity in America. For too many African Americans, homosexuality remains a shame that is just not spoken.
"I used to think that when we got a critical number of dead bodies, we'd finally wake up," said black AIDS activist Ronald Johnson during a recent panel discussion
•
bartolucci, broiled shrimp scampi or pasta primavera. Seating is limited.
Please RSVP by March 1. Tickets are $40 per person and are available from prom committee members: Gerry at 330-724-9817, Joni at 330-297-6226 and Marnay at 330-785-2064. Tickets will also be available through the Cleveland Lesbian-Gay Center, 216-651-5428. ✓
about how, the African American community deals with infected black gay men. "But we're still in denial."
May gay men and lesbians are tempted to stop here, and say that black gays and lesbians themselves must battle homophobia in their own communities.
It's fair to say that black gays and lesbians have far greater hope of making an impact there than do white gays and lesbi-
ans.
However, one element that cannot be overlooked when considering the incredible disparity in the number of infected black gay men vs. white gay men is the continuing struggle within the gay community over racism. Blacks and other minorities have long felt, and continue to feel, largely left out of the movement for gay and lesbian civil rights.
We must ask why the messages of safer sex and better health care that have worked so well in saving the lives of white gay men have not reached our black gay brothers. To continue to ignore that stark reality is a denial none of us-black or white-can afford to live with.
Mubarak Dahir lives in New York City. He can be e-mailed at MubarakDah @aol.com.
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Sunday March 4. Meetings are held at Cfazy Ladies Center, located at the corner of Hamilton Avenue and Blue Rock Road in Northside. All are welcome to attend. We are currently looking for volunteers to help with both the parade and festival subcommittees. Although we have been planning the event for several months, there is still much work to be done, with many opportunities available for those who want to be involved. And if you are unable to attend but would still like to be involved with Pride 2001, then contact the committee and we will be glad to respond.
The committee (so far) consists of Dale Arant, Michael Chanak, Jenn Cunningham, Darryl Dravland; Jason Dul, Cynthia Jeffries, Paula Ison, Erica Riddick, José Pedro, Don Wetterer, Kerry Wickstrom, Peter and Elaine St. John-Lagenaur, Jared Thompson, Kristen Demaline, Cathy Sarky, Terri Telesz, Marsha Friedhoff, Chris Owens and Scott Hunter.
Dr. John Maddux and Todd Kamm are coordinating the rally, Kelly Gorth is coordinating the parade, and Dale Allen and Don Wetterer are coordinating the festival and live broadcast on WAIF 88.3 FM. Ken Colegrove is the organizer.
The committee would like to thank everyone who attended our Valentines Day fundraiser at the Dock! Joan and Darlene were spectacular as always, while raising money to help fund this year's parade and festival. Also that night, the new 2001 GLBT Pride tees were put on sale for the first time, and many of you took the opportunity to purchase the shirt. We want to express our appreciation to Elaine St. John-Lagenaur who designed the shirt, as well as our new poster which will soon be seen all over Cincinnati.
Not Feeling Yourself?
The committee also has other fund-raisers in the works. The next one will be at Bullfishes, located at 4023 Hamilton Avenue, and will be in the form of a pool tournament. There will be a five dollar fee to enter the tournament, and the winner will receive one third of the money collected, with two thirds going toward the Pride Parade and Festival. The tournament takes place on Sunday March 4 at 4 p.m. Thanks to Donna for her support! We also have a fund-raiser scheduled for Saturday April 7 at the Serpent in the form of a slave auction. Details will be available soon, so check our web site often, and mark your calendar for this event!
You can now download an application for your parade float by visiting our web site at www.cincypride.com. Soon you will be able to do the same to obtain booth or table space at the festival. And if you are not "online" you can contact the committee by telephone, at 513-766-2008 extension 2098, or 513-241-7003. Our address is 231 West 4th Street #816A, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202. The e-mail address for general information is info@cincypride.com.
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