Pride Guide 2002 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

C-7

Volunteering at Pride has hooked this straight girl

by Joni Schoneman

Cleveland-About a year ago I got an e-mail. I had just moved to the area and was trying to figure out how to make some new friends. A friend from Florida did some research and found out when Cleveland's Pride festival was and e-mailed me with the message "Volunteer. It's a good way to meet people." So I did.

I e-mailed the volunteer coordinator and with a phone call I was signed up. The day of Pride I showed up and waited to see what I was to do. Who knew what that day would hold for me? There I was, a single straight girl at an LGBT festival. Okay, so I obviously was not there to pick up men. (There were a lot of cute ones there, though.)

I got my assignment: Vender check-in. I had pretty much no clue what to do. I was given some instructions and left to fend for myself with a walkie-talkie to use if I needed help. My inner instinct took over and I took charge of the situation. I am sure that it was not done perfectly well but with some help from the voices in my ear things went pretty smooth. The rest of the day I did various jobs. I was supposed to be there from 8:30 in the morning until about 4 pm. I finally got home at about 1:30 in the morning.

I was having so much fun and meeting so many interesting people that I didn't want to leave. I was in it for the long haul. After that one day I knew that I was hooked and wanted to do as much as I could throughout the year. I started attending meetings and next thing I knew I was nominated to be a board member. I looked at it as a pleasure. I accepted the nomination and was voted onto the board.

I am quite proud to be the only straight chick on the board. I've met and worked with so many amazing people and made some great friends, all while doing something that I believe in. I talk about Pride constantly. It's

funny because I work in the most conservative office, all Republican and all homophobic. They constantly ask me why "the gays" think that they deserve "special" treatment. I tell them that they want equal treatment. I enjoy educating the people in my office to the realities of the community. I may never

I work in the most conservative office, all Republican and all homophobic.

get them to think the same way that I do but

I think that I am making progress.

This year's theme is one that I can relate to. "Think outside the triangle." I think that's what the board did when they asked me to be a part of their world. When I am at the festival and at the meetings I feel like I belong. I may not be a lesbian or bisexual but they don't look at me as the "straight girl." They look at me as another person. I can only hope that someday the world will look at the LGBT community the same. If you told me a year ago that with a simple e-mail my world would be expanded and that I would become a part of a wonderful community I may not have believed you. But now that I am here I like the way it feels. Sometimes thinking outside the triangle means looking past a person's sexuality and seeing who they really are.

Just a thought... from outside the triangle.

Joni Schoneman is a board member of Cleveland Lesbian-Gay-Bi-Trans Pride, Inc.

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