GAY PEOPLE'S

Chronicle

Ohio's Newspaper for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community www.GayPeoplesChronicle.com

TORN

E OS:

ERIC RESNICK

Members of Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ carry a giant rainbow flag past Cleveland City Hall, another rainbow flag can be seen flying atop the building. Many churches had contingents in the parade.

ERIC RESNICK

The Blazing River Freedom Band leads the parade, joined by members of two other bands.

ERIC RESNICK

Left:

Above:

ROBERT OLAYAS

Darren Mullins of Lodi plays with his friend's dog Poppi on the festival lawn.

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson, right, chats at the festival with Sharon Groh-Wargo and Quentin Jamison of P-FLAG.

Inside This Issue

ح التالية

LAY P LAND

Touring all those forbidden places Page 8

Ohio equality bill hits a snag

Community Groups

Page 2

Charlie's Calendar ........

Resource Directory...........

Classifieds.......

Volume 25, Issue 1 July 3, 2009

Cleveland Pride at 21,

& Stonewall at 40

by Eric Resnick

Cleveland-"Forty years, God!" began the Rev. Don King, in the invocation opening the Cleveland Pride festival.

"The length of time it took your Israelite children to journey from the bonds of slavery to the freedom of the promised land," continued King, the gay pastor of Hope Lutheran Church in Cleveland Heights. "In that same length of time, you emboldened your children, the drag queens to stand up in the Stonewall bar and fight, when military might would have crashed down upon them."

At 21 years, Cleveland Pride had a lot to celebrate-the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, marriage equality in a growing number of states, progress in Ohio, and the opening of Cleveland's domestic partner registry.

Twelve of the 13 Cleveland city councilors who voted for the registry were honored as the parade's grand marshals. Five of them, Joe Cimperman, Brian Cummins, Jay Westbrook, Matt Zone and the openly gay Joe Santiago, marched with a banner behind the Blazing River Freedom Band, joined by members of the Chicago Lakeside Pride band and Flower City Pride Band of Rochester, New York.

The 13 members of council split the cost of having the city health department booth at the

festival where registry applications were distributed.

The band led off with "Hang on Sloopy," followed by the "Gateway March" and "We Are Family," rocking down Lakeside Avenue past City Hall where the Rainbow Pride flag flew all day.

Hundreds of spectators lined the route, some seated on lawn chairs. As the end of the parade passed, many of them joined in.

Waiting among the spectators was Pastor Bill Dunfee of Warsaw, Ohio, the national director of the anti-gay Minutemen United. For the fifth year in a row, he led 14 sign bearers in front of the Free Stamp on Lakeside, berating the marchers through a loudspeaker.

"We're happy they're in Cleveland," Cimperman said. "We hope they spend lots of money here."

As they reached Dunfee's group, the band stopped, pivoted left, and serenaded the perennial demonstrators with "Jesus Loves Me." The loudspeaker fell silent.

At the festival, Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson walked through, greeting people as he has done every year except one since 2005.

A count made near the East 9th Street RTA station showed 2,091 people marched in the parade, up from 1,710 last year, Continued on page 2

Weekend Columbus Pride is largest ever

by Anthony Glassman

Columbus-A change of venue and a different weekend for a trademark event would seem great hardships for most organizations. For Stonewall Columbus, it simply presented the opportunity to make Columbus Pride bigger and better than ever. Traditionally, the Columbus Pride festival takes place in Bicentennial Park, wedged between South Front Street and the Scioto River. The parade steps off from Goodale Park and wends its way through downtown Columbus to the park.

This year, however, the park is under construction, so organizers flipped the route, ending the parade at Goodale after stepping off from the Statehouse. The move to Goodale also required a date change, since ComFest takes place on the fourth weekend in June, the traditional time for Columbus

Pride.

Stonewall Columbus estimates 180,000 people came out to enjoy two days of music on Friday and Saturday, incorpo rating the traditional festival and Rockin' in the Streets, and adding a second stage.

Last-minute would-be ver dors were to be disappointed this year: all the tables were booked well in advance.

Stonewall Columbus executive director Karla Rothan was thrilled with the weekend.

"We had a great two days, she said. "It was very successful at the new venue."

"All reports indicate that everyone wants us to keep it there because they had such a great time," she continued.

Rothan sang the praises of headliner Kat DeLuna, who has performed at the White Party and other LGBT events. "She put on one heckuva Continued on page 2