Q-Seattle Events: Tacky Tourist Clubs

A couple of significant Pride Week news bits have come along while your webwrangler was off doing other things.

SOAP fundraiser
SOAP, the producers of the downtown parade, will hold a Halloween-night fundraiser called Pajama Party at the W Hotel [get directions] on October 31 from 7pm until midnight. Suggested donation at the door is $15. Proceeds benefit SOAP and the BRA Show for Breast Cancer Awareness.

The party will include a no-host bar, complementary appetizers, music for dancing, and an informal fashion event for men and women that will include the W Hotel's own loungewear line as well as bra's from Seattle's own BRA Show, and bras designed by Seattle local designers including Le Mare, Jessica Lovelace, Zombie Hearts, Cintli, and Lisa Doran.

And there's likely to be fascinating fashion from the crowd because a prize will be awarded to the attendee sporting the most creative PJs.

SOAP seeks Pride Parade theme suggestions
The official theme of the 2007 SOAP parade was -- somewhat wistfully -- "Come Together". They're now seeking suggestions from folks in the community about what their parade theme should be for 2008. Deadline for suggestions is January 1. The person submitting the theme chosen by SOAP's board will win a one-night stay at Seattle's Hotel Monaco.

Email your suggestions to info[at]seattlepride.or snail-mail them to 1605 12th Ave, Suite 2, Seattle WA 98122, Attn: Theme 2008. Include name, mailing address, and phone number with your suggestion.

SOAP seeks board members
SOAP is looking for board members to help guide the organization. Send an email to the same address if you think you have what it takes to perform what's often a thankless job. And, hey, you might be able to help choose the theme that way. But this is not for the feint of heart. Applicants should be willing to work tirelessly on next year's downtown parade and be willing to suffer criticism from some among us who might not SOAP's mission an entirely admirable one.

New non-profit for Seattle Center Pride festival
Egan Orion of OneDegree Events last year pulled on one of the most remarkable feats of event production ever seen when he and his staff pulled together a major Pride Sunday festival at Seattle Center, after others had proved incapable of meeting that considerable challenge.

Although there are few details yet, Orion announced in an email to the OneDegree mailing list that a 501(c)3 [i.e. tax exempt] non-profit will be formed to oversee future iterations of the festival. He promises more details real soon now.

Labels: fundraisers, gay pride, Gay Seattle, org:SOAP, Seattle Pride

Just to catch up on what other folks were saying before and after the Pride week festivities...

The lede of the PI story by Keri Murakami on yesterday's parade focused on a Japanese tourist who unexpectedly got caught up in the big crowds:

But in the Seattle Pride Parade's second year downtown, there were those, like Yui Igarashi, who planned to spend the day shopping, but instead ran into parade crowds.

She was at the corner of Fourth and Pine holding her digital camera up, trying to shoot over the two tall men in front of her.

Retreating to change memory cards on her camera, she said, "It's very live."

Igarashi, who is visiting from Japan, had never seen a gay pride parade in her home country. "It's very open," she said, as peacock feathers from the headdresses of a few men in the parade peeked over the crowd.

The Times story by Marsha King called the parade "dazzling celebration of Seattle's gay and lesbian culture."

In advance of the weekend, the PI ran a couple of stories about Seattle's gay history, including a remarkable column by the paper's cranky columnist, Joel Connelly. He recounts his return from a trip in 1978 to find a headline that would often be repeated in the years to come.

A headline across the top of the Seattle P-I front page carried big news: Seattle had just become the first town in America to vote AGAINST a bid to repeal its city ordinance prohibiting discrimination against gays and lesbians.

Anita Bryant and her ilk were turned back by a civic campaign, chaired by Mayor Charley Royer's then-wife Rosanne, arguing the right to privacy.

The remarkable vote, in what was then called the Queen City, was driven home as I dragged my duffel bag through customs in San Francisco. Supervisor Dianne Feinstein was on TV announcing that Mayor George Moscone and gay fellow supervisor Harvey Milk had been murdered.

The 1978 campaign that defeated the anti-gay initiative was probably unknown to most who celebrated here the anniversary of the Stonewall protests in New York, but it was Seattle's own Stonewall.

Connelly does a great job of tracing the political and social tolerance in the city that was both given its birth by that initiative fight and reflected in the outcome.

PI reporter Keri Murakami traces the history of the Double Header, the Seattle bar that was in many ways like New York's Stonewall except that its customers never attracted the kind of raid that would lead to the Stonewall protests.

Seattle University professor Gary Atkins wrote in a 2003 history of gays in Seattle, "For the next three decades, one gay man or woman after another would find that all-important staircase on Washington Street, go down into the underground, and begin the process of both coming out and finding a new family."

And gradually, the scene moved upstairs to the Double Header.

Rose Bohanan, who is quoted in Atkins' book, recalled that she hadn't been to the Double Header for years. Now 66, she said she was a teenage runaway when she came across the Double Header in the '50s.

"For a 17-year-old, it was heaven on Earth. Finally finding people like me, and finding out I wasn't the only one," she said in an interview. "I was a street child, and the drag queens took me in. They taught me how to behave, not to be a fool."

There were fights in the bar, she said, because sailors would come in to harass the drag queens, but, she said, "There's nothing like an angry drag queen. I've seen some sailors dragged out with a high heel embedded in them."

That was a long time ago, but friend-of-The-Stranger and YouTube star Chris Crocker sent Seattle a greeting to remind us that it's not so different than what folks elsewhere deal with today.

Another such reminder from the experience of Seattle Men's Chorus who tried to do edgy posters for their annual Pride Week concert over the weekend. But edgey turned out to be offensive to several merchants who demanded that the Chorus censor its poster promoting the concert.

The promotional material for this weekend's concert at McCaw Hall, for example, features two protesters hoisting picket signs that proclaim: "God hates fags" and "You're going to hell."

Coleman's intent was one of humor, a spoof of the very religion with which many gays struggle and to which so many have found a closed door. He titled the performance "Scared Faithless: God and Gays in the 21st Century." ...

"I probably made a mistake," Coleman admitted Thursday. "I guess I was naive and just didn't realize that people would be that uncomfortable with that image and those words. After all, we live with this all the time."

The concert will explore ? through song and performance ? the pain some members have faced in seeking acceptance in their church. But it will also celebrate the warm welcome gays have felt in other communities of faith.

While many of their songs are religious, the Seattle Men's Chorus is secular, its mostly gay members hailing from many different faiths ? or none at all.

And in other censorship news, a school administrator in New Jersey apologized after his staff was ordered to black out an image of two men kissing that was included in the school's yearbook.

And congradulations to Randy, Mark, Scott and the big crew who've worked so hard to create Butch the big, pink, gay poodle mascot of the LVHS Classless Reunion. Butch won the second-place prize offered by The Stranger for entries in the Sunday parade. (And congrats to The Stranger judges for not holding grudges. [This is a point where we're glad that they ignore this blog.]) Congratulations as well to Nothwest Bears for thier grand-prize entry, "Bears, Bath & Beyond" [Times photo].

Labels: gay news, gay pride, Gay Seattle, history, Seattle, Seattle Pride

Seattlest asks, "What the hell is going on with Pride?" (except that they like book-title capitalization for their posts). Presumably while walking through the Broadway or Pike/Pine sub-neighborhoods of un-SOAPed Capitol Hill, poster Kim Ruhl says that "we noticed a bunch of signs all over everywhere announcing a parade, a party, and a Queerfest." Yeah. A bunch of stuff, as we've been noting for the past month.

And we're even ready to join Seattlest in throwing in the towel and accepting SOAP's still-silly decision to parade through the construction sites on Fourth Avenue. But we can't quite go as far as it (or however one is supposed to refer to the "Seattlest" collective poster) in advising,

Just go to the damn Web site and do your civic duty to save the gay-rade for those of us who feel the need to put on our thongs and leather and dance in a shower of glitter this summer. We've earned it. Besides, let's face it, we'll just throw a party on your neighbor's lawn if you don't let us have one in the middle of town.

Give them money? Come on now. SOAP lost over a hundred-thou through the group's own incompetence. Despite that, they're sticking around to host a parade -- something they've done a dreadful job at producing in two prior attempts. We suspect, though, that they might finally get it right and figure out that it involves more than just sending entrants on their way, gaps be damned.

So they'll be marching for the tourists again on Fourth Avenue, feeling somehow more pride because they've finally managed to abandon a neighborhood that once welcomed us all. OK, fine. They've managed to hold out longer than they had any reason to hold out.

So join them. Build a kick-ass float for their parade to get a chance to win some of The Stranger's money. Watch the thing. March in the thing. Volunteer to help them actually (and finally and for the first time after two attempts) do a parade right. Fine. But give this group money? That, to us, is a hell of a stretch.

There's every sign that we'll have a great Pride weekend again this year. But -- again this year -- it will happen in spite of SOAP and not because of the group. If you've got extra money in your cards that you're trying to get rid of, give it to one of the many groups that has actually managed to earn your trust. SOAP isn't one of those groups. Hell, you could even buy a ticket to a OneDegree event if you feed you must support downtown Pride activities. That's a group, after all, that appears to be wisely doing what SOAP tried and failed to do -- building a Pride beyond the despised-by-some 'gayborhood.' And they're doing it without asking for donations.

Let The Stranger pay for its parade. They have plenty of money for that. Show your pride in your community by giving to a group -- any group other than SOAP -- that has earned respect.

Labels: gay organization, Gay Seattle, Seattle, Seattle Pride

Seattle Out & Proud, Inc. (SOAP) has announced the names of the folks who will now have to fulfill that odd parade tradition of sitting on the trunk of a convertible with their feet on the back seat while smiling and waving ("figure-eight, figure-eight") at the crowd waiting for something interesting to come by. SOAP, of course, is sponsoring the downtown Pride parade on Sunday, June 24.

Dennis Coleman, artistic director of Seattle Men's Chorus, is the male grand marshal for the parade. Kiantha Duncan-Woods, president of Seattle Black Pride, is the female grand marshal. Although SOAP might not use the long parade name anymore, they have shown themselves willing to appeal to many segments by appointing even a group grand marshal. Gay Fathers Association of Seattle will fill that role, but we're not sure how that will work out with the traditional convertible.

And since there might be more car dealerships that would be interested in slapping their business name on the side of a wave-mobile, SOAP has invited some "celebrity" wavers to join the Fourth Avenue procession.

• Jane Abbott Lighty and Pete-e Petersen met over 30 years ago in Sacramento, California. They?ve been in a committed relationship ever since, and were married in Seattle First Baptist Church in October, 2005. Since their retirement from careers in nursing, Pete-e and Jane have devoted their time to several community endeavors, including the Seattle Women?s Chorus and their heart warming appearance in the film Inlaws & Outlaws.
• Chuck Lazenby was born and raised in Seattle, the youngest of five children. Chuck ran away from home at the age of 16. Within a few years he met his partner David Asplund. They lived together for fifty years to the week before David died in 1999. Through the support of his UCC church, Chuck then came out and has been a volunteer for several organizations supporting the LGBT community. Chuck appeared in Drew Emery?s prior video project, The Bridge, before telling his story in Inlaws & Outlaws.

Mark "Mom" Finley will reprise his role as emcee of the parade from a stand near Westlake Park. We heard and saw him last year on the KSTW broadcast of the parade, and he made the thing almost bearable, and consistently funny.

Of course, SOAP is also asking you to pay for their many past mistakes. They have some sort of promo for those willing to hand over money to the group. Check their website.

Labels: gay pride, Gay Seattle, Seattle, Seattle Pride

OneDegree Events, Egan Orion's company that is producing an array of Pride Weekend activities in and near Seattle Center, has announced that it has signed on with local festival management experts Festivals Inc to help with production of PrideFest, the free-admission Seattle Center festival that will be held Sunday afternoon, June 24 from 11 am until 7 pm, with main programming from 2 pm until 6 pm.

New Growth Event Solutions, a division of Festivals Inc., will serve as the production management team for PrideFest 2007. Festivals Inc. produces Bite of Seattle each summer at Seattle Center and Taste of Tacoma. According to OneDegree's press release, Festivals and New Growth were chosen "for their familiarity with Seattle Center, both at the administration and operational level."

"We have many years of experience producing high-profile events at Seattle Center," noted Bjorn Estlund, the lead on the New Growth Events production team. "We have always enjoyed working in conjunction with the Center and look forward to building this partnership with PrideFest to be a part of this important event."

New Growth will be responsible for general festival operations including mapping the grounds, laying out booths, contracting all service providers, and on-site management.

One Degree will run free shuttles from PrideFest to Capitol Hill starting at 4 pm on June 24. Shuttles will leave every half hour between 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and will drop guests off at clubs and bars that sponsor buses for PrideFest.

Later in the evening, One Degree, will also provide shuttle service from the Hill to Level 5 for the company's Sunday party, Revival, which will be held at Level 5 across the street from EMP from 5 pm to 2 am.

Entertainment lineup for the festival is still developing, but OneDegree has already booked entertainment from every corner of the gay community. DJs includes DJ Bryan Pfeifer (LA), Wasabi and LA Kendall from Re:Launch-Hitgirl! Productions and DJ Kyler (c89.5). National performing talent includes Inaya Day, Reina, and Abigail. They're saying, coyly, that the lineup will "likely feature at least one comedian." PrideFest has confirmed State Senator Ed Murray and will announce more speakers as agreements are made.

Orion offers this reflection on the busy weekend: ?Pride Weekend has important events going on in every corner of the city," Orion said, "from house parties to bar and club events to special events like our big Saturday night party at EMP Sky Church, One Mighty Pride Party, and Festivals like PrideFest and QueerFest."

"There is enough business to go around for everybody to be successful," he said. "Pride can be on both Capitol Hill and Downtown. It's bigger than any one person or one event. Pride is about community, and at the end of the weekend, hopefully we?ll be able to forget the politics that have divided us and embrace that which connects us all in this very vibrant gay community."

OneDegree has also hired sponsorship consultant Cindy Baccetti, who had previously worked with SOAP, a local group that had tried and failed to sponsor a Center festival this year. She is quoted as noting that "Wide spread support and excitement from the business community about PrideFest continues to strengthen as we approach the event." Eleven corporate sponsors are named in the press release.

Labels: Gay events, gay party, Seattle, Seattle Pride

For the fourth year, Seattle's LGBTQ Center [see map] will present a Portraits of Pride exhibit in its gallery space at the back of the Center on Pike Street. Cody Blomberg, curator of the show, asked artists this year to create self-portraits, a favorite theme of many artists. The show features work of Chris Rollins, Mike Curato, Cody Blomberg, loti, John Tozzi, Holly Senn, Thomas Wurst, Tennessee Loveless, Michael Strangeways, Matt Wencl, and others.

The exhibit opens on Friday, June 1 with an artists reception from 7 to 10pm in the gallery. The reception is open to the public. The Portraits of Pride exhibit runs through the month of June and can be viewed during regular Center hours (which are irregular and dependent on volunteer staffing and occupancy of the gallery for other scheduled events).

There will be even more queer-themed art to view as Dunshee House displays work of local artist Andrew Grant Stone. He will be hanging various collections reflecting on strength and courage of facing the unknown, as well as lighthearted and inspiring never-before-seen works from the artist's studio. Dunshee House is normally open from 3 pm until 9 pm weekdays.

Some of Andrew's work was seen in limited engagement at Glo's in May and a notable hanging in April at Rosebud Restaurant, but the Dunshee exhibit will be his largest and longest local showing. Works will be viewable throughout the summer.

Dunshee House, located at 303 17th Avenue East in Seattle [get directions], offers over 20 peer-facilitated groups each week includingboth HIV/AIDS-related and non-HIV/AIDS related groups, such as our growing program for gay/bisexual/queer men, lesbian/bisexual/queer women, transfolks, and LGBTQ folks inclusively.

Labels: Gay events, gay pride, Gay Seattle, Seattle, Seattle Pride

If you don't have them already, you've missed the steepest discounts for pre-sale tickets to the big downtown Pride weekend parties, One Mighty Pride at EMP and Tribe at Level 5, but hefty discounts are still available on the ticket price.

Tickets to "The Party", One Mighty Pride are available until June 1 for $40. The price then rises to $45 until June 21. Cost will be $55 at the door. Tickets to Tribe, the after-hours party at Level 5, are $25 before June 21 and $30 at the door.

VIP passes are available for $150. That will get you priority access to those two parties as well as a Friday night Military Party also produced by OneDegree at Neumo's and to Revival, OneDegree's post-festival Pride version of its Sunday party at Level 5.
The parties are produced by Seattle's master empressario Egan Orion and associates at OneDegree Events. One Mighty Pride will be held Saturday, June 23 from 8 pm until 2 am in Seattle's best party venue, EMP Sky Church [get directions]. The party features DJ Joe Gauthreaux from New York City and performances by Frenchie Davis [plays music] of American Idol, Rent, and Dreamgirls. That's inside SkyChurch.

Outside on the plaza, you'll enjoy another party with DJ Funky Bear and Ladyjane DJ. Tired of dancing? Take an amusement park ride. The Fun Forest Rides adjacent to EMP will be open Saturday night exclusively to One Mighty Pride guests.

At midnight, Frenchie will be accompanied by the Seattle Men's Chorus and Seattle Women's Chorus in a special homage to the gay rights movement.

25% of net proceeds from the parties will be donated to non-profits in the community: Gay City, Verbena, Seattle Men's Chorus and Seattle Women's Chorus.

The music, dancing, and partying doesn't have to stop at 2 am because the all-night party, Tribe, kicks off at 1 am and continues until 8 am across the street from EMP at Level 5 [get directions].

DJ Escape from New York City mixes. Rascal Video's Johnny Hazzard [link not safe for work] will entertain and titillate with go-go dancing.

OneDegree still isn't finished when Tribe disbands because their free-admission PrideFest at Fisher Pavilion and the lawn next to the Fountain kicks off at noon and runs until 6 pm in Seattle Center. The festival boasts a beer garden, booths (for-profit and non-profit), a mainstage with DJ Bryan Pfeifer from LA, performers and speakers, and food booths.

The party then moves across the street again to Level 5 where a special Pride Sunday edition of OneDegree's weekly Revival T-Dance starts at 5 pm and continues to 2 am. DJ Bryan Pfeifer moves over to provide the early mixes until 7 pm. Seattle's own DJ Brian Gorr [music] spins from 8 pm until close. The party is included in OneDegree's $150 VIP Pass. Individual tickets are available at the door only. Entry before 7 pm will cost $5 with a $10 cover after 7.

Labels: Gay events, gay party, Gay Seattle, Seattle, Seattle Pride

Purr greatly expands your Pride Weekend options on Friday, June 22 through Sunday, June 24 with a series of theme parties, live concerts, and dance events at the Capitol Hill nightclub [see bar map]. Purr's owner, Barbie Humphrey, said she's excited to offer live performances by dance divas and pop stars for the first time in the large space.

A performance stage will be set up at the far end of the nightclub for the weekend. Cover for each evening performance is only $5.

Purr will also offer a Sunday T-Dance with DJ Jst from Boston.

Humphrey told us that some details are still being worked out, but offered this initial schedule below. (The links are all to MySpace Music pages, so -- of course -- tunes will play automatically):

Friday, June 22 -- Toga Party

• Loren Hildebrandt (Burnin Out)
• Jacinta (Can't Keep a Secret)

Saturday, June 23 -- Military Party

• Allyson
• Sean van der Wilt (Boom Ba Boom)

Sunday, June 24 -- Beach Party

• Afternoon T-Dance with DJ Jst, Boston
• Jenna Drey (By the Way)
• Erin Hamilton (Dreamweaver)

Labels: gay bar, gay party, Gay Seattle, Seattle, Seattle Pride

The Seattle Center "PrideFest" whose existence was telegraphed last week by the event's "promotional sponsor", The Stranger, and by Seattle Times was officially announced this weekend by One Degree Events, Egan Orion's private production company that has produced several popular parties for the past two years, including the weekly Revival parties at Level 5.

In the announcement to the company's public mailing list, One Degree promises

Everything you expect from a Festival will be at PrideFest: A beer garden, booths (for-profit and non-profit), a mainstage with a DJ, performers and speakers, food booths, and one amazing community! We just signed our contract for the space and are going to be quickly building the rest of our program. ...

PrideFest takes place on Sunday, June 24 from noon to 6pm in the Fisher Pavilion and Internaitonal Fountain areas of Seattle Center. DJ Bryan Pfeifer from LA has been booked for the Sunday celebration that follows SOAP's downtown pride parade.

One Degree had previously announced [pdf format] a busy weekend of evening parties during pride week under the title "One Mighty Pride".

Our special weekend of events, as well as the big Saturday night all-community centerpiece event of Pride, is called One Mighty Pride.

Featuring Broadway performance stars, A?List DJs from all over the country, and high production values, the four events will also have a half a dozen non?profit organizations as beneficiaries, with a minimum of 25% of net proceeds from our Saturday night event going to these great causes plus further contributions coming from the other three events. ...

DJ Joe Gauthreaux, from New York City, will be headlining the One Mighty Pride Party. One of the rising stars amongst the gay dance party scene nationally, Gauthreaux has earned his striped. He's drawn huge crowds spinning for some huge events as Montreal's Black & Blue Ball, Toronto Pride and Cherry in D.C. In 2002, his prominence propelled him into even greater success when he released his first compilation CD through Centaur Records, called Party Groove. His high profile role in the music world led him to his ongoing tenure as a reporter for Billboard magazine.

DJ and music producer Escape (www.djescape.com) will be headlining Tribe, our men's afterhours party at Level 5 (formerly Element). Escape is from New York city and is straight, but long ago found a following in the gay community because he felt that gay men really appreciated the music played. He has released eight studio mix CDs, and has produced a number of popular remixes, including the Escape v. Gomi remixes of John Mellencamp's "Jack And Diane", Jessica Simpson's "Take My Breath Away", and Kristine W.'s "The Wonder of it All."

Tickets for all of the One Degree parties are now on sale. A "VIP Pass" for all of the parties costs $150. Tickets to One Mighty Pride and/or Tribe are also available.

Combining the two announcements, we get this preliminary schedule for the One Degree events:

• Friday, June 22, 10pm-3am -- Military Party at Neumo?s ? DJ Rob Hall (NYC)
• Saturday, June 23 8pm-2am -- One Mighty Pride Party at EMP Sky Church ? DJ Joe Gauthreaux (NYC), Frenchie Davis, DJ Funky Bear, and more to be announced
• Saturday, June 23/24, 1:30am-8am -- Tribe at Level 5 (formerly Element), a men?s party ? DJ Escape with special guest performer
• Sunday, June 24, Noon to 6pm -- PrideFest at Seattle Center with DJ Bryan Pfeifer (LA).
• Sunday, June 24, 5pm to 2am -- Revival at Level 5 with DJ Bryan Pfeifer (LA) and DJ Brian Gorr (SEA) with many more performers to be announced soon.

The PrideFest will feature booths and information tables available to both non-profit groups and businesses. Costs range from $75 for a table by a non-profit group to $2500 for a "Gold Sponsor Booth."

One Degree is accepting applications for those who would like to host a food vender booth at PrideFest. Book a space by emailing vendors[at]onemightypride.com. One Degree "reserve[s] the right the choose whichever businesses we feel will best suit the event, but will be as fair as we can in deciding which food vendors we'll use. Since we have limited space, we want to first place priority on variety, so the first inquiry from each type of food category will likely be the one chosen to serve at the event."

For local businesses, food booths cost $800 for a 10 foot by 10 foot booth or $1300 for a 10x20 foot booth. The fee for national businesses is $2500.

Labels: gay party, Gay Seattle, Seattle, Seattle Pride

Seattle Out & Proud (SOAP) is now taking online applications for their Seattle Pride 2007 parade downtown.

These are the entry fees:

• $35 for "community and non-profit groups (suggested donation)
• $500 for "local businesses" (You are considered a local business if you only have offices located in the Puget Sound area.)
• $1500 for "national businesses"

The group encourages entrants who want to help pay off the group's debts of at least $110,000 to pay more. Their website lists recent contributions to the debt payoff at $2130.



Floats can be up to 12 wide, 25 feet long, and up to 12 feet high, measured from the street to highest point.

Entries are encouraged to display their identity through a variety of visual media such as signs, banners both in front of and to the sides of the entry, balloons, flags or T-shirts so that judges and spectators can easily identify the entry.

Some of the rules:

• No articles of any kind may be thrown from the float.
• No one may enter or exit the float once the float is in motion on the Parade route.
• Trailers must be towed by an accompanying vehicle and have a turning radius of not less than 90 degrees.

The parade kicks off "at exactly 11am" at 4th and Union. It marches through the Regrade to Denny where it will disband.

Email SOAP (volunteer[at]seattlepride.org) is you would like to volunteer as crowd controller, parade monitor, or to help with check-in.

Labels: Gay events, Gay Seattle, Seattle, Seattle Pride

We try to avoid printing press releases verbatem, but this one deserves to be an exception to the rule. It was issued jointly last night by the Center and SOAP on SOAP's email list.

SEATTLE - May 04, 2007 - Representatives from the Seattle LGBT Community Center (The Center) and Seattle Out & Proud (SOAP) presented Friday to Seattle City Councilmembers Tom Rasmussen and Sally Clark a plan to co-promote a large-scale citywide Pride weekend in Seattle.

"This year's Pride Celebration will encompass the depth and breadth of the city's (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) LGBT community." Councilmember Tom Rasmussen said, "Celebrating the diversity of the LGBT community is always a central part of Pride weekend."

Pride events will include the "Raise Your Voice" political march, rally and Pride Festival on Capitol Hill Saturday, June 23 as well as the Seattle Pride Parade Downtown Sunday, June 24. Various activities and parties put on by other groups and private individuals will also be happening in and around Seattle during the weekend as well.

"Pride is all about a coming together of our LGBT community to celebrate the forward strides we have made politically," The Center Executive Director Shannon Thomas said. "Our community is proud of its most recent statewide victory, the passage of the domestic partnership bill in Olympia. The Center and SOAP have a duty to produce events for Pride weekend that will make our community proud, and do it as much justice as our legislators have this year."

Both groups produced similar, paired events last year, and are enthusiastic about the continued grand scale of this year's Pride celebration.

"Our groups are supporting each other's efforts for a weekend of citywide Pride events," SOAP Board Vice President Weston Sprigg said. "The diversity of Pride events is a reflection of the community's broad interests. Having activities throughout the city expands opportunity for businesses as well as sponsor and LGBT community visibility."

The Center and SOAP have scheduled weekly meetings to collaborate on logistics with a strong emphasis on cross promoting their paired events. Both groups have identified joint advertising and promotional opportunities, aimed at curbing costs for producing events as well as to better inform the public of what is happening and when.

The Center and SOAP have already begun preliminary discussions around future Pride planning, including the formation of a community oversight board.

For more information about how to get involved and for a schedule of events, visit www.seattlelgbt.org and http://www.seattlelgbt.org.

Pride Event Schedule:

Saturday, June 23, 2007

• 11 am - 1 pm Raise Your Voice March on Broadway
• Noon - Dark Rally & Pride Festival in Volunteer Park
• After Dark Three Dollar Bill Cinema Film Screening in Volunteer Park

Sunday, June 24, 2007

• 11 am - 2 pm Seattle Pride Parade on 4th Avenue Downtown

Labels: Gay events, Gay Seattle, Seattle, Seattle Pride

"Pride" is a mess again this year. We will have two parades. One on Saturday on Broadway. Another downtown pride parade on Sunday. We'll have a patchwork of festivals this year from the popular Street Parties sponsored by Pike/Pine bars to QueerFest at Volunteer Park.

The Stranger's Eli Sanders offers a grand vision of a Gay Pride 2010 celebration in this week's edition.

Imagine a Pride weekend with a sensible progression of events that move seamlessly from the Hill to downtown and back again, mirroring the ease with which gays now move about in this city and recognizing the community's roots, both old and new.

It's a fine vision, and Sanders offers some suggestions on how to get there.

The problem is that it isn't the lack of grand visions that has put us into the kind of mess we find ourselves in semi-regularly concerning the June commemoration of the Stonewall uprising. There have been as many grand visions than there have been parades in the past 30 years.

But we keep stumbling back into this kind of mess partly because of another aspect of things that is well demonstrated in Sanders' article.

In Sanders' view, the folks who have tried to do maintain a pride celebrations on Capitol Hill are "disgruntled supporters of 'tradition'." According to Sanders skewed view of things, they hosted a "scraggly counter-parade held on the Hill" even though the shorter Hill parade was far better organized than the truly scraggly downtown affair that stretched on for hours with more gaps than entries.

He explains to his readers why they should hold those "disgruntled supporters of 'tradition'" in comtempt:

Roughly put: Downtown Pride Parade supporters back integration; Capitol Hill Pride Parade supporters back separation. It's Mainstream Sensibility vs. Ghetto Mentality.

His article becomes yet another set-piece in that long tradition that has given us such a mess each spring as preparation for the June Stonewall commemoration unfolds into semi-public view.

Each spring, we get grand visions of the future of Pride Week accompanied by mean-spirited attacks on "the other guys" who don't share the grand vision. Each June, we muddle through a celebration that becomes -- despite the disarray -- somehow celebratory enough that most of us are willing to forget about it all for another nine months.

A big part of the problem (a problem of which Sanders' article is but a recent symptom) is that the June events have often been treated as the property of one publiclation or another. It's been that way from the start. Seattle Gay News was started by David Neth as a newsletter to promote Seattle's first gay pride celebration way back in the 70s. The paper developed awkwardly and by fits and starts into an independent voice, but has often turned back into a two-way embrace with parade organizers.

The paper's current editor, George Bakan, first introduced himself to the community as an activist working with the group that organized the parade/march and rally in the early 90s. He took over SGN during one of the lower points in its checkered history even though he himself admitted that he was more interested in activism than in journalism.

Sanders' slanted piece in this week's Stranger would appear downright fair and balanced if set against some of the articles that Bakan's SGN printed in the 90s promoting its (and Bakan's) view of what the parade should be.

As Bakan stepped aside from active involvement in the Freedom Day Committee in the later 90s, his paper set aside most of its parade activism. But SGN continued to publish the ad-heavy "Official Pride Guide" for the parade/march and rally organizer, the Freedom Day Committee.

Pride Week is Christmas-in-June for publications that cater to gay and lesbian readers. During what would normally be a slow advertising season, gay publications can pack their pages with ads from both national and local businesses hoping to attract some of the dollars spent during pride week.

Two different publications again became central in the 2005 split among parade organizers that resulted in the formation of SOAP and last year's duel parades. One of the folks who had stepped in to take over the crumbling remnants of the Freedom Day Committee was the publisher of a new monthly magazine that attempted to attract Seattle gay readers and advertisers. The magazine with no track record was given the designation "Official Pride Guide" by the proto-SOAP group that had taken control of the pride planning group. (The group wouldn't adopt the SOAP name until 2006.)

(SGN's thick Pride Week advertising supplement didn't seem to suffer from the lack of official imprimatur, however.)

Predictably, the 2005 venue change announcement was carried as an "exclusive" by the magazine whose publisher served on the proto-SOAP board.

Sanders points out in his article that those who have attempted to maintain pride events on Capitol Hill have been "encouraged by some Capitol Hill bar owners who see downtown celebrations as a threat to their Pride weekend income." But he fails to point out that the original move to Seattle Center and to 4th Avenue was encouraged by party promoters who hoped to create downtown celebrations that would bring pride weekend income to their companies.

The proto-SOAP board included at least one party promoter who reportedly explained to some at the time that he expected the new venue to give his company and others a better way to compete for party business on pride weekend.

There are an array of competing commercial interests involved in the disarray this year as there have been in the past. Both SOAP and the Capitol Hill supporters have been entwined with those commercial interests from its start. SOAP is hardly the other-interested community-based "committee" that Sanders tries to make it in his article.

Another of the historic problems with Seattle pride celebrations has been their tendency to ignore those kinds of commercial interests. A number of folks in the 90s -- including The Stranger's current editor, Dan Savage -- tried to change the tilt of the June events to something that would be more friendly to business interests. The attempts were resisted by leftist political groups (and SGN) that maintained control of the events throughout the 90s.

It's doubtful we'll ever get to any new grand compromise about pride week until we find a way to embrace the week as both a political and commercial venture. SOAP's current round of recriminations echoed by The Stranger aren't getting us any closer to that point of compromise.

One of the ironies of the SOAP's assumption of control is that although it was an essentially commercial enterprise, it became more hostile than the old political activists had been to participation in pride planning by local gay businesses. That hostility to local businesses has characterized SOAP's short history.

It's true, as Sanders argues, that "if people in the 'leadership' of the gay community stop working at cross-purposes and try to get there, [pride celebrations] could be a great success, symbolically and financially, for all concerned." But that "leadership" has not been demonstrated this year or at anytime in its brief and sorry history by SOAP, the group endorsed by Sanders and The Stranger. They've been throwing out excuses and recriminations at those who have refused since 2005 to shut up and do what they wanted done.

We won't get beyond that this year. Maybe SOAP will manage somehow to pull off something so spectacular this year that they will finally become, along with their partners at The Stranger, the default "owners" of "Seattle Pride" making them able to finally do whatever they decide is best for "the community." Maybe.

I'm still convinced that SOAP in any form is so much the root cause for the current set of problems that there is little hope as long as that group is involved in things of getting beyond the kinds of recriminations that Sanders throws out throughout his article.

We not going to get beyond it between now and this June. We won't get beyond it if we wait again until next Spring 2008. We might get beyond the nastyness if folks without the usual baggage of self-interest take an interest in doing something about it in, say, September.

Labels: gay organization, Gay Seattle, history, Seattle, Seattle Pride

Seattle's LGBT Community Center will host its annual Fruit Bowl Awards this year on Saturday, June 2 from 6pm to 10pm at Fisher Pavilion in Seattle Center. Think of it as a Golden Globes for local activists.

The event -- with a dinner, entertainment, auction, and far more -- honors several people and organizations each year for current and past work on matters affecting gay, lesbian, bi, transgender, and/or queer folk in the greater Seattle area. The ever-popular reality-show hunk Reichen Lehmkuhl is scheduled to be special guest and will "speak to the need for coming out and coming together." (An unexpectedly relevant topic this June.)

The theme for Fruit Bowl this year is "It's About Time: Honor our Past, Celebrate our Present, Build our Future." Sure, that's predictably wordy, but it offers up a task for anyone who's been involved with things around here for any brief or long period of time: Pull out your memorabilia -- snapshots, posters, crushed and dried corsages, ticket stubs -- that hearkens back to those days, months, or years gone by.

The Center will present a Seattle LGBT History Display as part of this year's awards ceremony and pride month. Help them out by digging up the bits of personal memory that will contribute to a forgotten community memory. You and/or your organization can make that display more meaningful by giving them more mementos than they expect.

There are a number of other things that organizations can do to participate in the ceremony. If you haven't heard from them already, contact the Center (info on their site) at info[at]SeattleLGBT.org.

Despite all the all-too frequent pre-June side issues that have resurfaced this year, it's been a good year for Seattle's LGBTQ folk, with continued legislative progress along with other signs of progress. The awards ceremony is a (mostly) light-hearted way to celebrate it all.

Ticket prices and availability have not yet been announced.

Labels: Gay events, Gay Seattle, history, Seattle Pride

SGN managing editor Robert Raketty demonstrates this week why it's still good to have a paper-based gay news source in town with its necessarily slow weekly schedule. He offers a balanced and informative summary of the week's parade developments.

Here are the highlights from the story, rearranged a bit and with links added. The story includes SGN's expected exclusive on the LGBT Center's current plans:

• On Monday, April 23, before SOAP changed their minds and resurrected their plans to organize the parade downtown, the Seattle LGBT Community Center applied to move its permit for a parade/march and festival on Seattle's Capitol Hill -- originally set for Saturday, June 23 -- to the long-standing traditional date of the last Sunday in June, which this year is June 24.


• As it stands, the Seattle LGBT Community Center will be staging its second annual Raise Your Voice Parade/March, which will follow a route down Broadway to Volunteer Park, where the QueerFest/Pride Festival will be held. .
  
  The Raise Your Voice Parade/March will step-off at 11am. Floats and motorized vehicles will be allowed since the event will be a march/parade.


• After all the operating costs are paid, proceeds from the events will go to support the Seattle LGBT Community Center. [Shannon Thomas, Executive Director of the Seattle LGBT Center,] said that the Seattle LGBT Community Center's events will be properly accounted, transparent and public.

Zing!

The new spokesperson for Seattle Out & Proud, Inc. (SOAP), Troy Campbell, a SOAP board member, explained to SGN that the normally close-lipped group's confusing series of press releases resulted from miscommunication within the group that runs the organization.

"The board had not met [about declaring bankruptcy] and there were still options available. Those needed to be discussed," he said. "We needed to collectively meet. The press release that went out earlier was done prematurely."

• SOAP hopes that by staging the parade again in 2007, they will stave off the need to declare bankruptcy and, perhaps, allow the organization to continue into future organizing.
  "The parade has always been a profitable part of what SOAP has produced," said Campbell. "Although it won't cover the entire cost of the debt that has been incurred, it can certainly start chipping away at it."


• SOAP owes the Seattle Center $100,026.33 plus accruing interest and, during a February public board meeting, admitted to having additional debts of approximately $40,000 that are owed to vendors from 2005 and 2006. No list of vendors/creditors has been released. However, SOAP is being sued in several collection actions.
  
  Campbell said it was "high on the agenda" of SOAP to resolve its past due debts.


• SOAP had to cancel plans to hold a festival after Independent Event Solutions (IES), organizers of the annual Capitol Hill Block Party in July, pulled out as the event planner of the festival and rescinded announced plans to make a $50,000 debt service payment to the Seattle Center as part of a partnership with SOAP.


• For 2007, SOAP has begun to collect donations on its website, www.seattlepride.org. As of, press time on Thursday, the group had raised $1,425. SOAP is also planning six fundraisers between now and June 24, according to Campbell. An evening boat cruise on Puget Sound on Saturday, June 23, will be one of the fundraisers to benefit SOAP.


• Campbell declined to say how much cash that SOAP had on hand or how much the group expected to come in from parade sponsorships. "Right now, we are contacting all of the sponsors - in light of not having the festival. We, basically, need to renegotiate with them," he said.

Raketty's story is even more carefully balanced in its printed form than what appears above. (And that, in itself, is a remarkable feat for SGN. It's also, we might note in passing, an historic role reversal for us, your WebWrangler.)

It will, hopefully, go some way in correcting the misinformation like that presented in an op-ed commentary in yesterday's PI, which fails to note SOAP's short and sorry history of staging the event.

Seattle Times helps things along with a bit of history in today's paper. Although the story by long-suffering reporter Lornet Turnbull, who shared the task of sorting through last week's blizzard of ever-changing news about the event, doesn't mention the LGBT Center's plans, it does provide helpful background:

"I guess it explains why we call it the Pride season rather than the "let's-all-get-along" season," said Breanna Anderson, a former co-chair of the Freedom Day Committee, which organized the event in its early years. "Maybe we should come up with a different name."

To be sure, the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community is not of a single mind, representing a cross-section of people and ideologies. ...

This year's Pride parade, seven weeks away, is still not entirely a sure thing. Seattle Out and Proud has a parade-permit application before the city, whose special-events committee will review it at a meeting May 9. While approval is likely, it's not automatic.

Seattle Out and Proud still owes the city more than $102,000 for last year's event at Seattle Center. Virginia Swanson, who chairs the city's special-events committee, said there are aspects of the upcoming parade that will need to be addressed, such us where it can start and end, and sanitation problems that arose during last year's parade.

Just before the 2005 parade, which drew a record crowd, the organizing group, which at the time was the Seattle Pride Committee (it later changed its name to Seattle Out and Proud), disclosed that it was looking to move the celebration from the heart of the gay community on Capitol Hill.

The parade would move from Broadway to Fourth Avenue, where it had room to stretch out, and the festival would move from Volunteer Park to Seattle Center, which could accommodate more people and activities.

The move created divisions -- the biggest rift between traditional activists who wanted to keep Pride centered in the gay community, and less political types who envisioned more mainstream acceptance outside Capitol Hill.

Some of the loudest howls of protest came from Capitol Hill businesses, some of whom have been the targets of grumbling criticism by Pride organizers who've said that while the businesses benefit from the festival, they've not backed it financially.

Volunteers started to bail.

Organizers held meetings seeking opinions from the community -- contentious gatherings at which organizers were accused of having already decided.

The Capitol Hill loyalists turned to the LGBT Community Center, which organized a Saturday march during Pride weekend and activities in Volunteer Park. It also snagged two major Pride sponsors -- Microsoft and Budweiser -- and drew about 30,000 people.

Seattle Out and Proud said the loss of volunteers and corporate dollars hurt.

Bill Dubay, a longtime gay-rights activist who participated in both events last year, said he was surprised to see the large numbers, both on Broadway and downtown. "With the people lining the sidewalks on the Hill waiting for the parade, it was almost like all the other years," he said.

"Most people turned out for both. It was amazing." ...

[SOAP's] Campbell said it is renegotiating with corporate sponsors from last year to help with this year's parade-only event. "We can now focus on the parade, and our resources are not spread as thin," he said.

Campbell said the group is also working to address criticism about its lack of openness. "We're making every effort to correct things," he said. "Our budget for the parade is being finalized and it will be posted on our Web site."

Labels: Gay events, gay organization, Gay Seattle, Seattle, Seattle Pride

Parade or march where ever you wish, but if you (unlike many who support one of the controversial events) are willing to visit Seattle's Pike/Pine neighborhood then you'll find plenty of semi-public celebrations of Pride week. Although Seattle's lesbian bar is not yet making an official announcement on its website, The Wildrise [see map] is expected to hold its multi-day street party once again this year.

Just up the street, The Cuff [see map] has made its official announcement: It will, as it has for years, close off 13th Ave. East and open up all interior and exterior levels of the bar for its usually packed Pride Day Street Party.

In the announcement on its weekly email list, The Cuff, generously mentions that its party starts "after the parade."

Be sure to make plans to join us once again for The Cuff's Annual Pride Day Street Party on Sunday, June 24th! After The Pride Parade, be sure to come join us as we continue the Pride Celebration for 7000+ of your closest friends.

The Cuff's Pride Day Street party is always a blast with lots of hot studs and this year should be no exception. Watch for the entertainment line-up to be announced soon.

But let's get real here: Do you need to wait until "after the parade" which is likely to be what it's always been -- a great place for endless church affinity groups, non-profits, political interest groups, and politicians, to walk down the street behind banners? (Not that there's anything wrong with that.)

There are strong hints that The Stranger, which has been a loud proponent of a downtown-pride parade will host some kind of guerrilla festival somewhere and will offer its previously announced generous prizes to imaginative floats. But do you need to go to the downtown pride parade to see the prize-winning floats? Maybe. But it's just as likely that any group that puts the time and money into building a prize-winning float will do its best to drive it up the hill so that it will be seen by those at the various street parties. We could even end up with a guerrilla parade to compete with the guerrilla fest that The Stranger seems to be hoping will keep people away from the Capitol Hill bars.

There's no need to wait until June, of course.

The Wildrose hosts 80s Not Dead night tonight with DJ Lady Jane and DJ Valentine. Tomorrow is "Sunday, Bloody Sunday" with $2 off Bloody Marys.

The Cuff presents DJ Harmonix from Portland tonight in Cuff Dance from 10pm to 3am. Their weekly Country & Western dance starts at 4pm in the dance bar. The weekly no-cover Sunday T-Dance features DJ Mike in Cuff Dance and drink specials at all the bars including $4 double wells and $1 domestic drafts and sodas all day. Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Abby of St. Joan will host a fundraiser tomorrow at The Cuff. It's called "Boys will be Boys ? Flogging, Boots and Buzzcuts" and runs from 6 to 10pm.

Labels: gay bar, Gay events, Gay Seattle, Seattle Pride

You can't blame folks for being confused about what's going on here with the Pride parade/march/festival/rally mess. We're confused. But one of the more intriguing bits of "news" comes from the generally reliable and superb gay news site 365gay.com. Based apparently on the SOAP's claim of an outpouring of support for their downtown parade to nowhere, 365gay "reported" this afternoon that SOAP's $102,000 debt had magically disappeared overnight.

Hmm.

Count on that bit of "news" to spread because 365gay feeds a lot of information-hungry blogs and sites including the digest on our own Squidoo Gay news page.

Under the headline "Seattle Rallies Behind Financially Troubled Gay Pride" we could read this fabulous (literally) info:

Within hours of Tuesday's announcement that Seattle's Out and Proud - the volunteer group that puts on the city's annual gay pride parade and festival - was filing for bankruptcy and canceling this year's event, the organization's phones began ringing.

The city's gay community was rallying to the cause. By the end of the night enough money had come in to pay off the group's $102,000 debt from last year's parade and save the organization from bankruptcy.

"Due to overwhelming support ..., we will move forward with our plans to produce the parade down 4th Avenue on Sunday, June 24, 2007", the group said in a press release Wednesday, following another emergency meeting of Out and Proud's board.

Yeah, sure. Forgive us for not being ready to believe that. This for a group that didn't have a donation link on its website before most of the site disappeared yesterday and that hadn't -- according to the Seattle PI -- registered as a non-profit. In case you missed that bit in one of yesterday's stories, here's the 'graph:

[SOAP vice-president Weston] Sprigg said the group is deeper in debt than the $102,000 owed to the city. He declined to reveal the amount, but said money is owed to vendors as well.

Out and Proud's financial information is not available because the group didn't register with the Secretary of State's Office, a requirement for non-profits that plan to solicit money. Multiple letters had been mailed to the group requesting their financial records, a staff member in the charities office said.

We're usually impressed with the staff at 365gay, but this time around they came up with something that clearly belongs on the Colbert fan site Wikiality.com.

But then, that site hasn't exactly ignored us. Wikiality.com offered this bit of "breaking news" (written, as always, "in the spirit of Stephen Colbert"):

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, April 23, 2007--

For most Americans, what homos do is a mystery best left hidden. But, recent events threaten to spritz America's Pacific Northwest in a lavendar scented rainbow.
According to sources, June is Gay Pride Month. This is when homosensuality bursts into bloom and those of the sodomite persuasion engage in their fabulous mating ritual: the Gay Pride Parade.

However, Americans will not sit back while the gays run wild through their cities primping everything in sight.

No.

Just days after Washington's lady governor, Christine Gregoire, signed a law giving the gays the right to have driver's licenses, American citizens came forward to fight off the encroachment of yet another Gay Menace into the very heart of straight America.

Apparently, the gays use their driver's licenses to parade through the streets, dancing and waving rainbow flags. Sometimes, they even ride on floats. Obviously, such rainbowfying of America's streets could not be taken lying down! So the good Christian people of Seattle bent over backwards to ensure that the gays would not bring this abomination of a parade upon their city.

No one is coming forward to take credit for this victory, but Wikiality.com can rule out Pastor Fred since the Westboro Baptist Church prefers to picket/picnic at funerals, leaving the parades to less holy organizations.

For more information and updates, please visit this gay tube.

Thanks for the link, guys. But really... it's Pastor Ken that you should be looking for. Someone should pen an entry on him... but not one of the Mormons over there.

Labels: Colbert Report, Seattle Pride, wikiality

They're running a poll over on SLOG, where the writers have strongly favored a downtown parade and festival, to get a sense of where their readers think a parade should be held. Not surprisingly, a downtown location is favored by a 55% majority of the 656 voters at this point. (The poll will remain open until Sunday.)

A few of SLOG's commenters have even suggested that Tacky Tourist Clubs should host a party after the parade. (Not gonna happen folks. That's the prime planning time for the Cruise and the limited volunteer energies of the organization have to be concentrated on that.)

Let's note that one member of the TTCA board also strongly favors a downtown route. Others either don't care or favor a Capitol Hill route. Your WebWrangler is not on the board, but, of course favors parading on Broadway.

Why? I think it's an important part of maintaining a community's claim to a physical neighborhood in the city.

When the first marches were organized way back in the day, most gay bars in town along with the few organizations that served the gay and lesbian communities were located downtown. The activists who organized the early parades put them downtown with rallies at Occidental Park in Pioneer Square or, a couple of times, at Freeway Park.

It was the place where lesbian and gay folk were most accustomed to congregating after all.

By 1980, many of the bars and a few other businesses catering to gay and lesbian folk had moved to the old auto showrooms and furniture warehouses along Pike/Pine and Broadway. A tension developed then between the businesses who favored a more celebratory observation of the Stonewall anniversary and the leftist activists who favored using the anniversary to put forth a slate of multi-issue "demands" for lesbian and gay rights (eventually including the "B" and "T" of what would eventually take on the shorthand acronym LGBT).

The leftist "protest" group tended to favor a downtown march while the business-oriented "celebration" group favored a Capitol Hill route. A grand compromise was reached between the two elements in 1983. Although there were still tensions, the new Broadway route was one thing both sides agreed on. Even when the compromise briefly fell apart in 1984, both the resulting parade and the separate march stayed with Capitol Hill routes. ['graph edited on 4/28 to fix the dates. Original post was one year off on each. See comment.]

SOAP's decision to move the parade to a different downtown route than had ever been used before had little to do with the old controversies about protest vs. celebration. SOAP put itself clearly in the celebration camp, but did it without the support or backing of Capitol Hill businesses. They moved the parade downtown to serve as a feed mechanism for their festival at Seattle Center.

To justify the move, SOAP supporters borrowed an one of the arguments from the old protest crowd. They claimed that it would show more pride for LGBT folk to march past empty office buildings, closed stores, hotels, condos, and construction sites along 4th Avenue because, somehow, that was supposed to make the parade more visible.

What that argument ignores is that Seattle does not and has never had a gay village with the kind of strong identity that neighborhoods in, say, San Francisco, Philadelphia, San Diego, Vancouver, or Toronto have. Holding the march and/or parade on Broadway was a way of claiming that street for one weekend. It's a worthy claim to make.

Holding the parade on Broadway should not be considered an affront to those of us who have chosen to live in other neighborhoods. It's even more a civic celebration for the whole city when we hold it with a sense of place. Broadway has provided that sense of place for the parade/march for over twenty years. It's one of the few things that helped to maintain at least a slight sense that the west slope of Capitol Hill offers at least a shadow of a gayborhood.

It's impossible to know why the volunteers who assumed for themselves the name "Seattle Pride" feel the need now to divide the community by holding on in desperation and marching through an empty downtown wasteland. It's an even more baffling decision from a group that did a miserable job producing their parade last year.

It's probably good for The Stranger's circulation and (perhaps) advertising to have its own parade that on which it use the supposedly trademarked name "Seattle Pride." It's hard to see how it's good for anyone else. SOAP's decision strikes us as selfish schadenfreude. In statements, the group has blamed the group's massive debt partly on those who declined to fully support their downtown move. Now, they've decided to hold a parade to nowhere (through no-man's-land), apparently as a way of snubbing the Capitol Hill businesses who didn't support them last year, and who were ready to take over when they imploded this year.

It's a sad thing to see from a sad, disappointing, and downright harmful and hateful organization. SOAP should be ashamed of itself for the nasty rift it is creating without good reason, motivated mostly, it appears, by resentment and anger.

Labels: gay organization, Gay Seattle, Seattle, Seattle Pride

At a board meeting last night, Seattle Out & Proud (SOAP) decided to reverse a decision announced earlier in the day and to go ahead with the most controversial part of last year's Pride activities, a parade along 4th Avenue. According to the Times, SOAP will muddle ahead with their parade, after all.

It seems that their talk of working working with the community was just that -- talk. In a press release yesterday, SOAP president Eric Albert-Gauthier said, "We hope that whoever does step in can unite the community behind them and likewise lead with no alternative agenda. We look forward to supporting whichever group of people can step up."

Another group did step up. It was one informally (so far) allied with the LGBT Community and supported by several Capitol Hill businesses. They had started to make the last-minute plans to hold a parade on Broadway. But, apparently, SOAP has decided not to support it after all.

SOAP v.p. Weston Sprigg told the Times, "People look at it, and it was so fine-tuned, and last year it looked flawless." The parade last year was not flawless. It was as dreadfully produced as an event of that kind can be. There were plenty of mostly boring entries in the parade, but within four blocks of the parade's official starting point, those entries were spread out with at least a block between most of them for most of the afternoon.

There was one point -- about 3/4 of the way through the thing -- that I was able to stand in the middle of 4th at Blanchard and see to the South some balloons of the next entry just barely visible at Westlake Center. Turning to the north, I could just barely make out the previous entry which had gone on about eight or ten blocks. Blank concrete. Unfortunately, that wasn't the only opportunity presented for such a view.

This parade wasn't just a case of poor production values, there were no production values.

One thing I give SOAP credit for: They proved adept at spinning a false impression of the parade component of their event. Supporters of the group managed to flood message boards and blogs with comments claiming that everything -- even that miserable parade -- was a "great success." Most of the comments I saw at the time used almost exactly the same talking points, including the repetition of the phrase "great success."

Let's hope that this report in the Times is mistaken. A group that was starting to look during its death rattles like it had the broader community in mind has now shown itself to be petty and selfish. Pity.

Labels: gay pride, Gay Seattle, Seattle, Seattle Pride

As near as we can tell, the LGBT Center hasn't made a public announcement yet. (This group reserves its scoops for SGN.) But there are hints of what's to come from the PI this evening:

The group responsible for planning Seattle's annual gay pride parade and festival announced Tuesday it will disband and file for bankruptcy, but that doesn't mean the tradition is lost.

Under new management, the June celebration will return to its roots on Capitol Hill after a year away, and some fans of the event are saying that's where it should have been all along. ...

[T]he Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Community Center on Capitol Hill announced Tuesday that it plans to increase the size of its QueerFest celebration to fill the void left by Out and Proud's disbandment.

"We're really encouraging our communities to get re-energized this year," Shannon Thomas, the center's executive director, said in a statement. "We have an opportunity to restructure our Pride Celebration so it is fabulous, fun and financially responsible. We need everyone's help."

The celebration hopefully will be rescheduled for June 24, a day later than was planned, Thomas said. QueerFest was held for the first time last year as the Capitol Hill community's response to Seattle Pride moving downtown.

The parade will start on Broadway at Pike Street and proceed to Volunteer Park, the traditional route for the Seattle Pride parade.
---------
Seattle Out and Proud, the group that coordinated last year's Seattle Pride festival and parade at Seattle Center, cannot pay off the more than $100,000 owed to city for the use of the facility, directors said Tuesday morning.

"The burden is huge, and there are not many options," Out and Proud Vice President Weston Sprigg said.

Sprigg said the group is deeper in debt than the $102,000 owed to the city. He declined to reveal the amount, but said money is owed to vendors as well.

Out and Proud's financial information is not available because the group didn't register with the Secretary of State's Office, a requirement for non-profits that plan to solicit money. Multiple letters had been mailed to the group requesting their financial records, a staff member in the charities office said.

The LGBT Center will have only two months to pull a larger celebration together, something Seattle Gay News Editor George Bakan estimates would cost about $60,000.

"With eight weeks to go, the event can be very successful," Bakan said, adding that his company will donate $1,000 to help with the event. "There is now a new sense of unity -- this is not the year to quibble about what we can and can't do."

Out and Proud issued a statement Tuesday announcing its members would be squarely behind whoever picked up the ball after their disbandment.

Labels: Gay Seattle, Seattle, Seattle Pride

The Times has refreshed its story that appeared this morning on the front page with the expected news that, at its board meeting today, SOAP decided to disband and declare bankruptcy. The PI also has a story on the front of its website.

From the Times:

Organizers of the Seattle Pride parade and festival said they are disbanding and filing for bankruptcy.

Seattle Out and Proud, the volunteer group that puts on the celebration for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, owes the city $102,000 for the 2006 event at Seattle Center.

"It's unfortunate but we are a supportive group of people that want the best for our community and hope now that someone will step up and take the events to the next level," said Weston Sprigg, vice president of Seattle Out and Proud. He said the group is meeting with bankruptcy attorneys. ...

Many tasks that volunteers had previously done for free at Volunteer Park had to be performed by union labor at Seattle Center. Although a previous board member signed an estimate with Seattle Center that was close to the final tab, other board members said they didn't know how much it was going to cost.

That the celebration has been canceled outright has gay activists and supporters scrambling to save it in some form.

Taking the lead is Capitol Hill-based LGBT Community Center, which last year organized a march and music festival called Queerfest as a way to accommodate supporters who wanted to keep Pride weekend festivities on Capitol Hill.

The PI adds

The Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Community Center is planning a June 23 festival and parade in the traditional Capitol Hill location, and Sprigg said Seattle Out and Proud might leave it to that group to represent Seattle's gay pride this year.

Cindy Baccetti, a consultant for the group, said the decision means that her involvement with the group will end after Tuesday. Since November, she helped the group raise money from corporate sponsors. This year's event had 10 corporate sponsors, including Macy's, the Pacific Medical Centers and various hotels, she said.

She declined to estimate how much money the corporate sponsors had committed for this year's event. But the amount was quadruple of last year's sponsorship amount, she added.

Not surprisingly, neither paper is getting the LGBT Center's (possible) involvement in non-SOAP plans quite right -- except to suggest that even it doesn't exactly know yet what it will do beyond QueerFest with the permits it holds. The promised website for the once-alternative/now defacto group hasn't yet appeared.

Labels: gay organization, Gay Seattle, Seattle, Seattle Pride

Last year, as planning for the Pride parade was going off in two directions, we offered a special web edition of The Poodleer, a fake paper that Tacky Tourist used to produce for its big spring party, The Prom...You Never Went To!

We explained it all back then, but thought it was worth digging out the yellow-J excerpt once again (since we're too exhausted at the moment to come up with something new):

Labels: Seattle Pride

Seattle Out & Proud (SOAP) president Eric Albert-Gauthier has sent out a new notice to the group's email list "as heads-up and courtesy to the community." He notes in the email that a formal press release will follow "in the near future."

The important new information is this:

With all of the baggage that has built up over the last year, the SOaP board has decided the best thing for the community and the future of Seattle Pride is for SOaP to step down from producing the Seattle Pride Parade and Festival, and allow someone else to step in and take over Seattle Pride.

We have honestly tried to do our best as a volunteer board with no agenda other than to produce a great celebration for our community. We hope that whoever does step in can unite the community behind them and likewise lead with no alternative agenda. We look forward to supporting whichever group of people can step up. We must agree that as a community we must cut our losses and start anew.

We admire and thank the new board of SOAP for making what must have been a difficult decision for the group.

Labels: gay organization, Gay Seattle, Seattle, Seattle Pride

A story posted this afternoon by the Seattle Times lends some hope that Seattle Out & Proud (SOAP) may be ready to step aside and let others plan whatever is to happen this year for Pride week observances in Seattle.

"We don't know" whether there will be a parade this year, said Weston Sprigg, vice president of Seattle Out and Proud. The group's dozen or so volunteers are tired, he said. The group owes $102,000 to the city after moving the parade and festival from its longtime home in Capitol Hill to Seattle Center in 2006.

More than 200,000 people attended the celebration for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, but the organizers didn't make enough money from sponsorships and donations to cover the cost of holding the event at Seattle Center, which was far more expensive than the previous site, Volunteer Park.

The group's board plans to meet on Tuesday to make a final decision on the event, which was planned for the weekend of June 24.

It's clear that something will happen without SOAP's involvement. Whatever energies are left among SOAP's core of volunteers are best spent now figuring out long-term ways to deal with the debt the group assumed for itself.

In February, the group said it would partner with event organizer IES Production, which would produce the festival and pay $50,000 of the debt to the city.

The status of that is now uncertain, Sprigg said, and John Merner, deputy director at Seattle Center, says he is sending the bill to the city's legal department to collect.

The decision to move to Seattle Center was criticized by many on Capitol Hill, considered the heart of Seattle's gay community.

"An event of this scale requires considerable sponsorship, and I think with all the controversy swirling around Pride these past couple of years made it hard to secure that sponsorship," Merner said.

[Update, 4/24:] The Times expanded the story for the version that appears today on the front page. The major additions come from an interview with Shannon Thomas of the LGBT Center.

This year, even before it learned Seattle Out and Proud might cancel Seattle Pride, the LGBT Community Center obtained a license to hold Pride festivities June 23.

With so much unknown, "we've not formalized what those now might be," Thomas said. "We're sad to see their announcement but excited by what the results could be. We're figuring out a strategy for how we will become involved." ...

The LGBT Community Center's Thomas said she's confident it can pull off an event the scale of Seattle Pride.

"We're committed to making sure a Pride celebration occurs," she said. "If we step up, we want to have a very viable plan in place."

Those involved in organizing Pride events in the past said a successful event costs $50,000 or so.

George Bakan, editor of the Seattle Gay News, said, "there's probably $20,000 to $30,000 that can flow from businesses in a matter of days if the community center decides to take the lead and organize a major Capitol Hill Pride day."

And Capitol Hill loyalists welcomed news that Seattle Pride might return there.

Robert Sondheim, co-owner of Rosebud, said his restaurant witnessed a 10 percent decline in business during Pride weekend last year after the parade and festival moved.

"I've always been an advocate of keep Pride on the Hill," Sondheim said. Moving it downtown "is like having the Fremont Solstice downtown; it loses its meaning.

"Personally, I like it here better. As a business owner, I really want it here."

Labels: Gay Seattle, Seattle, Seattle Pride

You might well have asked, based on a previous post or two about this issue, "Just who it is that is holding those discussions about a non-SOAP sponsored event?" Well, there is now semi-official confirmation of those other discussions. This comes from Ray Carter who served on the Freedom Day Committee (FDC). That's the group that successfully guided pride activities through much of the 80s and 90s.

I am writing this missive as both as an individual and as a former Pride Co-Chair. I am writing to you as friends, acquaintances, correspondents, colleagues, and fellow LGBT activists who understand the importance of avoiding a year without a Pride event.

I have, since roughly February, had the privilege of working with a group of experienced community members (the AdHoc Committee) with the initial vision of Plan B Pride lest SOAP implode, morphing to working with the LGBT Center on a Saturday Capitol Hill event, and in light of the below, returning to our original priority of ensuring there is a 2007 Pride in Seattle. The group is in no way, shape, or fashion affiliated with, in negotiation with, or associated with Seattle Out and Proud - and strong opposition exists to any change in that complete lack of association with SOAP, based on a wide variety of very practical considerations. The group is composed of former FDC folk, activists, and business persons and is open to virtually all members of the community. Diverse viewpoints are very welcome, but given the time frame (7 weeks) this is a working group as opposed to a forum for pontification or extended negotiation.

Odds look good that the seattlepride2007.org website will go live within 48 hours with substantial details, but the last discussions focused on a Sunday June 24 Pride March on Broadway stepping off at 11am from Broadway and Pike, with a Rally similar to 2004 and before with entertainment, speakers, food, beverages, and a movie night in Volunteer Park. Pride is the single largest outreach and community event in the Seattle LGBT community.

To make Seattle Pride '07 happen, volunteers and funding are needed and quickly. We especially need to hear from former FDC folks.

For the moment, I urge you to contact the Seattle Gay News for further details, sponsorship and volunteer opportunities, and status reports. Please pass this along to any/all interested parties.

Labels: Gay Seattle, Seattle, Seattle Pride

SOAP has just released this new press release. Unlike the earlier one, this statement from SOAP president Eric Albert-Gauthier was widely distributed to the group's email list.

Seattle -- In 2006, the Seattle Pride March and Festival moved from Capitol Hill to Downtown Seattle and the Seattle Center. Event attendees, organizers and city officials all hailed the events as great successes. Unfortunately, the increased scale of both the March and Festival produced poor financial results including the well publicized and still unpaid debts. Simply put, the income from both events was not adequate to cover the costs of the March and Festival.

In 2007 Pride organizers Seattle Out and Proud (SOaP) voted in new leadership. SOaP?s primary concern was to produce a financially sound March and Festival in 2007. In order to accomplish that end, Seattle Center encouraged SOaP?s new Board of Directors to bring in professional event management. After meeting with several event management companies, SOaP decided to explore partnering with the professional event producers IES. SOaP also hired Baccetti Inc. to solicit and manage corporate sponsorship opportunities.

This week, after a month and half of additional intense research and negotiation by IES, the new SOaP Board of Directors and the Seattle Center, it has been concluded by all that producing a similarly scaled Pride Event at Seattle Center is not financially prudent. While most people believe that the 2006 March and Festival in Downtown Seattle showcased the LGBT Community extremely well, a fiscally responsible 2007 March and Festival, no matter their physical location, is the most important goal. As such, new discussions are taking place about where both the march and festival make the most sense this year.

We appreciate the work of John Merner and Robert Nellams at the Seattle Center during this transitional time, as well as the guidance of IES and Baccetti Inc., both of whom will continue to advise SOaP in this process. Details of the event modifications are expected early next week. One thing is certain; there will be a great and financially responsible Seattle Pride this year.

Labels: gay organization, Gay Seattle, Seattle, Seattle Pride

by Robin Evans *

In a narrowly-distributed announcement, SOAP has said that will not hold its scheduled festival on Sunday, June 24 at Seattle Center. The news, unfortunately, hasn't even made it onto SOAP's own website. As of Monday morning that site still declares

Seattle Pride '07 will be an amazing and fiscally strong celebration for the LGBT community!

• Date: Sunday June 24, 2007
• Location: Seattle Center

It continues

For this event to continue to be free for the whole community, we need your moral as well as financial support. Make and individual donation and become an officially recognized Seattle Pride Supporter or contact Baccetti Consulting about sponsorship opportunities. We will also be collecting donations at the Pride parade and at the entrances of Seattle Center. Please be ready to support! Only with YOU as a supporter can we create the best PRIDE celebration in the country.

It's long past time for SOAP to come clean and admit that it is not a group capable of creating even a good pride celebration for the city, let alone "the best PRIDE celebration in the country."

SOAP's weekend statement was sent to The Stranger, but doesn't seem to appear anywhere on the group's web site, not even in a message board that was recently set up there.

The statement claims

[A] fiscally responsible 2007 March and Festival, no matter their physical location, is the most important goal. As such, new discussions are taking place about where both the march and festival make the most sense this year.

If they really mean that, then SOAP can best show its commitment to "a fiscally responsible 2007 March and Festival" by officially stepping aside and letting others hold the last-ditch discussions and make plans for a disaster-recovery march/parade and festival.

As SOAP said in its statement, "new discussions are taking place" about 2007 Pride events, but the most hopeful of those discussions are being carried on by others.

The litigiousness that SOAP, as an organization, demonstrated last year by claiming trademark ownership of the term "Seattle Pride" manages only to slow down the last-minute planning that must be done if there is to be some kind of Pride parade and festival this year. SOAP's slowness in semi-announcing the cancellation of their festival at the Center is yet another symptom of the group's closely-held, publicity-hostile "decision-making" process that has been demonstrated all too often for the past two years.

SOAP delayed the announcement of its financial problems and has now delayed the announcement of the cancellation that stems from those problems. Each delay has made it more difficult for others who want to create a great Pride weekend for the whole city and region. Far from demonstrating the semi-naughty theme of "Coming Together" that they'd chosen for their events this year, SOAP's recent actions have only served to widen the rifts that they themselves created. The current volunteers of SOAP should finally and mercifully admit that the task the group assumed for itself is better left to others.

* I post this under my name by-line in addition to my usual "WebWrangler" handle to make this obvious: This is my opinion. It does not, in fact, reflect the official opinion of Tacky Tourist Clubs -- the host (for now) of this blog. TTCA has declared itself an official "supporter" of SOAP.

Labels: Gay Seattle, Seattle, Seattle Pride

If you really care about this, you've probably heard by now that Seattle Out & Proud (SOAP), producers of the Pride parade and festival for the past couple of years has abandoned plans to hold a large-scale Pride festival on Sunday, June 24 at Seattle Center.

Money quote (after several self-congratulatory 'graphs):

[I]t has been concluded by all that producing a similarly scaled Pride Event at Seattle Center is not financially prudent. ...

[N]ew discussions are taking place about where both the march and festival make the most sense this year.

Separate discussions have reportedly been taking place for the past month or two among folks interested in holding pride-week events on Capitol Hill that would complement the separately organized QueerFest on Saturday at Volunteer Park. SOAP and its associates have been pointedly excluded from that planning process.

Ray Carter is spearheading that so-far informal organizing effort. He sent a statement to volunteers stating that a public announcement of their plans for "LGBT Pride '07" would be made Monday or Tuesday.

We applaud those who recognized early on that SOAP was not the proper organization to handle this. There's not much time to get anything ready for late June, but it's only going to happen if SOAP is set to the side of the road and allowed to lick its self-inflicted wounds.

Labels: gay organization, Gay Seattle, Seattle Pride

Here in Seattle, the activists who claim to own the name "Seattle Pride" have proudly stated for years that they've grown up and moved beyond our town's gay neighborhoods. Seattle's annual gay pride parade was moved off of Broadway on Capitol Hill and now marches through a multi-decade construction zone on Fourth Avenue downtown, following roughly the same route in reverse as the town's wonderfully tacky Seafair Torchlight Parade.

Gay and lesbian activists and businesses in Philadelphia approached things with a different perspective, working for years to define and to claim for themselves an area that they could claim as their own "Gayborhood." The efforts culminated yesterday in the installation of official street signs bearing rainbow-flag colors. Philadelphia Daily News reports, New signs make it official: We have a gayborhood:

Welcome to the "Gayborhood."

A welcoming vibe is what organizers hope to inspire when visitors see new street signage that will designate a portion of the Center City District as the city's official gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender-sensitive neighborhood.

The official "Gayborhood" extends from 11th to Broad streets, and from Pine to Locust.

"This sends a message to the region, country and world that Philadelphia is very diverse," said Councilman Frank DiCicco during yesterday's unveiling at 13th and Locust. "This is a tribute to gay people and people who aren't that they have a willingness to live and work together."

Michael Hinson Jr., City Hall's liaison to the LGBT community, and Tami Sortman of the Philadelphia Gay Tourism Caucus, joined DiCicco for the announcement.

The new street signs will feature the traditional GLBT rainbow, or "Freedom" flag underneath the usual street signs.

The rainbow design was created by San Francisco artist Gilbert Baker.

In all, 36 new signs have been installed in the community.

Four other North American cities officially designate LGBT-friendly neighborhoods: San Francisco, Chicago, Montreal and Toronto.

"The signage is an important symbol for this city," Sortman said. "The major thing is that we can use this in all of our marketing. We can say that we have a neighborhood."

The Philadelphia Gay Tourism Caucus estimates that the travel market for gay and lesbians is a staggering $54 billion. And Philadelphia, organizers say, should see a healthy share of that money, given the gay-friendly clubs, restaurants and other establishments dotting the newly designated district.

The street signs are just part of the efforts in Philadelphia to both serve the city's own LGBT populations and to attract tourist dollars to the city. For instance, the city recently funded a major study of LGBT demographics in the area. [Note: Link is to a current story in Philadelphia Gay News. Because of awkward design of the weekly's website, link will probably point to a different story after the weekend.]

"This is the first time a population-level study of homosexual and bisexual people has been conducted in Philadelphia," said Chris Bartlett, a project coordinator and head of the Gay Men's Health Leadership Academy of Philadelphia. "For the first time, we have a clearer picture of the size and some of the big characteristics of some of our diverse communities, and we are able to compare these homosexual and bisexual populations to their heterosexual counterparts."

Funded by the City of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Foundation ? a philanthropic organization that allots funds to community groups ? the assessment was targeted toward the GLB community itself, the local and state government, local and regional foundations and businesses serving the community.

"Both the city and the Philadelphia Foundation wanted to make sure that they could appropriately target services and funding at GLBT populations throughout the city," said Bartlett. "They also wanted local, community-based organizations that serve the GLBT population to have access to these data for strategic planning and fundraising purposes. Data like these are very important because they help our GLBT populations to better understand ourselves. In addition, we can use these data to advocate for the needs of our communities. Looking at these available data sets allows the community to focus on getting answers to questions in other areas not covered by these data."

Activists there aren't ignoring LGBT populations in other parts of the area by giving focus to one neighborhood as more specifically gay, but in Seattle the activists who own the name "Seattle Pride" insisted that they needed to move the city's parade off of Capitol Hill because many LGBT folks live elsewhere in the region.

Philadelphia's recent "Gayborhood" designation is just one part of a long-running campaign by the city's gay businesses and its official tourism agency to promote the city as a destination for LGBT tourists and thereby invigorate the businesses that cater to both local and visiting

PHILADELPHIA, August 18, 2006 - As shown by its high-profile ad campaign, "Get Your History Straight and Your Nightlife Gay," and resulting coverage on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, CNN and other national media, Philadelphia has officially "come out" as a gay-friendly travel destination. The region is the place to learn about what it means to be an American by day and a gay American by night. Here, you'll find all the ingredients for a fabulous weekend getaway: a hot restaurant scene, great shopping, lively bars, clubs and cafes and a nine-block "gayborhood," as well as rich cultural attractions and historic sites.

The city's official Pride organazion prominently promotes the "Gayborhood" campaign on its website. Several other cities with official outreach to LGBT tourists, including Dallas, promote a gay-friendly neighborhood as a draw to gay and lesbian visitors. Seattle's official tourism site includes a home-page link for "LGBT Travel." The LGBT Visitors page includes this outdated reference to Capitol Hill:

The Capitol Hill neighborhood is the traditional hub of gay and lesbian culture and entertainment and hosts the annual Gay Pride Festival. However, Seattle's sizeable, progressive gay and lesbian population pervades the entire city.

The page also includes this brief reference:

Just a few blocks east of downtown, Capitol Hill's Broadway Avenue East and the Pike/Pine corridor offer affordable couture, vintage collectibles, music and art stores and plenty of fun cafes and coffee shops to cleanse a shopper's palate.

As downtown-focused activist here often point out, several cities that have more defined gay neighborhoods than Seattle has, hold their Pride events elsewhere. But in our view (which isn't shared by the Seattle-Pride-supporting hosts of this blog), it's exactly because Broadway and Pike/Pine are less defined as "gayborhoods" that the parade should have stayed up on the hill, even while the festival moved to the better facilities of Seattle Center.

The parade on Broadway and part of Pike or Pine was a way of "marking" a neighborhood -- a useful thing not because we all live there, but because it helped us to difine a small area of this larger city as uniquely our own for all the other months when the floats and marchers were not on the streets.

It's unfortunate that we all allowed a small group of folks to take that away from us.

[Update:] Just to be sure about it, we asked Philly Pride, organizers of that city Pride parade, if they march through the gayborhood or feel the need to go elsewhere in the city. Fran replied, "Our parade kicks off in the gayborhood, parades around the gayborhood, passes the oldest gay establishment in the gayborhood.

"Did I mentioned, our OutFest event in.October, is how our local gay neighborhood got the name the GAYborhood."

Good for them. We don't know if LGBT folks who live elsewhere in Phlly and Bucks County feel dissed by that, but -- somehow -- we doubt it.

Labels: activism, gay pride, Gay Seattle, Seattle Pride, tourism

OK. So it's not really called The Stranger Pride. The downtown festivities technically sponsored by Seattle Out & Proud, Inc. (SOAP) on Sunday, June 24 will still use the trademark name "Seattle Pride" that SOAP claimed last year to own.

But the weekly newspaper appears to be making itself ever more closely tied to the events, which include a one-day festival at Seattle Center and a parade on 4th Avenue to promote it.

After SOAP dug themselves into deep debt with last year's Center festival, they turned to a professional company that agreed to pay off much of the group's debt and to take over production of the festival at the Center. That company, Independent Event Soluitons, has for several years been closely associated with The Stranger in producing Capitol Hill block party, a weekend street festival for businesses and (straight) bars in the neighborhood.

Of course, they were scooped by the weekly paper's blog, but SOAP announced on its own mailing list this weekend a major change for the parade:

The Stranger is proud to announce the First Annual Pride Parade Awards. The Stranger will be awarding four cash prizes recognizing the best floats or marching contingents. These prizes will be handed out at Seattle Center immediately after the parade. Prizes include: Gold/First Prize: $2,000, Silver/Second Prize: $1250, Bronze/Third Prize: $1000, and Honorable Mention: $500. The theme this year is Come Together! Use this theme to guide your Pride Parade expression. Think fabulous! It?s up to you to help make this memorable. We want you to have an outstanding Pride experience.

Savage's SLOG post has details on the judging:

Who?ll be judging best floats? A handful of Stranger 'mos -- Eli Sanders, David Schmader, Amy Jenniges if we can tempt her back from Portland for the weekend --along with local notable 'mos to be named later.

Stranger editor Dan Savage also includes good news about how those generous prizes will be distributed:

Pull together a kick-ass float, a great marching contingent, or stunning individual costume and you -- your group, your bar, you and your creative friends -- can do whatever you like with your prize money. You can spend it on boys and beer or girls and Gatorade -- or, hey, you can give it a community-based non-profit of your choosing. But it's your prize money -- and your Gold, Silver, or Bronze -- and the money is yours. It's our way of encouraging folks who go out of their way to make the Seattle's Pride Parade bigger, better, and more spectacular -- the best party in town -- and encouraging more people to make the effort.

And it's also a great way to advertise their newspaper.
>
SOAP's email also gives more hints about where the production team they hired is heading with the festival. They've booked twink-hunk-twin-pop-duo Nemesis. Wow! Nemesis from the Logo reality show Nemesis Rising. That means there might still be hope that they'll book the far more talented Sanjaya from American Idol. Why not?

Also newly confirmed is ALYSON - proclaimed the "New Queen of Pop" by Outlook, and pop hit machine REINA. They join the already huge list of performers including The Rat City Rollergirls "Big Gay Bout", DJ Joe Bermudez, Lauren Hildebrandt, Kim Kuzma, Kristy Kay, God-des and She, Billy Boy on Poison and Jenna Drey.

Through its short and sorry history, SOAP has built a reputation for being incompetent at producing the events for which the well-meaning members of the group assumed control. Now, they're wisely turning to companies that will probably do a far better job than SOAP itself could ever do at producing an entertaining day of events.

Several other cities have "Pride" events that are produced by professional groups, although Seattle may be unique in turning to non-gay companies to produce its "Pride" events. Still, it might have been inevitable that something like this would happen. Part of the problem arises from SOAP's unwillingness to share (or, apparently, admit to itself) the signficant problems that it was facing in trying to produce the events. It let things go for far too long and had to scramble to find some way to "save" the events. It appears that The Stranger was helpful in putting them in touch with the company that would be hired to produce the festival.

By getting The Stranger on board with their group, SOAP managed to shut off one dangerous source of criticism for what they were doing, and -- at the same time -- to sign on an incredibly effective publicity vehicle for their events.

And really, there's nothing all that new about having a newspaper actively engaged in pride week planning. For years before SOAP assumed private control of the "Pride" events, Seattle Gay News was a virtual sponsor of the Capitol Hill parade and festival. Their staff was, for several years, tightly intermingled with the group that was then in charge of planning and production of Pride events.

The Stranger has a far bigger and more diverse staff, and it's a far better newspaper. With their name associated with the events, they're unlikely to want to be embarrassed by the results.

[Note: Tacky Tourist Clubs -- the hosts for this independently edited blog -- have signed on as a supporter of SOAP and its events.]

Labels: gay organization, Gay Seattle, Seattle Pride

Seattle Out and Proud (SOAP), the non-profit group overseeing a professional production of a Sunday festival at Seattle Center on June 24, has announced a few of the acts that will be featured at its "Seattle Pride" festival. A press release promises several more "national performers" for the festival, but offers this preview of the acts:

Confirmed so far are God-des and She (who you've heard on the the L Word and Logo), Kim Kuzma, Danille Bollinger, Kristi Kay and DJ Joe Bermudez. We're partnering with The Rat City Rollergirls to present their "Big Gay Bout at Seattle Pride" at Key Arena featuring Derby Liberation Front vs. Grave Danger, and the Throttle Rockets vs. our visiting team the Denver Roller Dolls, with 10% of ticket sales going to support Lambert House. And of course you'll be able to get wet at the Fountain Dance Party - the best all wet dance party ever!

The festival is produced by the professional events company Independent Event Solutions, which also produces the annual Capitol Hill Block Party in association with The Stranger, KEXP, and other media outlets.

Not surprisingly, given their association with the event's professional producers, The Stranger has become far more involved with this year's SOAP event. The weekly has partnered with SOAP to offer a $5,000 in cash prizes to worthy parade entrants, including the The Stranger's Seattle Pride Parade Awards - Best in Show. We can, of course, expect that to become "Seattle's Only" parade award, in keeping with the paper's usual marketing slogan.

A "panel of community celebrities" will decide on prizes for "the most creative and well produced entrants." (Wanna bet that a well-known nationally syndicated sex columnist and newspaper editor will be one of those celebrities?)

SOAP has maintained production responsibility for the 4th Avenue parade that serves as a primary marketing tool for their festival. They promise in their press release that the parade, which last year was one of the most misterably produced events in town, will be done right this year, "for a concise 2.5 hours and focused on being tighter with stronger, more creative entries."
Online parade and vender-booth registration will be available sometime soon on the SOAP website, according to the press release.

SOAP has signed several advertisers for their events and also claims to have reached a "great partnership" with local organizations including the Seattle LGBT Community Center, MPowerment (Lifelong AIDS Alliance?s Youth Outreach program), Girl4GIRL promotions, and "several Capitol Hill bars." [Note: Tacky Tourist Clubs, the host of this blog, has also signed on as a supporter of the SOAP events. Any snarkiness here reflects only the opinion of the author, Robin Evans aka "WebWrangler", and does not reflect the attitude of the organization.]

Fundraiser tonight

SOAP continues to operate as a volunteer-run non-profit. They will hold a fundraising dinner called "Come Together" Family Style tonight at Buca di Beppo, 701 9th Ave N [get directions]. Dinner is at 5 pm. The tab is $30.00 per person. A "portion of the proceeds" will benefit SOAP. Enjoy a dinner-time performance by Seattle area cabaret artist and musician Jacob Mahoney. Get your Evite.

Labels: Gay events, gay organization, gay party, Gay Seattle, Seattle, Seattle Pride

Bloomburg offers one of the best summaries yet seen of Initiative 957, sponsored by Washington Defense of Marriage Alliance (WA-DOMA)

Gregory Gadow calls his own ballot measure absurd.

The proposal he wants to put before Washington voters in November would require the state to annul any heterosexual marriages that don't produce offspring within three years.

The goal is to undermine a July state Supreme Court ruling that upheld Washington's ban on marriage between homosexuals. The court said the state has a fundamental interest in limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples because of their ability to procreate. Gadow hopes to force a review of the ruling, and rile social conservatives along the way.

"Making them choke on their own rhetoric is just a nice side benefit," said Gadow, 39, a Seattle computer programmer. ...

Local gay-rights groups aren't backing the measure because they prefer to push for legislation authorizing gay marriage. Opponents of gay marriage dismiss the proposal as a stunt.

"If they get many signatures, it will be mostly homosexual signatures," said Ken Hutcherson, senior pastor of Antioch Bible Church in Kirkland. A former National Football League player for the Seattle Seahawks, he organized a Washington, D.C., rally against gay marriage in 2004.

The story by reporter Dana Bass points out that Gadow and his friends have been working without much support from big names and organizations.

Gadow's idea has plenty of detractors. State Senator Ed Murray, one of five openly gay state lawmakers, said he opposes it because he prefers to focus on legislation permitting gay marriage.

Murray is in rare agreement with Jeff Kemp, president of Families Northwest, a non-profit group in Bellevue that opposes gay marriage. Kemp said Gadow's measure trivializes marriage.

"To throw away the model because in some cases people don't have kids is an insult to humanity," said Kemp, a former NFL quarterback and the son of 1996 Republican vice presidential candidate Jack Kemp.

If it's up to Gadow, I-957 won't result in any annulments.

He said the ballot measure is unconstitutional. His goal is to get it passed and struck down by a state court. That would contradict Andersen v. King County and lead to it being overturned, he said.

The story offers a concluding surprise in a quote from a UW constitutional law professor Hugh Spitzer who believes the initiative might stand up to judicial scrutiny if it ever did garner the required signatures and pass

He [said] that it might not be overturned at all: States may have a right to define marriage any way they wish.

"There's nothing fundamentally wrong with it," said Spitzer, who filed a brief supporting the Andersen plaintiffs. "If they think they're going to lose in court because it's unconstitutional, they may have another thing coming to them."

Declining gayborhoods

It's one of those stories that appears with each real estate cycle, but AP nonetheless weighed in on gay neighborhoods with a feature this week.

The story focuses mostly on San Francisco's Castro District, but here in Seattle, SOAP might be happy to learn that Seattle is dismissed as one of several places where a gay neighborhood has been replaced by "'Disneyfied' places boasting chain stores, restaurants catering to a diverse clientele and 'cleared of any reference to sex.'" (The quoted author appears to have mistaken Broadway as a street that was once something more gay than it is now.)

Brian Basinger sees danger in the proliferation of baby strollers on the street.

"When I see a stroller now, I see it as someone who evicted a person with AIDS, right or wrong," said Basinger, president of the Harvey Milk Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transexual Democratic Club.

The reporter, of course, finds those who dismiss worries about Castro's changing demographics,

But some activists point to cities with less-established gay districts as a sign of what could happen.

Honolulu's Kuhio district stands vacant after its gay bars were dispersed in the late 1980s. In Atlanta's Midtown, once the gayest area of that city, gay nightclubs recently have given way to condominiums.

When Basinger walks through the Castro these days, he sees the apartment building where he watched friends with AIDS die, too pricey these days for someone young, old or sick to afford. Or the corner where his efforts at community organizing are met with yawns. Up the street, the raunchy window displays at sex toy shops have brought complaints from parents, both gay and straight.

"We have Chinatown and Japantown and so forth, and that's important for minority communities in this country, to have a place where they can get a sense of being the majority," said Joe Curtin, an architect who serves as president of Castro Area Planning Action. "But if you took those away, you would still have China and Japan. If the Castro goes away as a gay neighborhood, there is nowhere else."

SOAP has argued for two years that Capitol Hill is the wrong place to celebrate LGBTQ Pride. They'll probably want to make copies of this article, crossing out a few of the graphs we've quoted here.

Labels: I-957, initiative, politics, Seattle, Seattle Pride, wa-doma

A story in Capitol Hill Times suggests that, even after the agreement with Seattle Center that will allow them to hold a one-day festival there this year, Seattle Out & Proud, Inc. will have to deal with more issues before this year's parade and festival.

Part of their problem is continuing acrimony about the group's decision to move the parade away from Capitol Hill.

Carl Medeiros, owner of Panache on Broadway and a Broadway merchant for two decades, has no hope for the troubled SOAP organization. He objected to moving the Pride celebration off Broadway and Capitol Hill, but admitted that the downtown parade and events were great. But he doesn't see the current situation as such.

"If they can't keep the organization legitimate and organized, maybe they should disperse and let some other group get [responsibility for Seattle Gay Pride]." He added that the LGBT Community Center stepped in last year to organize the smaller events that took place on Capitol Hill, and he would like to see the LGBT Center take it all over this year. He said he is willing to follow the community center downtown for the event if that is what they want to do. He has full faith in the center to be able to take on the task.

Medeiros said that he does not expect any of the Broadway businesses, long the key supporters of the annual Gay Pride celebration, to deal with SOAP again in any way, especially not funding.

"I don't think they will get much more funding for their downtown events," Medeiros said, pointing out that any donations will go first to retiring the debt, rather than toward the annual celebration.

Medeiros was particularly critical of Dale Kershner, former president of the Seattle Pride Committee and then of SOAP, who has quit the organization. Medeiros said it was Kershner who convinced the board to move events downtown, and it was Kershner who signed the contracts.

Fundraising could become an even greater issue for SOAP since they've agreed to hire a professional production company -- Independent Event Solutions -- to oversee this year's festival.

According to The Stranger

The plan is to make the parade profitable through sponsorships, donations from the community, beer gardens, and merchandise sales, and also to pay off the rest of the pride committee's debt within two years.

SOAP has hired a second professional group to solicit sponsorships, but they've already run into a minor problem with the "donations from the community" part of their financing plan.

Unfortunately, according to Capitol Hill Times, SOAP has so far failed to file required state documents to raise funds.

Rebecca Sherrell, information officer for the secretary of state, said a letter was sent to Seattle Out and Proud last week, as the result of a previous press inquiry, telling SOAP it had 30 days to contact the Secretary of State's Office. Sherrell said that only religious and political organizations are exempt from registering as charitable organizations. Political organizations are exempt because they must register with the state's Public Disclosure Commission.

Although it's not mentioned in the neighborhood paper's story, another group has already held a meeting to consider alternative plans for pride week events on Capitol Hill on Friday and Saturday.

The organizer of that group admits, however, that their planning efforts started late. Ray Carter said in an email to the group's list, "Either we are doing this, or we need to disband and stand aside -- running out of time."

Labels: gay organization, Seattle Pride

A one-day festival called Seattle Pride at Seattle Center, sponsored by SOAP, Inc. has recieved a ringing endorsement from at least one Stranger writer. David Schmader gives SOAP "a thousand hurrahs" for the agreement.

According to the PI, SOAP agreed to immediately pay off half of its $100,000 debt from last year's three-day event. The organization will pay off another $25,000 each year for two years.

According to Schmader, the group that was hired by SOAP to produce the one-day festival at the center, Independent Event Solutions, also produces the Capitol Hill Block Party. That event is heavily promoted by The Stranger which is listed as a sponsor.

Schmader raves about the new professional producers of the event.

Now things are back on track, thanks primarily to Independent Event Solutions, the production company run by Marcus Charles (former owner of Neumo's, current owner of Spitfire) and Dave Meinert (former owner of the Mirabeau Room and evergreen civic activist par excellence). IES has worked wonders with the Capitol Hill Block Party, and now they'll turn their attentions to making Seattle Pride the civic extravaganza that Seattle queers and those who love them deserve.

Commenters to the post point out how lucky "Seattle queers and those that love them" are to have straight event producers taking over the event. (We, guess, ya' know, because queers just don't know how to do parties, eh?)

In its press release SOAP said that the volunteer group will now be able to concentrate on the parade.

With the burden of the event production lifted from us, we will be able to devote more time and resources to making the parade more exciting, raising funds for the parade and the Pride celebration at the Center, building community partnerships, and thinking of new ways to celebrate Seattle's LGBT community over the whole month of June.

After last year's dreadful parade production which had far more gaps than entries, it's good news that SOAP realizes they have work to do on that aspect of the event.

But is it realistic for SOAP to "think about" "new ways to celebrate Seattle's LGBT community over the whole month of June"? Our take is that they should stick with their one-day event and let others worry about "ways to celebrate Seattle's LGBT community over the whole month of June."

SOAP has demonstrated in the past two years that it is unwilling to engage in the kind of messy meeting-heavy Seattle consensus politics that is the preferred way of doing things by many in "Seattle's LGBT community" (whatever that may be). SOAP should lower its sights until it can prove itself to queer folk in Seattle. An unseasonably warm and sunny Sunday last year allowed SOAP to show that the center can be a great venue for party day. That's a start, but it isn't enough.

SOAP has its day -- Sunday. It has its location -- downtown and the Seattle Center. It has its trademark on the name "Seattle Pride." They need to show that they can handle that much before they try to do more.

That should be enough for a group that hasn't yet demonstrated an ability to handle even those daunting tasks. SOAP's professional marketing consultants at Baccetti Consulting will want to get the logos that they solicit to appear in as many places as possible. But this isn't yet the time for that to happen. SOAP should let other groups and businesses decide what to do on other days and in other places.

Labels: gay organization, Gay Seattle, Seattle, Seattle Pride

SOAP has announced that they've reached agreement with Seattle Center about their unpaid debt and will produce a festival there in June along with a Pride parade on Fourth Ave.

This is the full text of the announcement sent to their email list:

Seattle -- Seattle Out and Proud (SOaP), organizers of Seattle Pride, is proud to announce that the 33rd Annual Pride parade & festival will be held on Sunday, June 24th 2007.

"SOaP was able to negotiate a plan with Seattle Center that will take care of our past bill with them and move Seattle Pride into the future with the Center as a long-term home," said Seattle Out and Proud President Eric Albert-Gauthier. As part of that plan, SOaP has brought in Independent Event Solutions (IES), a local special event promoter / organizer to help us produce the event at Seattle Center. SOaP and its board will maintain full control of the programming and vision of the festival, but will have professionals to help execute these in a top rate, financially stable fashion.

The parade will take place downtown on Fourth Avenue ending at Seattle Center with the festival. The date has been secured, and the event will happen at Seattle Center this year and into the future.

Aside from professional production, SOaP has also brought in a professional sponsorship firm, Baccetti Consulting, who will dramatically increase the sponsorship income.

SOaP's board will now be working hard to unite the whole community around Seattle Pride '07. We need the community to support the event and the event to support the community. With the burden of the event production lifted from us, we will be able to devote more time and resources to making the parade more exciting, raising funds for the parade and the Pride celebration at the Center, building community partnerships, and thinking of new ways to celebrate Seattle's LGBT community over the whole month of June.

"We apologize for the hard road we have had to go down with the whole community to get to this point. We have made some mistakes, but have done so with the best intentions. We have worked hard, struggled, fought, cried, and have learned a lot in the process," said Seattle Out and Proud Vice President Weston Sprigg. "We'd like to thank Seattle Center and the LGBT community for their 'tough love' and for helping us move into the future with a better plan. We expect to be held to a high standard and believe the community has every right to expect SOaP to represent you in the best possible light. As always with a struggle, we are coming out stronger, wiser, and more capable of doing great things."

We already have a lot to celebrate in 2007 with the Washington State Senate passing the Domestic Partnership bill. We hope this will lead to full equal rights for the LGBT community. SOaP believes that Seattle Pride will not only be a great celebration of progress towards this goal, but will also play an important role in it.

Please visit www.SeattlePride.org for more information, updates, and to join us in making 2007 the best Pride Celebration the Northwest has ever seen. Seattle Pride 2007 - Come Together!

Labels: gay organization, Gay Seattle, Seattle, Seattle Pride

Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports that Seattle Center officials today agreed to consider a "last-ditch" proposal from Seattle Out & Proud, Inc. (SOAP) to stage an LGBT Pride event this year at the center.

In a statement late Thursday afternoon, Seattle spokeswoman Kari Shaw said only, "We have received a proposal and it is under advisement."

She declined to say whether center officials are optimistic about resolving the issue, or to outline the proposal. She also did not say when the center would make a decision.

In a mid-February letter to SOAP, Seattle Center had declared the group "in Default and Breach of the contract" and stated that the center "will be releasing your 2007 dates and forwarding your account to the City of Seattle Law Department for collections."

Seattle Center co-deputy director John Merner nonetheless agreed to meet with SOAP officials today to discuss the issue.

Out and Proud president Eric Albert-Gauthier who met with Merner, also declined to detail the plan other than that it involves repaying the Seattle Center. He didn't say whether the group plans on paying the debt in full before this year's event. He said he was "optimistic" the Seattle Center would allow the festival on its grounds this year. He is expecting a decision from the center sometime next week.

The PI story recounts some of the history of SOAP's management of the event, including its controversial decision in 2005 to move the parade and festival from Capitol Hill to downtown.

Out and Proud's attorney, Dave Coffman, said in an interview on Tuesday that the controvery over the move from Capitol Hill had hurt fundraising and entertainment cost more than expected."

He said the group is planning to scale back its entertainment budget this year, and has hired a professional fundraiser. The group also may charge admission to the festival, he said.

Others like Michael Wells, owner of Bailey-Coy Books on Broadway, who was a critic of the move, had said on Tuesday that he was not surprised by the organization's financial problems.

Beginning with the decision to move the parade, when many in the gay community did not feel consulted beforehand, Wells said the group seemed disorganized and not up to the task.

"This is really unfortunate, really a sad stage of affairs. It looks bad for all of us. It's just a black mark," he said.

Labels: gay organization, Gay Seattle, Seattle, Seattle Pride

A representative of Seattle Out and Proud (SOAP), the group that sponsored last year's downtown Pride parade and festival responded to Seattle Times reporter Sharon Pian Chan who wrote a summary of the group's financial problems for yesterday's paper.

SOAP board member and attorney Dave Coffman said that SOAP is broke and complained to Chan that the group is just a small volunteer organization that "has always operated off the smell of an oily rag. It's running on fumes."

Coffman said the group has hired a professional consultant to work on corporate sponsorships and is trying to attract a more diverse group of sponsors beyond breweries and personal-lubricant makers. ...

Coffman said the board is weighing many options for its future -- charging for admission, changing the parade route to end at Myrtle Edwards Park and becoming a for-profit corporation.

He didn't explain how a broke group hired a professional consultant.

Reporter Chan hints at the root cause of the current crisis:

The event was scraping by financially at Volunteer Park, but the board's controversial decision to move the Capitol Hill parade and festival to Seattle Center cost twice as much. At Volunteer Park, the event cost about $125,000 to put on, which organizers paid for with corporate sponsorships, according to Coffman. The 2006 festival at Seattle Center cost them $250,000, and they came up short $130,000 to pay for the center and other expenses.

Yes. That "controversial decision." SOAP defied strongly stated "community" opinion to move the parade downtown. The story notes that SOAP lost both Microsoft and Budweiser as sponsors for last year's festival -- a loss that could be tied to that controversial decision. Because of that decision, there were two festivals and two parades last year. Companies looking to spread good-will money to community groups shy away from controversy. SOAP created its own controversy last year.

So far, this year, the group has only managed to dig itself deeper in its hole of controversy. Even a "professional consultant" can't make this into something with which corporations will be eager to associate their logos.

"We would love to have the Pride festival here in 2007 and in 2008 but ... we're not sure Pride will happen here in 2007," said Kari Shaw, spokeswoman for Seattle Center.

She said they have had almost no communication with Seattle Out until last week, when officials threatened to cancel Pride's 2007 dates. Seattle Out's board then e-mailed Center officials a 2007 budget, which included $65,000 to pay Seattle Center for this year's event and $40,000 in debt service for the 2006 festival. Shaw said the Center did not consider that e-mail a payment plan.

SOAP treats Seattle Center with the same kind of "don't bother us" contempt that the group has shown to the LGBT organizations and activists. But the story says that "Coffman and the board plan to meet with Center officials on March 1 to discuss how it will meet its obligations."

Coffman told Chan that SOAP is trying to "morph into a more professional organization." They should have done that before taking on a huge and unsupportable debt.

Center officials said they gave Seattle Out's president an estimate in 2005, and the 2006 bill came in below that estimate. Coffman, who has been on the board for three years, said the president did not relay the information to the board and is no longer with Seattle Out.

They have a lot of morphing ahead of them.

Labels: gay news, gay organization, Gay Seattle, Seattle Pride

Seattle Times has a brief story today about the big unpaid bill for last year's Pride festival at Seattle Center. The story doesn't offer much new information that wasn't in SGN's original story, but does offer this quotation, predictably enough from a lawyer for Seattle Out and Proud (SOAP), the group that ran up the $100k bill:

Dave Coffman, legal counsel for Seattle Out And Proud, said, "We intend to pay."

Coffman said the organization experienced "sticker shock" when it got the bill, but intends to meet with the city to figure out a payment plan.

SOAP has launched an revised and greatly expanded website with a wide-ranging events calendar and a booking service that is likely to bring them a few extra dollars for those who book through the site. It has a donation form on each page since this current situation is sure to inspire confidence, no?

What the site seems to be missing is any recognition of what can only be called a "financial crisis" for the organization. The organization might learn something from the current "apology offensive" being conducted by jetBlue Airlines. Rather than giving vague excuses and avoiding reporters, that company's CEO has appeared anywhere he can find a camera or reporter's notebook to admit that his company screwed up and to tell reporters and potential customers exactly what they plan to do in the future to avoid similar mistakes.

It's a good lesson in crisis management that SOAP could learn from. Of course, jetBlue is a public corporation with a highly paid CEO and marketing staff. SOAP is just a little all-volunteer local non-profit. But both organizations depend on the good will of their very different markets.

SOAP has done too little to inspire confidence. The group has what we suppose is a large mailing list. They should have sent at least two or three explanations and apologies to that list by now. We haven't seen anything from the list. (Perhaps all three email addresses that we've used to subscribe to their list have been removed?)

The website that is soliciting donations should also have a detailed explanation of how those donations will be used.

Unfortunately, SOAP seems to have retreated into its accustomed hide-and-decide method of operation -- the same technique the group used when it decided to move the events to the expensive downtown locations that caused them such "sticker shock."

---
The new SOAP website also has one of those unwise, unnecessary and irritating Flash intro screens. (Hint: This is how Flash can be used without the search-engine and user-unfriendly click-away-as-quick-as-you-can splash page.)

Labels: gay news, gay organization, Gay Seattle, Seattle, Seattle Pride

Seattle Gay News reports that Seattle Out and Proud (SOAP), the non-profit group that sponsored last year's downtown parade and a festival at Seattle Center, owes over $100,000 to the Center for the event.

In the latest of three letters dated January 26, 2007, Seattle Center Director of Productions John Merner issued a stern warning to SOAP President Eric Albert-Gauthier. "If we are unable to resolve this before February 15, 2007 I will be forced to release the '07 dates and instruct the City Law Department to pursue collection," he wrote.

THREE LETTERS FROM SEATTLE CENTER
SOAP was issued its first statement of balance owed on August 28, 2006, in the amount of $95,707.91. On October 2, SOAP was notified that the bill had begun to accrue interest and penalties. On October 27, Merner wrote the first of three "demand letters" to SOAP about their unpaid balance.

SOAP officials failed to show up for several scheduled meetings with Seattle Center staff, according to SGN.

Albert-Gauthier, SOAP's president wouldn't meet with SGN for an in-person interview but did reply by email that the group planned to hold its events this year as scheduled despite the bill.

"Seattle Pride 2007 will take place on Saturday, June 23, and Sunday, June 24, 2007 at the Seattle Center. The parade will take place on Sunday, June 24, 2007 at 11:00 on 4th Avenue as it did last year," Albert-Gauthier told SGN managing editor Robert Raketty who wrote the paper's story.

In emails to the SGN, Albert-Gauthier confirmed that SOAP also owes money to other creditors from last year's event, in addition to the Seattle Center. However, he refused to identify them. "I will not name the creditors at this time. I don't see the relevance," he said.

Albert-Gauthier didn't explain how the group planned to pay for both last year's event and this year's, but Raketty says in a blog post,

SOAP has been hurriedly asking for sponsorships from major corporations, especially in these last few weeks. I believe few corporations will want to sponsor an event, when the money they donate could conceivable be applied to last years debt. There is no assurance SOAP will have the financial capability to mount a 2007 event.

SOAP was remarkably non-responsive in 2005 and 2006 to concerns raised by those who did not want Pride events moved away from Capitol Hill. The festival at Seattle Center seemed to give SOAP greater credibility. Despite dreadful production values of their parade last year on 4th Avenue, their well-received festival at the Center gave them a veneer of success.

But, in response to this financial crisis, the group has taken the same circle-the-wagons approach that it used to force its location change. As Raketty points out in his blog post, "At no point did SOAP approach the community or its sponsors to explain the situation. They had six and half months to solicit donations and support."

The main story in SGN reveals, remarkably, that the group raised only $121 in donations during last year's festival at the Center. And that happened despite holding the event on a day with weather ideally suited to the event -- something that nobody can count on in a Seattle June. Albert-Gauthier told SGN that "funds obtained through sponsorships did not cover expenses."

The organization and, especially, the folks running it don't deserve another chance on this one. Somebody other than Seattle taxpayers needs to pay the bill. It's too bad it can't be collected from the small group that has taken the name "Seattle Pride" as their own personal property. But whoever pays last year's bill, it seems clear that the current leadership of SOAP is an embarrassment that shouldn't be associated with the name "Pride."

Labels: gay news, Gay Seattle, Seattle, Seattle Pride

It's that time of year when publications and blogs turn reflective and cover for vacations by producing Top-X lists. We'll look at some of the other lists in a moment, but our own top 5 in 2006 would look something like this:

1. Supreme's marriage inequality decision. In a close split decision, the Washington Supreme Court decided that they just don't have the chops to enforce the state's constitution and that legislators should do it for them. The Supremes decided that it's OK for marriage to be a special right for heteros.
2. LGBT civil rights, finally. After 30-years, a state civil rights law that includes LGBT folk finally passed in January, 2006. It prohibits discrimination because of sexual orientation in hiring and contracts. An initiative to overturn the law failed to scare up enough signatures to qualify for the ballot.
3. Bars are dropping. Timberline closed in 2005. In October, 2006 Thumpers served its last drink. The Elite will close in January. Manray can keep its space only until November, 2007. It may not seem as important as the big political stories, but this kind of thing may affect even more folks. It changes the character of our real neighborhood.
4. Dueling parades. Seattle Pride moved its parade downtown. Another group tried to keep the tradition of a Broadway parade alive for one more year. Pride earned raves for its Seattle Center post-parade rally. Its 4th Avenue parade drew big crowds and produced huge boring gaps. But, at least, it looked good on TV with a great hosting turn by Mark "Moms" Finley.
5. Legislature gets a little more gay. Long-time 43rd District Representative Ed Murray sailed through to an easy victory when he decided to move the state senate. His former seat kept its "gay rep" credentials when openly gay lawyer Jamie Pedersen finally won in a crowded race to succeed Murray and former Rep. Cal Anderson.

Labels: Gay events, gay news, Gay Seattle, legislature, LGBTQ, politics, Seattle, Seattle Pride

This afternoon's parade by SOP was certainly comprehensive. It seemed to include just about any group that wanted to be seen as allied with the LGBT community and that owns or could make a banner of some sort. And most of those groups had a dozen or so people walking behind the banner and waving at the crowds along the street.

There were church groups, affinity groups, employee groups, just about every ".org" serving LGBT Seattle, companies, city agencies. Several of them managed to put together some kind of entertainment for the crowds. Unfortunately, because of the conspicuous lack of parade monitors, most of those crowd-pleasing entertainments helped to create the huge breaks in the proceedings. There were even a few floats spread out among the seas of waving humanity.

But, oh, did it ever take a long time to get through all that.

So, if last night's parade/march on Broadway seemed fast-paced, energetic, and brief with a good mix of entry types, today's installment seemed the opposite of all those things. Today's parade seemed insufferably long and drown out. Anyone who actually managed to watch the whole stung-out affair spent most of the time waiting beside a blank roadway for yet another group to walk by.

We watched the endless delays mostly from a shady spot at Fourth and Blanchard which is only a few blocks from the starting point. We can only imagine how bad it must have been closer to Seattle Center. At one point about midway through the endless afternoon, there was break that stretched for five or six long blocks. Standing in the middle of the street, we could just barely see the gold banners of a group coming along to the south and could no longer see the last group that had passed on to the north.

Clearly it's a difficult thing to keep something like this moving especially because they chose to run this parade along a route that required frequent stops for bus lines to make their way through the paraders. But still... it seems like one of the basic responsibilities of parade management to keep things moving.

Imagine walking into a dance club and having the sound system go silent after every few mixes while the DJ searches around for the next mix. Wouldn't stay around for long, eh? But that's what the "organizers" of this parade did. It's rude to the people watching and it's rude to the people who agreed to be part of this travesty of a "parade."

Tags: Gay pride Seattle Pride Seattle Gay Seattle

Labels: Gay events, LGBTQ, Seattle Pride

So what did you think of the march and paradelette on Broadway this evening. [This is us begging for at least one comment.]

We thought it was cute and energetic, if a bit short (not that there's anything wrong with short, especially when it's also energetic). The crowds were far thinner, but still respectable in the stretch from Seattle Central to Mercer. For the parade's size, it sported a good mix of entries including music, skin, drag queens, skin, protesters, and even a few (thankfully few) politicians -- most of them from the 43rd District (including -- by our misleading count since we were watching for other things before the lens of our camera -- Murray, Pedersen, and Street).

(And yes, we fully expect Savage to find something weasley because some of the men supporting one of those candidates were wearing kilts.)

So it was a good start and certainly shows there's still a demand for having this kind of thing on the Hill.

And, oh yeah, if you were there you might have even caught a glimpse of one of the HomoAquatic sea-horses. We admire the woman who rode that amazing creation along the entire parade route. But even if you saw it, there'd be no way for you to know that it was a HomoAquatic seahorse since there were no signs for the Queen City Cruise, and (ahem...) absolutely no sign of those sexy HomoAquatic fliers.

The seahorse and the boys with sailer hats were behind the banner for Action Northwest, one of the beneficiaries of the Cruise. But, oh, how we wish there had been some sign of what all that was meant to signify.

Fortunately, though, "There's always next time" might mean as early as Sunday at noon.

[Pictures to come...]

Tags: Gay pride Seattle Pride Seattle Gay Seattle Gay party Queen City Cruise

Labels: Gay events, LGBTQ, Seattle Pride

As you enjoy this weekend of double the parade/marches and double the festivals, be sure to check our comprehensive Pride guide, so you don't miss a thing -- or, at least, know what you're missing.

And while you're at the parades, pick up one of those sexy little fliers for Queen City Cruise: HomoAquatic at either of the marches or festivals (if we manage to get enough folks to pass them out, that is). It's a pity you probably won't be able to see the great HomoAquatic sea-horse costumes that Mark made for the events. But they ended up being just so elaborate that it was hard to find anyone to wear them. You're sure to see them later, however, at some bar events (where there's room) and at the Cruise itself on August 12.

Tickets to the Cruise are now on sale. Congrats to Donald and Wayne for getting theirs almost as soon as we had the button up on the page. We're delighted to see that six others quickly joined them. See you all on the Cruise!

It might have helped that they had signed up for our Cruise alerts email list. (Somebody actually asked about that in comments. We so wish there were more comments.) Get the Cruise scoop. Sign up for the list.

The Cuff [see map] has offered great insider advice on its own mailing list for its wildly popular street party: To avoid the often long entry line, you can drop by the gate near Pine as early as 11 am. Pay your 10 bucks, show your (required) ID, and get your hand stamped. Once you have that stamp, you can get back into the festivities through the (usually) shorter re-entry line. They take credit cards at the main gate and will even let you get some cash back.

They also offer advice that could serve you well almost anywhere you go on this hot weekend:

Eat! Sunblock! Fluids! Cruise! Make up cards with your phone/email. Take lots of fun pictures... Have fun!

And share those fun pics with us and/or with them (cuffevents[at]aol.com), or with anyone you think might share them (umm... the appropriate ones, of course) even more widely.

Oh, and a personal note from our WebWrangler: Curse Comcast! You managed to drop his connection for over 8 10 hours at precisely the most inappropriate moment, just hours before we had intended to take the Cruise tickets page live. What good is a supposedly fast connection (which hasn't been all that fast for the last couple of weeks) when it's unreliable. Comcastic def: Whenever we get around to it, we'll fix it.

Tags: Gay pride Seattle Pride Seattle Gay Seattle Gay bars Gay party Queen City Cruise Comcast

Labels: Gay events, LGBTQ, Seattle Pride

We have wealth (one could even call it an overabundance) of Pride celebrations to look forward to at the end of June. To help you schedule your own parties and celebrations, we offer this list of some of the big events. But be sure to check out the all the bars on our map, since it's a great time to visit someplace new or unfamiliar, or to revisit a familiar old haunt.

Reign


Pride Kickoff Party



XY: A rare collection of male photographs



Wildrose beer garden


Seattle Men's Chorus Pride Concert: Our Mighty Men



Queen City Cruise tickets



Run and Walk With Pride 2006


Out & Proud Pride Festival



Seattle LGBT Center QueerFest on the Hill



Wildrose Beer Garden



Raise Your Voice March and Dyke Rally & March



Out of the Closet Fashion show



Seattle Men's Chorus Pride Concert: Our Mighty Men



One (Dance party)



Red Light -- Afterhours at Chapel



Out and Pride LGBT Pride Parade/March

Out & Proud Pride Festival



Cuff Street Party


Wildrose beer garden
Sunday, June 25, 2006 12:00 PM - 10:00 PM
Wildrose
Info,tickets

R-Place Outdoor barbeque and fundraiser

Confession (T-Dance)

After Pride Party

Pride Closing Party, Sugar

Tags: Gay pride Seattle Pride Seattle Gay Seattle Gay bars

Labels: Gay events, LGBTQ, Seattle Pride

In an April letter to the group's public mailing list (which, unfortunately, is not available on the group's sparse website), Seattle Out & Proud, Inc [SOP] claimed that "We have received more than twice as many entries as we had last year at this time." The email warned that the group might have to cut off parade registrations before the end of May.

Something seems to have happened between then and now because a list of parade participants on the group's site now shows 98 entries. We don't know for sure how many entries were in last year's parade on Broadway, but it sure did seem to us like far more than 49. Hmm.

Although the page isn't dated, it appears to have been uploaded to their server on May 4, 2006 (according to page info returned by Firefox).
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[Update, 5/24] SOP's homepage states that registration was closed on Friday, June 19, for both the parade and for food vender booths at the festival on the Seattle Center grounds.

"We have to keep the parade under three hours and with the number of participants, we have reached that limit," a notice on the site explains.

The participants list hasn't been updated.
---
The current list includes only seven business entries, so viewers won't have to look at too many of those undecorated company semis rolling down the street.

The list of non-profits shows a range of groups from labor unions to political groups and candidates to religious and school groups to queer sports groups, to social agencies. A wide variety of local social and political-action groups have signed up. Dykes on Bikes (which will lead off the Broadway march this year) is missing, but there is a group called SQREAM which cleverly managed to find the name "Scooter Queers Riding Everywhere and More" as an excuse for the great acronym. The Flying House Choruses (Seattle Men's and Seattle Women's) and Seattle Lesbian & Gay Chorus will parade as will Rainbow City Band.

What's missing? Well, we don't see any of the Pike/Pine or other Capitol Hill bars on the list. Since they often provide the most outrageous (and fun) entries, that probably makes the whole thing a bit "safer" for the KSTW cameras that will be recording the festivities for broadcast Sunday evening. But it might make it all a bit less entertaining for viewers.

SOP will hold its public board of directors meeting this evening (Sunday, May 21) from 6 to 8 pm at the Lifelong AIDS Alliance meeting room, 1002 E. Seneca St. in Seattle [see map]. The meeting is open to the public.

Tags: Gay pride Seattle Pride Seattle Gay Seattle

Labels: Gay events, LGBTQ, Seattle Pride

Well now, things seem to be getting a bit testy in the world of pride planning.

SGN reports that Seattle Out and Proud, Inc [SOAP], the producers of the Sunday downtown parade, have sent a lawyerly and "strongly worded warning letter" to the Seattle LGBT Center and the organizers of the Saturday march on Broadway ordering them not to use the term "Seattle Pride" and accusing them of "torturous interference with SOAP's ability to operate."

(SGN has been listed in some press releases as a co-sponsor of the Broadway march.)

SGN doesn't print the letter from SOAP's lawyers, but does quote parts of it in its brief story and in a long letter from LGBT Center's executive director, Shannon Thomas.

As Thomas interprets it, the letter claims that the Center and SGN "interfered in some way with their ability to attract sponsors for its event at the Seattle Center."

If that's one of the primary issues, then SOAP's own website does, indeed, indicate that they've been relatively unsuccessful so far in attracting sponsors. They show only three sponsors on their remarkably incomplete site -- none of those sponsors is likely to have paid a sponsorship fee. In contrast, by this time last year, Seattle Pride had a page full of sponsors including Microsoft and a beer company.

But it seems to our non-lawyer's mind like a difficult task to show that LGBT Center and/or SGN have tortuously interfered with SOAP. Example: Last year, it was SOAP's predecessor board at Seattle Pride Committee that decided to drop SGN as the publisher of its officially sanctioned pride week guide and advertising handout. That didn't seem to make much difference to SGN which still printed an ad-packed pride-week handout, but it could make a difference to potential sponsors who wouldn't be getting exposure in that widely-viewed medium.

But whatever the legal merits of the spat might be, sending the letter strikes us as an incredibly lame PR move by SOAP. Both of these event organizers seem to us to be operating as something like a public trust. They're both putting on their events for an amorphous community or communities. Both depend on those communities to participate in the events and to volunteer to help out for free to get them running.

The bits of SOAP's letter quoted by SGN suggest that the board of that organization believes that it now has some sort of proprietary interest in the term "Seattle Pride." And maybe they have somehow managed to manipulate copyright or trademark laws to get such a de-jure interest. But really, what good is the name without the support of people in the broad LGBTQ communities?

We doubt that many of those who will go down to 4th Ave on Sunday, June 25, will be there to celebrate SOAP, Inc's proprietary interests. They'll be there or they'll be on Broadway Saturday evening because they believe it's about them and about us. They'll be there because they believe Seattle Pride is about all of the gay, lesbian, bi, queer, transgender, questioning, and/or supporting folks in this town and region.

We hope that SOAP is working diligently today to put onto their website some kind of explanation of this whole affair.

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Labels: Gay events, LGBTQ, Seattle Pride

Seattlest was too kind to give us an extra-special hat-tip at the end of their wonderful summary of our dueling parade/marches. Thanks.

Below, we're going to try to crib from our organizational memories a bit of the long and sometimes sorry history that has contributed to this year's less-than-desirable dis-organization of Pride activities.

Seattlest guesses that

the "political march" distinction has more to do with their permit application to the city than any actual focus planned for the event, and we could be wrong, but if it looks like the Pride Parade, and it smells like Dykes on Bikes (the bikes, not the dykes)...

We're not so sure because it seems to us that the two parades represent a long-standing bifurcation in local LGBT politics and activism. There is, after all, not just tradition involved in this, but history as well. Oh, the history...

Ever since the last time there were dueling Pride marches/parades in Seattle (1984, we think it was), there has been a relatively uneasy alliance between those who regarded Pride Day as an opportunity for "celebration" (which is itself a code word) and those who regarded it as an opportunity for protest.

For most of its 23-year history on Broadway, the events (officially called the Seattle Lesbian Gay Bi Transgender Pride Parade/March and Freedom Rally) were presented by a volunteer group that followed the organizing principles of the political-protest crowd, but worked diligently to include the "celebration" crowd in the events. The Pride Committee attempted to be broadly inclusive and to operate through consensus. Especially in the early years, the planning would begin with a big and often loud "community meeting" which would devolve into smaller (and sometimes even louder) groups who would then try to focus in on what needed to be done to get the ever-growing weekend event running for its next iteration.

While that kind of process can be inclusive -- at least of those willing to attend sometimes testy meetings, it is rarely efficient. That lack of efficiency in the collaborative process led to a few breakdowns through the years.

In 1997 (we believe it was) a group that included The Stranger's Dan Savage as its spokesmodel, attempted to disband the Pride Committee and replace it with a more efficient and business-like organizing model. That didn't work out so well. The original Pride Committee ended up presenting both the parade/march (it's importantly PC or use both words and the slash since the term was arrived at by "consensus" only after hour-upon-hour of meeting discussion) and the rally.

The next coup -- an even bigger one -- happened in '98 or '99 (sorry, our collective memories fade with age on some of this stuff) when the Volunteer Park permits were granted by the city, not to the official "Pride Committee", but rather to two guys who had for several years been most instrumental in organizing the "Freedom Rally" part of the event. They had chafed a bit at the consensus rule that any "entertainment/celebration" element at the park had to be balanced by a "political/protest" element. They hoped, by getting the permits issued to a new group that they controlled, to shift the park event's balance more toward what they regarded as crowd-pleasing entertainments, so that it would be more of a festival and less of a rally.

That kind of thing didn't sit well with the mostly leftist queer political groups that had led the uneasy Pride alliance for most of the prior decade. With SGN's editor George Bakan leading the charge, elements of the original Pride Committee convinced the mayor, Paul Schell (if we have our years right), to cancel both the park permit for the rally/festival and the street permit for the parade/march.

Both permits were eventually reissued to the Pride Committee, which then percolated along for a few years with relatively few public eruptions. Until last year.

And, frankly, we're not exactly sure what happened last year since our local gay print media (such as it isn't) has traditionally been too personally involved in the Pride planning processes to cover their politics accurately. But it sure does look like something pretty nasty happened. Several of the volunteers who had worked on Pride events since the '99 re-compromise resigned Seattle Pride Committee in protest when the group that had taken control of the Pride Committee board started talking about moving things to downtown and the Center.

The discomfort of those volunteers brought back to the planning process some of the same political/protest activists who had helped broker the original Pride Committee alliance, along with Broadway-area business owners. But, as near as we can tell, their voices were pretty much ignored by the current board of what was soon renamed Seattle Out and Proud, Inc. [SOP] (dba Seattle Pride) which owns the downtown parade and festival permits.

It's the political/protest activists and their younger and more energetic allies who then turned to the Seattle LGBT Center for help in creating this year's political march on Broadway.

So, then... We could be wrong since anyone who wants to join into the march has been invited to do so. But we still wouldn't expect the march on Broadway to quite match the character of recent Sunday parade/marches on that street.

We haven't yet heard much from the Broadway businesses who were so upset last year when Seattle Pride said they were thinking of taking the parade downtown. Somehow, however, we doubt that a political march on Broadway on a Saturday evening is exactly what they were expecting when they signed those petitions a year ago.

We mentioned that the term "celebration" when used in a Pride Day context is often a code word. It may be unfair, but it's a code word for business and commercial interests. What's odd about last year's Pride Committee coup is that, while it seemed to represent an embrace of the week's "celebration" aspects and a rejection of the political/protest aspects, it didn't quite work out that way since commercial and business interests on Capitol Hill sparked the initial protests to the move.

Somehow, however, those interests don't appear to have had the necessary meeting-stamina to either change SOP's collective mind about parading among the parking lots of 4th Ave or to greatly influence the character of the alternative march on Broadway.

We look forward to next year's compromise.

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Labels: Gay events, LGBTQ, Seattle Pride

It's not much of a surprise, but a recent announcement [.pdf document] sent to the LGBT Center's mailing list makes a second Pride march event official.

The announcement sent "To all LGBT organizations and their friends, all unions and professional groups, all individuals and families, all elected officials, all groups of employees from corporations" doesn't explain much about the nature of the event, except to say that the second parade will be "A chance to celebrate our community and make a political statement that we're here and proud of it!"

Although the release uses the term "Pride on Broadway" more often, its official name is the "Raise Your Voice March."

The RYV March starts at 6 pm, on Saturday evening, June 24. The staging area and starting point for the march is the Seattle Central Community College campus at Pine and Broadway.

The organizers of the march don't have their own website, but seem to be using the LGBT Center site to relay information.

They do have an email address at which they're taking free registrations by groups that plan to march. The order of line-up in the parade will be determined by the date of the registration email sent to PrideOnBroadway@hotmail.com. In your registration email, be sure to include your group's name, contact person, email address, and phone number.

The release emphasizes the "traditional" nature of the second event:

• "...here's your chance to celebrate Pride on Broadway, just like we always have."
• "We will march as we always do, right up Broadway.
• "The parade route will move north on Broadway as it traditionally has, proceeding to Volunteer Park.

Of course, there's another tradition being invoked here. That's the kind of Seattle-process political tradition that responds to an unpopular decision by creating some kind of alternative that makes both methods less successful. We famously and expensively engaged in that traditional method with dueling transit systems. Over 20 years ago, we also had deuling Pride events, with two marches/parades on different days.

Oh, the joy of tradition, eh?

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Labels: Gay events, LGBTQ, Seattle Pride

Seattle Pride is now taking applications for booths at the Pride Festival site at Seattle Center. If reserved before May 15, the cost of a basic tent space ranges from $85 for informational (non-sales) booths by local non-profit groups to $550 for for-profit businesses who plan to sell non-food items from their space.

A $100 security deposit is required for each booth space reserved.

The Seattle Pride 2006 Festival will be open from 11 am to 6 pm on both Saturday, June 24 and Sunday, June 25. Booths must be fully staffed and prepared to serve customers during those hours.

Seattle Pride is requiring that any tents used in the booth space have a white top. There are a number of other requirements including a prohibition on any kind of stake that pierces the ground at the Center and a prohibition on the sale or distribution of stickers of any kind, including temporary tattoos. There's a long list of other restrictions, so be sure to read the agreement carefully before making plans for your booth.

Entertainer applications
Entertainers who hope to perform at a Festival stage should send press packets to Seattle Pride.

Parade applications may be cut off by May
Tammy Zoch, executive director of Seattle Out and Proud, warns in a mailing to the group's public mailing list that Parade/March applications may be cut off before the end of April:

We have received more then twice as many applications as we had last year at this time. In fact we have just about as many groups signed up right now as we had in the Parade in 2004. This is a mixed blessing because we need to keep the Parade to 3 hours in length. At the rate we are going we could easily have more then enough groups signed up by the end of this month.

Online applications for spots in the parade/march are still available for now. Again, there are a number of new restrictions for the event including a prohibition on throwing anything from a float or group into the crowd.

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Labels: Gay events, gay organization, LGBTQ, Seattle Pride

The LGBT Community Center will hold two community forums next week to help organize Pride Week events on the Hill and elsewhere in the city.

Both public forums will be held at the Center at 1115 E Pike St. [see map]. The first forum is this Sunday, March 26 from 4 to 6 pm. A second forum will be held Thursday, March 30, from 7 to 9 pm. Everyone interested in what happens in June is encouraged to attend.

A press release from the Center that appears to have been printed verbatum by Capitol Hill Times kind of explains what's going on. Kind of. As often happens with stuff from the Center, this one is brimming with over-the-top committee-speak.

As near as we can make out from the release, the Center is trying to do something for Pride Week that would compliment rather than compete with the downtown parade and festival being organized by Seattle Pride (aka Seattle Out and Proud, Inc.).

"You may not agree with your brother or sister's position, but we have to find a way to work together to reach a common goal," the release quotes Center director Shannon Thomas as "saying."

But despite the collaborative gloss, the release also notes that "the Center is working with local groups who would like to have a political march and other festivities on the Hill."

That kind of near-duplication of events seems to us to come perilously close to deuling Pride events. Clearly, a good deal of work will be required at those forums to turn this into something complimentary and collaborative. At first blush, it would appear that a "political march and fesival on the Hill" would, in fact, draw participants and messages away from the Seattle Pride events. But maybe there's some way other than just stacking together "C" words like "collaboration", "cooperation", "compliment", "consensus", and "community" to prevent this kind of thing from becoming "competition". Maybe.

But there are also good signs for the week. From the Center's release:

The center has worked with Seattle Out and Proud in order to make sure there wasn't huge overlapping in festivities - allowing everyone to have the option to celebrate and be an activist - wherever in town that might occur.

"Not having activities at Seattle Center in the evening on Saturday allows folks to come back to the Hill if they want to participate in events there. We'll also be working together to have shuttle service from downtown to the Hill," Thomas said. "We want to make sure that people who want to head to Seattle Center, and come up to the Hill, or vise versa, have options to make it easier.

But there are other possibilities as well. Speaking only for himself, your WebWrangler would still love to see some kind of speedo race on the hill. Maybe a "bunny speedo" race or a "sailor speedo" race. Sure, it would be derivative. But it could be fun. It could be outrageous. And it could draw folks to the Hill. It could even raise some money for the costly political battle against initiative huckster Tim Eyeman's discrimination referendum and initiative.

And we suspect that a press release that talks about something like "positive celebration of body consciousness" could make it all seem "correct".

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Labels: Gay events, gay organization, LGBTQ, Seattle Pride

Applications for entries in this year's Seattle Pride parade/march are now available online at the Seattle Pride website. Applications must be submitted by June 1.

The first five registered entries in each of several designated categories will go first in the parade. Location of other entries will be determined by lottery drawings.

The theme chosen for this year's relocated event is Seattle Out and Proud. We're guessing that they chose that name rather than the more obvious Downtown and Out because "Seattle Out and Proud, Inc." is also the name of the newly-incorporated non-profit that is organizing the downtown event.

The parade will start at Westlake Center at 11 am and march its way past the lovely parking lots, construction sites, and an evangelical church on 4th Avenue to Seattle Center where the festival will be held on both Saturday and Sunday [see partial map of route]. Exactly how the parade's entries will navigate the complicated and very busy streets between 4th, Denny, and Broad is not yet obvious.

The parade entry fee for local businesses is $500. For national businesses, the fee is $1500. Individuals, organizations, and non-profits are asked to make a $25 donation.

Bigger floats were offered as one of the reasons for the move to 4th Avenue since the street doesn't have overhead trolley wires. But the floats will still have to make it under trolley wires on their way to the street, so they are still restricted to 12 feet in height. A float can be 12 feet wide and as much as 25 feet long.

The organizers suggest that participating groups should

Explore costumes, props, themes, choreography, or moving your group along the route in a different manner. Whether you dance or march, be colorful and flamboyant! Get the attention you want with the use of props. Keep in mind that the spectators have a limited view, so focus on music, color, and huge costumes.

At least some parts of the parade will be broadcast on tape delay by KSTW (aka UPN 11) which is owned by Viacom. Watch the broadcast from 6 to 8pm Sunday evening on channel 11.

The entry form notes that "Representatives of the Television network will have final say as to what is compliant with FCC regulations and considered suitable for broadcast." But Viacom also owns the MTV networks, so they're unlikely to be too restrictive.

Seattle Pride is also accepting nominations for this year's parade grand marshals.

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Labels: Gay events, LGBTQ, Seattle Pride

The unscientific (and therefore arguably meaningless) poll by SGN that we mentioned last week is now complete.

They ended up with 524 responses. Of those, 53% prefer to keep both the parade/march and the rally on Capitol Hill, while 44% support the planned move of both events to downtown and Seattle Center. The rest of the respondents were evenly split among those who don't care either way and those who support split events with a parade on Broadway with a rally at Seattle Center.

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Labels: Gay events, LGBTQ, Seattle Pride

Seattle Pride Committee (SPC) has officially announced the long-expected move of Pride activities to downtown and Seattle Center.

SPC had reserved the Center grounds even before the 2005 event, but a final decision about the move from Volunteer Park and Broadway was delayed after significant opposition developed about the plans.

The announcement was made after a vote by the SPC board in a press release to media.

The decision to move the Festival was made after numerous public meetings. The vote was conducted this week to include the incoming board members, allowing them to have a voice in this decision.

"While recognizing the Hill as the traditionally 'queer center' of Seattle, crowd size and safety demand a move to a larger site," said Seattle Pride Board Member Dale Kershner. "We would love to collaborate to stage an event on the Hill during the weekend of Pride to commemorate that history, but the bulk of the Festival will happen at the Center," he said.

The festival, scheduled for June 24 and 25 in 2006, will be a free event even at the Center.

Although it's expected to follow Fourth Avenue to the Center, the exact route of the parade downtown was not detailed in the press release or on the group's website which still displays the Capitol Hill route.

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Labels: Gay events, LGBTQ, Seattle Pride

Media on Pride public meeting:

Here is just a slight bit more about last night's Pride meeting from the sparse coverage in local media:
PI: 8,000 sign petition to keep Pride Parade put
KING5: Dozens protest move of Seattle's Gay Pride Parade

Although both Q13 and King5 had cameras and reporters at last night's meeting, Q13 has nothing about it that we could find on their website.

Our reports (complete with Poodleer-style misspelled names) are here: On process talk Summary

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Labels: Gay events, gay organization, LGBTQ, Seattle Pride

Your web-wrangler offers these few notes from a meeting held Sunday evening:

About 60 people crowded into what soon became a sweltering conference room Sunday to sound off to the board of Seattle Pride about their proposal to move activities to downtown and Seattle Center.

The meeting was immediately opened to comments from the crowd. The comments were overwhelmingly opposed to the move. Of the 35 or 40 speakers only six or seven expressed support for the move.

The most emotional of the statements in favor of moving the festival to Seattle Center came from a woman who told the board that holding the event in Volunteer Park makes it inaccessible to many in wheelchairs. "We need to be inclusive of everyone," she said.

Most of the speakers, however, expressed a strong desire to keep the events on the Hill.

"Capitol Hill is a cultural center" said one woman who introduced herself as native American. "It's a center even for people who don't live there. We need to preserve that."

Several speakers expressed concern for safety if the parade were staged downtown. "You're going to have gay-bashings like you've never seen," said a woman who explained that she lives in the Regrade area.

Speakers were called to the podium in the same order they'd arrived. Most of the first several speakers were business owners who expressed dismay at plans to move to the parade, including Carl Medeiros, a Capitol Hill business owner who plopped down a petition with, he said, 8265 signatures of those opposed to the move.

Rick McKinnon, a veteran of the Freedom Day Committee -- Seattle Pride's predecessor organization -- said, "Let's focus on improving what we have." He suggested that SPC might hold float-making seminars and should return the rainbow banners to Broadway. He questioned a point on the handout from SPC board members which claims that Broadway couldn't handle larger crowds for the parade. "There's still plenty of room," he said, while admitting that crowds get thick in a few spots, but "that's part of the fun."

A Broadway apartment manager expressed similar sentiments. "We're not ready to move the parade downtown," said Lee [and here your WebWrangler shows how long it's been since he held a reporter's pen since he didn't get the last name right] Sorano. "I don't think we're ready yet to sustain four days at Seattle Center."

A former SPC board member, said much the same. "Never once did we hear anything positive about moving this off the Hill. Let's go back to the drawing board. You are not a team that can take this event out of this community."

Although the tone became more contentious as the meeting was breaking up (and as the temperature in the room rose), the comments were mostly civil and mostly respectful. Nearly everyone kept to the three-minute time slot for comments.

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Labels: Gay events, gay organization, LGBTQ, Seattle Pride

If you've wanted to talk with Seattle Pride Committee about their proposed move of pride actvities from Capitol Hill to downtown and Seattle Center, you'll get your chance on Sunday, July 17 when the group hosts a public meeting to discuss the issues.

Here is the full text of a press release sent to their public mailing list:

SEATTLE -- The Seattle Pride Committee will hold a community forum Sunday, July 17, to receive community input regarding the plans to relocate the Seattle Pride festival and parade starting next year.

The forum is scheduled for 5 to 8 p.m. on Sunday, July 17, at the Lifelong AIDS Alliance conference room, 1002 E. Seneca St. Please check the SPC Web site for any last minute announcements. Anyone who may require interpretive services or other assistance in order to attend the meeting is asked to contact the Seattle Pride Committee no later than the close of business day on Wednesday, July 13. Please send an e-mail with your request to info@seattlepride.org. Include a day and nighttime phone number for someone at SPC to contact you and please be sure to say ACCOMODATION REQUEST in the subject line.

Last month, the SPC announced its plans to move the two-day festival from Volunteer Park to the Seattle Center and the parade route from Broadway on Capitol Hill to Fourth Avenue in downtown Seattle. The committee also plans to extend the festival from two days to four. Although the SPC has reserved the Seattle Center and received approval from the city of Seattle to move the parade route to Fourth Avenue starting in 2006, a final decision has not been made.

The July 17 community forum will allow the community an opportunity to hear from board members as to the reasons for these proposals. The SPC board also wants to give community members the opportunity to address their concerns and questions before a final decision is made.

"We know a lot of emotions are involved here," Frank Leonzal, President of the SPC, said. "We understand and appreciate that for a lot of people in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, particularly business owners on Broadway, these proposals represent a dramatic change. We want everyone to better understand our reasons for them."

"Board members are open to hearing alternatives or efforts the SPC can make to lessen the negative impacts people feel these proposals may have on the Capitol Hill neighborhood," Leonzal said. "Still, board members are committed to doing what they believe is in the best interest of Seattle Pride and the entire lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered community of Seattle and the Pacific Northwest.

"We strongly believe that over the years Seattle Pride has grown to such an extent that continuing to hold the festival at Volunteer Park and the parade on Broadway represents not only a hindrance to the event's natural growth, but also a greater potential risk to those who attend and to the city's facilities at Volunteer Park," Leonzal said. "We think Fourth Avenue and the Seattle Center are better suited to handle Seattle Pride's record-setting crowds."

SPC board members will give a short presentation and then open the floor to questions and comments. Because the committee expects the meeting to be well attended with many people wanting to ask questions and give input, the moderator will ask everyone to sign a list at the beginning of the meeting if they want to speak.

After the board's presentation, speakers will go in the order they have signed up. The moderator will announce breaks, if needed, and time limits to questions and comments based on the number of people who sign up.

"We ask that everyone come prepared to hear and respect each other's opinions and ideas and not to expect to monopolize each other's time," Leonzal said.

Board members will also accept written and prepared testimony until the end of the meeting for those who cannot attend or would rather not speak publicly. Courteous written comments should be limited to 300 words and written legibly or typed and can be sent to the SPC by e-mail or regular mail or presented to board members at the forum.

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Labels: Gay events, gay organization, LGBTQ, Seattle Pride

We've added a few pictures from the Seattle Pride march/parade to our party pictures gallery. This is, of course, just a small part of the parade, focused on the Flambouyant! Queen City Cruise pirates. We'll add a few more photos in the next couple of days (including shots of the very-much-alive and lively ROTC -- Righteously Outrageous Twirling Corps).

And our offer is still on. We'll post souvenir shots you might have taken of the Flambuoyant! Pirates, of ROTC, or (since we understand why you might not have noticed the pirates with these guys nearby) of any or all of the gorgeous hunks who were passing out copies of Magazine 99.

We thank Amy and Eric for sending us some shots. If we get a few more, we'll make a contest of it with -- as we often say -- "valuable prizes" for the winner.

By the way, those bois who worked so diligently (and photogenically) passing out the magazine, have been invited to join us on the Queen City Cruise. This time around, they'll be asked only to pass out smiles.

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Labels: Gay events, LGBTQ, Seattle Pride

We were delighted to see that the Seafair Pirates participated in this year's Pride Parade. Their years of working the crowds at parades shows. Great job!

But the ones we were most interested in are the Flambuoyant! Queen City Cruise Pirates with the very big and very colorful hats. Were you one of the hundreds who snapped pictures of them along the route? If so, please share them with us by email. We'll post most of what we get on a special Gallery page, and if we get enough of them, we just might conduct a Big Totally Fabulous Pride Day Souvenir Photo Contest. There might even be a special prize in it for the contest winner.

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A motley crew of tacky tourists worked through the hot sun, hot glue guns, and ruffled feathers to transform themselves into a crew of Flambuoyant! Pirates for tomorrow's Seattle Pride march/parade. That Seafair crew has nothing on these guys.

Be sure to wave, take pictures, and grab one of the pocket-sized blue flyers that the pirates will be handing out. It will remind you to get your tickets now for Queen City Cruise: Flambuoyant!. (We'll be turning on the order form at the stroke of midnight.)

But get to your favorite viewing spot early for the 11am parade. The Flambuoyant! Pirates are tagging along with Magazine 99 near the front of the procession.

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Labels: Gay events, LGBTQ, Seattle Pride

We offer this roundup of the weekend's Pride activities:

Although there have been events of various types throughout the month, Pride begins officially this year, with a Kick Off party on Friday from 11pm to 4am at Timberline Spirits . DJ Jaime J Sanchez will spin. The night is highlighted with a guest appearance by Centaur recording artist Colton Ford. (And, yes... If you recognize the name from a different kind of performance, you'll be happy to know that it's the same Colton Ford who can be seen in many porn titles.)

Ford will also host the northwest premier on Thursday night of Naked Fame which features his music and chronicles Ford's journey from music to porn and back again to music.

Margaret Cho brings her hilarious Assassin Tour to the Paramount on Friday from 7:30 pm to 10:30 pm. Her Seattle appearance is sponsored by Lifelong AIDS Alliance.

On Saturday night, Cruise sponsor manray contributes to the explosive excitement with a Bewitched CD Release Party from 7pm to midnight.

The Wildrose features a weekend-long outdoor beer garden with a full slate of live bands, other entertainments, and sunshine under the tents. DJs spin beats for dancing inside. Saturday hours are 1pm to 12am. Sunday hours are 12pm to 10pm.

Seattle Pride festivities continue on Saturday with the festival and entertainment in Volunteer Park from 11am until 6 pm. Following the Festival, Gay Bingo -- hosted by GLAMAZONIA, Miss Intermission, and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence -- will be held in the park amphitheater from 6:30 until 8:30, followed by a movie, Clueless, in the amphitheater at dusk. The movie is presented by $3 Bill Cinema and Magazine 99.

Sunday is parade day, but also offers plenty of entertainment and parties. It will also be your first chance to buy tickets for Queen City Cruise: Flambuoyant!

More than 180 groups are registered to march on behalf of gay pride. Among the groups are the infamous "Dykes on Bikes", state Rep. Ed Murray who fought for gay civil rights legislation in Olympia this year, and many more colorful participants. Tacky Tourist Clubs will delight you with a small boatload of Flambuoyant! Queen City Cruise pirates. The parade kicks off at 11 am, and will wind down Broadway on Capitol Hill.

The grand marshals this year are Mary Dzieweczynski, Executive Director of Verbena (formerly the Seattle Lesbian Cancer Project), Jamie Pedersen, a partner at Preston Gates & Ellis who was Co-Chair of the national board of directors of Lambda Legal, the nation's oldest and largest legal organization working to achieve civil rights for gays, Dunshee House which provides emotional support to those living with HIV and AIDS, and Rachel Maddow who hosts Air America Radio?s national morning drive news program the "Rachel Maddow Show."

The festival continues after the march in Volunteer Park with booths by dozens of northwest organizations, and a full slate of entertainment.

Cruise sponsor The Cuff Complex hosts its wildly popular Pride Day Street Party from 10am to 9pm on Sunday. It features guest DJs, live entertainment, 16 bar stations, and dancing both inside the bar and out front on the street.

Cruise sponsor Timberline Spirits closes out the weekend with SuperPride T-Dance from 6pm to 2am on Sunday featuring DJ Dana Dub and DJ PhilB.

[Saturday, 25-June: Minor edits, plus added Wildrose.]

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Seattle Pride Committee is still looking for volunteers to help staff this weekend's parade and festival.

According to an email from volunteer coordinator Jim Coburn to the group's public mailing list, they are now less than half-way to their goal of 200 volunteers for the weekend's events. Each volunteer is asked to commit to a three-hour shift.

Your single, 3-hour shift, when added to everyone else's, is what brings the event from the level of "Good" to "Outstanding!" There's simply no way to make everything work as it should without your help. Thanks!

Sign up on Seattle Pride's website.

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Today's P-I has a story on the planned move of the Pride festival from Volunteer Park to Seattle Center and on the possible move of the march route from Broadway to a downtown location.

According the P-I:

While the committee hasn't made any final decisions, the procession also may make its way along a new route through downtown Seattle in 2006.

Dale Kershner, a Pride Committee board member and its marketing director, called the chances of the parade moving a "probability," given the logistics of getting people from the procession to the festival.

The P-I reporter had no trouble finding Broadway business owners upset by the move of either Pride event from Broadway. The story notes that "for many businesses on Broadway, the event was better for their revenues than the Christmas retail season."

It also claims that one of the reasons given for the move of the festival might not be as strong as stated by Seattle Pride spokespersons. Some have stated that the City encouraged the move because of its heavy impact on Volunteer Park.

"But city parks spokeswoman Dewey Potter said the department has made it clear it wants the Pride festival to stay at Volunteer Park."

The P-I story also does a great job of tieing this current controversy into the town's long history of similar disputes. The event's ten-year stay on Capitol Hill followed a tumultuous decade of struggles about where the events should be held and what their primary purpose should be.

The much-hyphenated name ("Seattle Lesbian-Gay-Bi-Transgender Pride Parade/March and Freedom Rally") that the events sported for much of their stay on Capitol Hill was partly a reflection of wearyness over the decade of controversies surrounding the "proper" location and tenor for the events.

Those factional tussles were inspiration for many stories in a publicity paper that Tacky Tourist Clubs once produced for "The Prom...You Never Went To!" The paper told made-up stories of deep fissures within a ficticious Lavender Valley High Prom Committee. And we only had to read stories about pride week planning in local gay media of the day to come up with ideas for the made-up world of LVHS.

Forgive us if we start to feel a bit like we're back in Lavender Valley. (Is that Debbie Diminico over there... or is it DeMenico? Demonica?)

Technorati tags: Gay Gay pride Seattle Pride Seattle

Labels: Gay events, LGBTQ, Seattle Pride

The long-rumored move of Seattle Pride activities from Capitol Hill to downtown and Seattle Center is a done deal, according to a story in this month's Magazine 99 (which, unfortunately, does not post its articles to the web).

The Article, "SPC starts packing" by BT Apple, quotes Tammy Zoch, co-chair of the Seattle Pride Committee: "Proposal's been submitted, signed, and approved. Seattle Center, here come the gays."

(Seattle Pride does not appear to have anything about the issue on its web site.)

Zoch told Magazine 99 that most of the booths will be located on the Center's south lawn. (That is where Bumbershoot, The Bite, and Folklife also put many of their booths.) "We're planning to host DJs for dancing. They can even dance in the fountain if they want," Zoch said.

The article quotes several business owners and others who are disappointed in the move away from the more gay-identified Capitol Hill neighborhood. "Capitol Hill is where we live, where we meet," said Gary Lyons, manager of CC Attle's. "Keep Pride here!"

The article summarizes:

So here's the dichotomy: Move the event to Seattle Center and expand into new duds, or remain snugly fitted in the Capitol Hill community....

The stay-on-the-hill supporters believe we should keep the city's Pride festival in "gay central" where the masses of LGBTers live and work....

The move-to-Center supporters target growth of Seattle Pride as the primary reason to relocate. The Center offers more space to spread out. Parking is plentiful, hotels are close, kids get their rides and indoor arcade, while adults get real bathrooms instead of porta-potties.

Although the article focuses on festival location, it notes in passing that a proposal has also been submitted to move the parade from Broadway (where Sound Transit may eventually dig up parts of the street for its possible north extension of light rail) to Fourth Avenue downtown. The article does not indicate the status of that proposal.

[Note: Magazine 99 is a "presenting sponsor" of Queen City Cruise. Seattle Pride Committee provides production assitance for Flambuoyant!. Neither was consulted for this posting.]
Technorati tags: Gay Gay pride Seattle Pride Seattle

Labels: Gay events, LGBTQ, Seattle Pride

Seattle Gay News finally managed last week to get a scoop on what had been a very big gay-related story for a few weeks when they revealed the welcome news that Microsoft has become an official corporate sponsor for Seattle Pride.

According to SGN, the Redmond software giant donated $10,000 to Seattle Pride to become one of the group's "Titanium Band" sponsors.

That's a wonderful change in direction for the company which stumbled badly after it had failed to renew its support for a statewide civil-rights measure in the legislature. (The measure eventually lost in the state senate by a single vote.) They're still experiencing some fallout from that debacle, such as this Seattle Weekly story about the company's ties to GOP lobbyists following a severing of long-time ties to lobbyist Ralph Reed.

But all of that will probably be forgetten for a day or two at least when Microsoft's logo appears prominently during Pride week activities.

Technorati tags: Microsoft Diversity Gay

Labels: Gay Seattle, Seattle Pride