2012 Festival Date is Set! June 23, 2012
Join hE said (S)hE said on Friday June 5, 2009 at 9:00pm for a sock-hop style Cleveland Pride Fundraiser at Twist Social Club. Raffle prizes including Indian’s box seats, Pride giveaways and much much more. Be sure to check out our kissing booth and wet t-shirt contest!
Roll up your sleeves and peg your pants in support of Cleveland Pride.
http://www.myspace.com/hesaidshesaidtroupe
Be there, don’t be a square!
Cleveland Pride and Cadillac Ranch have partnered to bring an event to Northeast Ohio’s LGBT community that will benefit you, and will help to provide ongoing LGBT initiatives in the Cleveland/Northeast Ohio region.
Beginning Sunday, May 31, Cleveland Pride and Cadillac Ranch kick off a weekly event designed to unite the LGBT community, and to provide a way for both organizations to give back to you, the members of Cleveland’s LGBT population.
The Barroom at Cadillac Ranch will host an exclusive LGBT event every Sunday beginning at 4 p.m. through the bar’s closing at 2:30 a.m. Free appetizers and drink specials will be provided, as well as local and national entertainment, and we’ll even have some of Cleveland’s best-known drag queens as your bartenders!
For only a $2 donation each week, proceeds will go toward educational programming and ongoing resources for the LGBT community. This is a fantastic way for everyone involved to give back to our community–Cadillac Ranch provides the space, drinks and entertainment; Cleveland Pride creates additional resources for our community; and you lend your spirit and goodwill by attending and having a great time.
“We are pleased to partner with Cadillac Ranch to create an event that is focused on giving back to the LGBT community,” said Todd Saporito, CEO/Board President of Cleveland Pride.
It’s a win-win all around, and a great way to galvanize and to unite our diverse LGBT population. Your participation and donation goes to help all of us in the LGBT community, while providing you with a good time and the chance to meet new friends, and to create memories with your existing friends.
The event will occur every Sunday, all summer long, and is THE hot new event in town.
From go-go boys, to live local and national DJs, with your favorite drag queens tending bar, and the best crowd in town, this event will be nothing like Cleveland has ever seen! And its all for you–the esteemed and valued members of Northeast Ohio’s LGBT community!!
Here’s a brief run-down of what you can expect each and every Sunday this summer, beginning this Sunday at 4 p.m.:
–free appetizers from 4 to 8 p.m.
–$5 “Flirtinis”
–$2 domestic beers
–Dancing til 2:30 a.m.!!!
–Live DJs!
–Athena Ghost as your upstairs bartender!
–Hot go-go boys
–Hot dance music from the 90s through today’s hottest new sounds
–VIP area where you can enjoy your own bottles of champagne and personalized bartending service
The Barroom is located at 200 Euclid Ave. in downtown Cleveland in the old May Company building.
Call 216-685-0000 to reserve a VIP table or for more information.
And don’t forget to visit www.clevelandpride.org for information about this event and about your upcoming Pride Parade and Festival.
See you Sunday at the Barroom!!!
Cleveland Pride and “She Loves You Records” announce that Robin Stone will perform at this year’s annual Pride Festival on June 20.
Stone, recently voted “Best Vocalist” by Scene Magazine Readers Poll, has battled paralysis in her voicebox and a larger health issue while still recording 15 new tracks that have re-defined her image as a songwriter and singer.
“Cleveland Pride is pleased to have Robin as a performer at our event. Her courage and fortitude in the face of her illness is an inspiration,” observed Todd Saporito, 2009 Cleveland Pride Board President/CEO.
“We are excited for a dazzling, entertaining performance,” he added.
Stone takes the main stage at 6 p.m. and will perform songs from her new CD, “Bad Girl”. The festival audience will be treated to a live performance of her new songs the day before her CD release.
On her new CD, Robin delves into R&B, Neo-Soul, Blues and Groove Jazz and her CD has a light-hearted, “feel good” vibe and sound.
Stone is currently raising funds to offset her medical costs that have drained her CD production budget. Donations may be made online at www.SheLovesYouRecords.com
About Robin Stone
Stone has recruited Darrel Williams, and guitarist Enrique Troi in her latest musical effort. Her CD drops June 21, with a kick-off performance at Brother’s Lounge on 11609 Detroit Ave. in Cleveland. Nationally renowned smooth jazz artist David Wells will accompany Stone at her performance.
A national media and radio campaign to promote her new CD will be launched later this summer.
About Cleveland Pride
Founded in 1989, Cleveland Pride has been an integral part of the Northeastern Ohio region for the past 21 years. Cleveland’s Pride celebration is among the first half-dozen such events launched in the U.S., making our Parade and Festival among the longest continuing Pride events in the country.
On an ongoing basis, Cleveland Pride brings awareness, education and knowledge of the queer community to the general public to discourage/eliminate prejudice and discrimination on the basis of a person’s actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. Cleveland Pride openly recognizes and embraces all individuals of the queer community who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer questioning, intersex and straight allies, while understanding that each group identified exists in all ages, races, national origins and physical abilities.
# # #
Contact: Chris Cheuvront
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Cleveland Pride is pleased to announce that it will partner with KeyBank for this year’s Cleveland Pride celebration in Voinovich Park on June 20. KeyBank becomes another of Cleveland Pride’s major sponsors this year.
By partnering, Cleveland Pride and Key Bank will promote awareness and acceptance of the LGBT community to the Northeast Ohio region, as well as putting Cleveland Pride’s “Equality through Unity” theme into practice.
“Cleveland Pride is pleased to announce KeyBank as one of our chief sponsors for 2009. This alignment will help to reinforce to the straight community that the LGBT population is a real, viable and vital segment of the Greater Cleveland community,” observed Todd Saporito, 2009 Cleveland Pride Board President/CEO.
“Diversity is a core value at Key. We’re proud of our diversity record and pleased to partner with Cleveland Pride to support the LGBT community in Northeast Ohio,” said Cleveland District President Lisa Oliver.
Key Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Risk Officer Chuck Hyle, who serves as executive sponsor of the LGBT Key Business Networking Group (KBNG), adds: “The formation of our LGBT KBNG underscores Key’s commitment to attracting, developing, and building relationships with diverse groups of employees and clients. Members of this team represent and support Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender employees across all of Key’s lines of business, support areas and geographies.
“Each Key Business Networking Group embodies unique talents, skills and experience that will help Key grow its business. The LGBT KBNG, like its counterparts, is dedicated to helping people make better financial decisions for their lives and businesses by embodying a culture based on the Key Values.”
KeyBank has been named to DiversityInc magazine’s Top 50 Companies for Diversity and received a special distinction in 2007 as a Top 10 Company for Supplier Diversity. Key also has received perfect scores of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index, a national benchmark on how businesses serve and support LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) consumers, employees and investors. In 2007, The Advocate, the leading national LGBT news magazine, cited Key as one of its “Fabulous Five” Best Companies.
According to Oliver, KeyBank will conduct a raffle for a Garmin GPS at its Pride festival booth.
ABOUT KEYCORP
Cleveland-based KeyCorp is one of the nation’s largest bank-based financial services companies, with assets of approximately $98 billion. BusinessWeek Magazine named Key the top bank in its Customer Service Champ 2009 edition, ranking Key 11th out of the top-25 companies that include many known for their customer service acumen. Key companies provide investment management, retail and commercial banking, consumer finance, and investment banking products and services to individuals and companies throughout the United States and, for certain businesses, internationally. For more information, visit ww.key.com.
ABOUT CLEVELAND PRIDE
Founded in 1989, Cleveland Pride has been an integral part of the Northeastern Ohio region for the past 21 years. Cleveland’s Pride celebration is among the first half-dozen such events launched in the U.S., making our Parade and Festival among the longest continuing Pride events in the country.
On an ongoing basis, Cleveland Pride brings awareness, education and knowledge of the queer community to the general public to discourage/eliminate prejudice and discrimination on the basis of a person’s actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. Cleveland Pride openly recognizes and embraces all individuals of the queer community who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer questioning, intersex and straight allies, while understanding that each group identified exists in all ages, races, national origins and physical abilities.
# # #
PEACE KEEPERS TRAINING – ATTENDANCE MANDATORY
As previously agreed, all groups marching in the parade must provide two (2) peacekeepers to ensure the smooth delivery of the Cleveland Pride. Cleveland Pride is offering three mandatory trainings this year, each peacekeeper must attend one (1). The times and locations are listed below:
• June 4, 2009 7:00 PM at Twist Social Club 11633 Clifton Blvd Cleveland, OH
• June 6, 2009 2:00 PM at Cleveland Pride Office 11100 Detroit Ave. Cleveland, OH
• June 11, 2009 7:00 PM at Twist Social Club 116333 Clifton Blvd Cleveland, OH
Cleveland Pride staff will provide the contracts to sign at the time of this training session. Please allocate 30 minutes for the training to ensure all materials will be reviewed.
If you have any questions please contact the Jon Britton at (216) 287-9121.
PuNane
PuNane presents the 4th Annual Talent Showcase
Saturday, June 6, 2009
At
Unitarian Universalist Society of Cleveland
2728 Lancashire Road
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
(A womyn only event)
You don’t want to miss this fun event!
Come out to support local womyn doing their thing.
For tickets contact Marcia @ 216-409-1494
$5 in advance $8 at the door.
8:30PM-11:00PM
Doors open at 8:30PM for music &
heavy hors d’oeuvres & Prizes!
Show starts at 9:00PM Sharp
After Party At Lady Z’s!
4002 Jennings Road Cleveland, OH 44109
Performers are still needed contact Marcia today!
216-409-1494
Poets, Singers, Comedians, Dancers, Musicians, Artists, Kings and You!
PuNane’ (n. a group of women working together to showcase African American lesbian culture in Cleveland
Hilton Garden Inn and Cleveland Pride will be working together as partners for this year’s Cleveland Pride celebration in Voinovich Park on June 20. Hilton Garden Inn is a new sponsor of Cleveland Pride’s parade and festival, the city’s largest annual event.
By partnering, Hilton Garden Inn and Cleveland Pride will promote a worthy cause—to bring awareness and acceptance of the LGBT community to the Northeast Ohio region, as well as putting Cleveland Pride’s “Equality through Unity” theme into practice.
The Hilton Garden Inn is providing three, free-night stays for two along with breakfast the following morning for two at the Great American Grill. These will be raffled at special fundraising events between now and June 20 to the general public.
“Cleveland Pride is pleased to announce Hilton Garden Inn as a sponsor for Cleveland Pride’s 2009 festival and parade, and we couldn’t be happier to be aligned with them,” observed Todd Saporito, 2009 Cleveland Pride Board President/CEO.
The Hilton Garden Inn Cleveland Downtown opened in March 2002, and is a unique addition to Cleveland. Located at the “Gateway” to the city, the Hilton Garden Inn is a full service property offering guestrooms right across from Progressive Field and Quicken Loans Arena. Other nearby venues includes the Warehouse District, Playhouse Square, Cleveland State University, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, The Science Center and Tower City for shopping.
“The Hilton Garden Downtown Cleveland is pleased to announce a partnership with this year’s Cleveland Pride,” stated Jeff Glover, Sales Manager. “The hotel is realizes the importance of this event to the city of Cleveland and welcomes all Pride attendees.”
Our 240 guest rooms (includes 8-Suites) feature in-house coffee makers, refrigerators, microwave ovens, 2 data ports, and complimentary WIFI as well as high-speed Internet access. Laundry facilities and a Business Center are available 24 hours a day.
$92 per day (tax not included), Group code – CLP; 6/17/09 through 6/22/09; group rates expire 06/12/2009
For reservations: Hilton Garden Inns Cleveland www.clevelanddowntown.stayhgi.com 877-782-9444
ABOUT CLEVELAND PRIDE
Founded in 1989, Cleveland Pride has been an integral part of the Northeastern Ohio region for the past 21 years. Cleveland’s Pride celebration is among the first half-dozen such events launched in the U.S., making our Parade and Festival among the longest continuing Pride events in the country.
On an ongoing basis, Cleveland Pride brings awareness, education and knowledge of the queer community to the general public to discourage/eliminate prejudice and discrimination on the basis of a person’s actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. Cleveland Pride openly recognizes and embraces all individuals of the queer community who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer questioning, intersex and straight allies, while understanding that each group identified exists in all ages, races, national origins and physical abilities.
ABOUT HILTON GARDEN INNS
Hilton Garden Inn, with more than 430 hotels, placed #2 overall in the Upscale Select Service category, earning the #1 ranking in the following five categories: corporate rate programs, helpful and courteous staff, quality biz center, in-room biz amenities, overall price/value relationship. Hilton Garden Inn is the award-winning, mid-priced brand that continually strives to ensure today’s busy travelers have everything they need to be most productive on the road including a full service restaurant, 24-hour Pavilion Pantry mini market, fitness facilities, complimentary Wi-Fi, PrintSpots™ mobile printing to the hotel’s complimentary 24-hour business center and one of the most comfortable beds you will ever experience with the adjustable pressure-relieving Garden Sleep SystemTM.
Charter One and Cleveland Pride will be working together as partners for this year’s Cleveland Pride celebration in Voinovich Park on June 20. Charter One is a returning sponsor of Cleveland Pride’s parade and festival, the city’s largest annual event.
By partnering, Charter One and Cleveland Pride will promote a worthy cause—to bring awareness and acceptance of the LGBT community to the Northeast Ohio region, as well as putting Cleveland Pride’s “Equality through Unity” theme into practice.
“Cleveland Pride is honored to have Charter One as a returning sponsor for Cleveland Pride’s 2009 festival and parade,” observed Todd Saporito, 2009 Cleveland Pride Board President/CEO.
“This critical partnership shows the Northeast Ohio region that partnerships can transcend the bigotry and discrimination often levied against the LGBT community,” added Saporito. “We couldn’t be happier to be partnering with Charter One again,” he concluded.
“Charter One is committed to making a difference in the community,” said Carrie Carpenter, vice president and director of public affairs at Charter One.
“We are honored to partner with Cleveland Pride to promote a strong and diverse city,” she added.
About Charter One
Charter One is a division of RBS Citizens, N.A., operating in Illinois, Michigan and Ohio. It has approximately 360 branches and 615 ATMs. It has 148 branches and 169 ATMs in Ohio. Charter One’s Web site is charterone.com.
RBS Citizens, N.A. is a subsidiary of Citizens Financial Group, Inc., a $167 billion commercial bank holding company headquartered in Providence, R.I. CFG’s two bank subsidiaries are RBS Citizens, N.A. and Citizens Bank of Pennsylvania. They operate a 12-state branch network under the Citizens Bank brand in Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont, and the Charter One brand in Illinois, Michigan and Ohio. CFG has non-branch retail and commercial offices in about 40 states. It is one of the 10 largest commercial banking companies in the United States ranked by assets. CFG is owned by RBS (The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc). CFG’s Web site is citizensbank.com.
About Cleveland Pride
Founded in 1989, Cleveland Pride has been an integral part of the Northeastern Ohio region for the past 21 years. Cleveland’s Pride celebration is among the first half-dozen such events launched in the U.S., making our Parade and Festival among the longest continuing Pride events in the country.
On an ongoing basis, Cleveland Pride brings awareness, education and knowledge of the queer community to the general public to discourage/eliminate prejudice and discrimination on the basis of a person’s actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. Cleveland Pride openly recognizes and embraces all individuals of the queer community who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer questioning, intersex and straight allies, while understanding that each group identified exists in all ages, races, national origins and physical abilities.
VALENTINO THE LAST EMPEROR is a feature film that has captured the hearts and imaginations of audiences. It is a behind-the-scenes look at the world of fashion, featuring access never-before allowed in the high temples of Haute Couture. The legendary Valentino is the star of the film, along with his longtime business partner, Giancarlo Giammetti.
VALENTINO THE LAST EMPEROR follows them for the final two years of their careers, and show the struggles the two men face as they confront the final act of a nearly 50-year career at the top of the world’s most glamorous and competitive game. The struggle of art against commerce is at the center of the film. In the end, however, the story proves to be not one about money or expensive clothes, but about love.
Readership of www.ClevelandPride.org are welcome to email the promoters. The first two hundred (200) emails will be placed into a drawing for a pair of free tickets to the opening at the Cedar Lee Theater
The production company for the film is Acolyte Films and there is more information at their website is www.valentinomovie.com.
Email your information to valentinotix@gmail.com to enter to win tickets.
CLEVELAND, OH – Starting MAY 22 at Cedar Lee Theater
Info and tickets at www.clevelandcinemas.com
DIVE Fundraiser Party
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Please join us in celebrating Cleveland’s LGBTQI Diversity
Colors of Cleveland Pride, Inc. was created to provide the needed services to all LGBTQI communities of color, in an effort to bridge the racial divisiveness locally and nationally within all LGBTQI and ally communities. Our mission is to bring awareness, education, and knowledge of the plights of all LBGTQI communities of color to the general public in order to provide dialogue, intervention, and resolution, in addition to developing and nurturing relationships with other community organizations to support the needs of these communities of color. This mission will be accomplished through alliances, educational, literary, social and charitable programming.
Colors of Cleveland Pride, cordially invites you to celebrate Cleveland’s LGBTQI & Allies’ Diversity, in addition to kicking off the holiday weekend with a fun-filled night at Lady Z’s, 4002 Jennings Road.
• Live DJ & Dancing
• Live Entertainment Featuring Unladielike, All for You, Marlette the Diva, Erica Martinez, Brandy, Cindy of Asian & Friends, Isis & Much More
• Drink Specials
• Door Prizes
• Raffles, Raffles & More Raffles (Good Stuff)
• Auction featuring Dinner Dates with Diane, Jeno, RJ and Sonja, Hotel Packages for over 90 Resorts in the U.S., CAVS Gift Cards, Cleveland Indians Tickets, Movie Gift Cards, L&G Event Tickets, Business Startup Package (Logo, Business Cards (250), & Letterhead Custom Designs), & Custom Web Page Design
• Donations Appreciated at the Door
• A portion of the event proceeds to benefit Cleveland Pride, Inc.
• 21 & Older
We look forward to seeing you there for a fun-filled evening.
Cleveland Pride’s 21st Parade, Rally and Festival is a labor of love for the board members and volunteers of the community; however, this annual event would not happen without our community sponsors and donors.
The 2009 celebration will be Cleveland’s 21st annual parade, rally and festival. This year, we are pleased to welcome returning sponsors and new sponsors. They include VIP AREA - (Whole Foods Market), GOLD – (Flex Hotel and Spa, Wyndham Cleveland at Public Square) SILVER – (AdultMart, Charter One, Frito-Lay, House of LaRose [Budlight and Icelandic Glacial], Time Warner Cable), BRONZE – (Chipotle, KeyBank, PETCO, Renaissance Cleveland Hotel, Union, Walgreens), Youth Towne – (AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland, LGBT Center of Greater Cleveland), and CO-PROMOTIONAL PARTNERS (Gay People’s Chronicle, Nickel, OutInAmerica, ManHunt).
Each Sponsor will be located at our festival this year and has a great deal of exciting news, information and more to share. To see more about each of our 2009 Sponsors, be go to 2009 SPONSORS.
ABOUT CLEVELAND PRIDE
Founded in 1989, Cleveland Pride has been an integral part of the Northeastern Ohio region for the past 21 years. Cleveland’s Pride celebration is among the first half-dozen such events launched in the U.S., making our Parade and Festival among the longest continuing Pride events in the country.
On an ongoing basis, Cleveland Pride brings awareness, education and knowledge of the queer community to the general public to discourage/eliminate prejudice and discrimination on the basis of a person’s actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. Cleveland Pride openly recognizes and embraces all individuals of the queer community who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer questioning, intersex and straight allies, while understanding that each group identified exists in all ages, races, national origins and physical abilities.
Gay People's Chronicle
In an effort to go “green”, Cleveland Pride will not duplicate effort by printing a separate advertising Pride Guide for its annual festival weekend. Cleveland Pride will be producing our annual Cleveland Pride Pamphlet, which will include our site diagram, denoting a listing of our vendors, sponsors, donors, production staff and parade participants.
The official advertising Pride Guide will be handled by Cleveland’s longest-running publication geared toward the LGBT community, the Gay People’s Chronicle, thus saving trees and natural resources.
The Gay People’s Chronicle has been in existence for nearly 25 years, and has published an annual Pride Guide since 1991. During the years, the Chronicle’s Pride Guide has gained acceptance from readers as the “official pride guide” of Cleveland Pride.
The Pride Guide is the single largest issue of the Gay People’s Chronicle every year. Nearly 15,000 copies are printed, and the readership is nearly three times that amount due to pass-along.
Distribution of the guide includes all of northeast Ohio, including nearly 200 paid subscribers. The Pride Guide has a minimum of a one-month shelf-life and, due to the amount and diversity of advertisers, readers tend to keep this issue to refer to throughout the year.
For advertising information, please contact David Ebbert at 440-986-0747 or gpcadsales@gmail.com. The advertising deadline is May 21, 2009 at 5 PM. The issue hits the street on June 5th, and additional copies will be available for pickup at the Cleveland Pride Festival on June 20th.
For Editorial, Group Columns, or Listing information, please email Tony Glassman at TGlassman@ChronOhio.com.
Whole Foods Market
Whole Foods Market and Cleveland Pride will be working together as partners for this year’s Cleveland Pride celebration in Voinovich Park on June 20. Whole Foods Market has returned as a sponsor of Cleveland Pride’s VIP area at the parade and festival, the city’s largest annual event.
By partnering, Whole Foods Market and Cleveland Pride will promote a worthy cause—to bring awareness and acceptance of the LGBT community to the Northeast Ohio region, as well as putting Cleveland Pride’s “Equality through Unity” theme into practice.
“Cleveland Pride is pleased to announce Whole Foods Market as a returning sponsor for Cleveland Pride’s 2009 festival and parade. Whole Foods Market is vital to the Cleveland economy, providing the finest natural and organic foods available, while maintaining the strictest quality, and we couldn’t be happier to be aligned with them,” observed Todd Saporito, 2009 Cleveland Pride Board President/CEO.
Saporito encourages all local residents and out-of-towners coming to Cleveland that weekend to patronize Whole Foods Market, known for its broad selection in healthy foods and products.
“Whole Foods Market creates store environments that are inviting, fun, unique, informal, comfortable, attractive, nurturing and educational,” expressed Whole Foods Market marketing specialist Jared Earley.
“We want our stores to become community meeting places where our customers come to join their friends and to make new ones. Our stores are “inclusive.” Everyone is welcome, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, age, beliefs, or personal appearance. We value diversity — whole foods are for everyone. We look forward to sharing this message as we join in the celebration at Cleveland Pride,” emphasizes by Early.
Founded in 1989, Cleveland Pride has been an integral part of the Northeastern Ohio region for the past 21 years. Cleveland’s Pride celebration is among the first half-dozen such events launched in the U.S., making our Parade and Festival among the longest continuing Pride events in the country.
On an ongoing basis, Cleveland Pride brings awareness, education and knowledge of the queer community to the general public to discourage/eliminate prejudice and discrimination on the basis of a person’s actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. Cleveland Pride openly recognizes and embraces all individuals of the queer community who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer questioning, intersex and straight allies, while understanding that each group identified exists in all ages, races, national origins and physical abilities.
Cleveland Pride Fundraiser @ Bottoms Up / Friday, May 22; 11:00 PM
Equality through Unity!
Host: ~ Cleveland Pride ~ Entertainment & Fundraising Committee
Type: Party – Benefit
Start Time: Friday, May 22, 2009 at 11:00pm
End Time: Saturday, May 23, 2009 at 2:00am
Location: Bottoms Up!
Street: 1572 West 117th Street
City/Town: Cleveland, OH
Phone: 2165216195
It is with great excitement that Cleveland Pride invites you to attend a fabulous fundraiser, Friday May 22nd to benefit the 2009 celebration, parade, rally and festival.
This show will include raffles, prizes, performances and more!
Hosted by Erica Martinez. Performers will include Drag Queens, Cleveland Kings and Girls (drag kings), Cleveland Fetish Community, and He Said She Said (drag kings), and Anthony Covatta.
Entrance to the show will be free , but donations will gladly be accepted at the door; all money made that evening will go to Cleveland Pride. Check back soon for updates and more information!
Showtime — 11pm @ Bottoms Up!
18 to enter/21 to drink
Cleveland Pride is fortunate in 2009 to partner with three important local sponsors—the Renaissance Hotel, Wyndham Cleveland at Playhouse Square, and Flex Hotel and Spa.
By partnering, these four entities will promote a worthy cause—to bring awareness and acceptance of the LGBT community to the Northeast Ohio region, as well as putting Cleveland Pride’s “Equality through Unity” theme into practice.
“As an organization, Cleveland Pride is honored to work with these local businesses,” said Todd Saporito, 2009 Cleveland Pride Board President/CEO.
“By working together as sponsors and community allies, we are able to show the Northeast Ohio community that we are unified and working toward equality for all, including the LGBT population regionally and nationally,” he added.
“This union illustrates to outsiders that predominantly straight and predominantly gay organizations can work together for a common goal and cause. Additionally, it shows the region that we can all work together to promote the local economy,” Saporito said.
We are proud to promote each of these sponsors and encourage you to patronize these establishments during pride and year-round.
source: http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/05/domestic_partner_registry_has.html
More to the story
• Seventy-five rally to create music video in support of gays, domestic partner registry
• Connie Schultz: Foes of Cleveland’s domestic partner registry collect mostly yawns
• Several pastors want to repeal Cleveland’s domestic partner registry
• Cleveland panel votes to enact domestic partner registry
• Connie Schultz: A domestic registry would be a small, but necessary, step toward equal rights
Cleveland City Hall promises to be a busy place today, the first day that unmarried couples can sign up for the city’s new domestic partner registry.Outside, supporters of the registry plan to celebrate with a rally from noon to 2 p.m. on the steps of City Hall. Inside, ministers who oppose the registry will kick off the National Day of Prayer with breakfast, music and prayers in City Council chambers.
Councilman Zack Reed, who voted against the registry in December, invited the ministers. The Rev. C. Jay Matthews, the most vocal opponent of the registry, will lead the ministers in prayer before the group marches to Public Square for a nationwide prayer at noon.
Councilman Joe Cimperman, who sponsored the registry and will speak at the rally, hopes the groups come together. “Let this movement be about building real bridges in Cleveland,” he said. The registry, Cimperman acknowledged, is mostly symbolic: It does not guarantee any rights, though it may encourage employers and hospitals to give unmarried couples the same rights usually reserved for the married.
“It’s not about marriage,” Cimperman said. “It’s about recognizing relationships. And this is just the beginning. Come on, it’s 2009! This is the battle of human rights for our generation.”
Supporters hope to have 300 couples, gay or straight, register today. Here are profiles of four of them.
Lee Fisher, left, and Sarah Bartholomew: “We’re each other’s family here in Cleveland.”Sarah Bartholomew, 26, and Lee Fisher, 25They met at Boston University and started dating four years ago. He’s in the doctoral program in biomedical engineering at Case Western Reserve University; she’s completing her master’s from the CWRU Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences on May 17.
Why are you registering as domestic partners?
Both answered by e-mail: “We’ve both always felt strongly about equal rights for everyone, and for the past four months, we’ve been working with the gay-rights organization called Ask Cleveland, on their “Keep the Registry!” campaign. Marriage may be in our future somewhere down the line, but we feel it is important for us to show our support for the LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] community by registering now.”
What difference will it make in your lives?
Both: “Because Sarah doesn’t have a job lined up yet, registering will make it easier for her to get added onto Lee’s health insurance. We both live more than 350 miles from our closest relatives, so our status as domestic partners would make it easier for us to see each other in the hospital. And it makes us feel good about Cleveland, because it shows that we are progressive and interested in treating all citizens fairly and equally.”
What does love mean to you?
Sarah: “Love includes trust, admiration and wanting to be there for each other. I love that Lee is smart and fun at the same time and that his personality complements mine.”
Lee: “To me, love means caring, feeling compassion and feeling a desire to take care of one another and to help one another work towards becoming better people. I love Sarah’s sense of humor and her nearly infinite patience with my sense of humor. Also, she’s my favorite person to spend time with, so that’s a plus.”
Michael Bargas, left, and Brian Bethune. “It was a mutual decision [to register], and there really wasn’t any question about it,” Bethune said. Brian Bethune, 47, and G. Michael Bargas, 49 They met three years ago and have been a couple for two years.
Both were married before they came out; Michael for 21 years — with two children, Jules, 18, and Carmen, 23 — and Brian for 17 years. They get along great with their ex-spouses and families, even spending holidays together.
Why are you registering?
Michael: “We keep wondering what we have, other than our word, that shows that we have a relationship that is at least as important to us as our marriages were.”
Brian: “While this is nothing even close to marriage, it’s the right step forward in recognizing that we actually have a relationship.”
What difference will it make in your lives?
Brian: “It may help if one of us becomes hospitalized in the city of Cleveland, but that’s about it. The really important stuff isn’t even addressed: property rights, medical decisions, taxes, survivorship benefits, etc. We’ve also been trying to figure out what to call it, since it is not marriage. Some drunk couple in Las Vegas can get married 20 minutes after they meet, and we can’t after three years together?”
Michael: “And they end up with more rights than we have. But the registry is a large and symbolic step forward.”
What does love mean to you?
Michael: “It means being who you really are because you have such trust in another person there is no fear of rejection. It is the ability to communicate without words, sometimes without being in the same place. Love is unconditional and forgiving.”
Brian: “Poets and philosophers have been trying to figure that one out since there was writing. For me, love is putting the relationship we share ahead of our individual desires. I know I have someone there on my side that I trust who will look after what’s best for me and us.”
Mary Ostendorf, left, and Leslye Huff. “We were one of the few gay couples rearing children 26 years ago,” Huff said. “The registry would have helped us a lot more back then, with schools and hospitals.” Leslye Huff, 59, and Mary Ostendorf, 71They met almost 27 years ago, when they both worked on an initiative to bring change to Cleveland public schools. A month later they had their first date and have been together since. Leslye was a divorced mother with two sons, Kahlil Seren Huff, now 30, and Daudi Hashim Huff, 34, when they met; they have raised them as co-parents.
Why are you registering?
Mary: “It’s a step toward justice for the many like us who have been draped in disrespect and misunderstanding for so long.”
Leslye: “It’s such a minute step, but it’s the tiny steps that add up. We know we deserve to be married, we know that’s not available to us in Ohio this year. We know we have options to go elsewhere to be married, but it’s important to me for us to have some acknowledgment here in Ohio, because this is where we live and pay taxes and work.”
What difference will it make in your lives?
Leslye: “I’m not sure it will make a lot of practical difference in our own lives. A broader reason is it helps in building a beloved community, because none of us are free and justice cannot prevail unless we’re all free. We need everyone’s hand on the plow pushing forward, and if we don’t have that, we’re missing the delightfulness of our diversity.”
What does love mean to you?
Mary: “When we first met, we said that love heals the past, the present and the future.”
Leslye: “We feel we are building a long-lasting, spirit-filled relationship, and we will always be connected.”
Kahlil Seren Huff, left, and Natalie McDaniel. “Not too long before my parents were married, it would have been illegal for them to do so, as my father is black and my mother is white,” McDaniel said. Kahlil Seren Huff, 30, and Natalie McDaniel, 30They met in a class at Cleveland State University and later realized they had gone to the same Montessori school as children.
They’ve been a couple since Nov. 17, 2006. Kahlil is the son of Leslye Huff and Mary Ostendorf. Natalie has a 9-year-old son, Blue McDaniel-Oqueli.
Why are you registering?
Natalie: “A traditional marriage is available to us. But privileges and rights exist for us that do not exist for people we love; by registering, we are demonstrating solidarity.”
Kahlil: “We will be married. We are not doing this as an alternative. Civil recognition of valuable relationships like the one my moms have is important to me and important to the cultural health of our nation.”
What does love mean to you?
Natalie: “We reinforce each other. There is a sense of completeness being together that has come to us, both recovering unromantic cynics. I appreciate Kahlil’s patience and ability to listen with the goal of understanding. Kahlil has perfected a calming smile and a slow nod when he disagrees with me. That smile somehow manages to skip over condescension and instead exudes adoration.”
Kahlil: “Love is both the work and the reward in a relationship. It is seeing and treasuring someone for who they are and the beauty they bring into your life, and then working to give them the same because there is nothing you want more.”
The AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland’s Beyond Identities Community Center, in conjunction with the LGBT Center of Cleveland is pleased to announce its second annual Pride Youth Towne. The Taskforce is strong supporter of Pride and has been throughout the event’s 20-year history.
In 2008, for the first time, a space was dedicated to Cleveland’s LGBT youth during the Cleveland Pride annual parade and festival. The space welcomed a diverse group of 500+ young people from Northeast Ohio, some for the very first time. Upon their arrival at Youth Towne, the youth enjoyed music, games, food, crafts, giveaways, and messages about safer sex. The Youth Towne venue represents a creation of a youth space within the larger Pride celebration.
In an effort to repeat the outstanding success of last year’s event, Cleveland Pride, the AIDS Taskforce and the LGBT Center will bring Youth Town back for a repeat showing this year. As partners for this year’s event, it is our hope to once again create memories!
Cleveland Pride is proud to provide this space again during this year’s festival, and wholly supports education and programming for LGBT youth, especially to help curb the alarmingly high suicide rate among LGBT teens.
To find out more information about Youth Towne contact the AIDS Taskforce or the LGBT center.
AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland
3210 Euclid Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44115
(216) 621-0766
The LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland
6600 Detroit Ave.
Cleveland, OH 44102
(216) 651-LGBT
Craig grew up in a blue collar family in rural Pennsylvania, the 4th of 5 children. He received a Bachelors of Science degree in biology from Juniata College and a Masters of Divinity degree from Andover Newton Theological School.
After his home congregation in Pennsylvania withdrew their support of his ordination process when he came out as a gay man while in seminary, Craig joined an Open and Affirming congregation in Boston which eagerly sponsored him for ordination.
In 1993 he was ordained to a ministry of pastoral care with persons living with HIV/AIDS at a drug rehab facility in the South Bronx, HELP Project Samaritan, and subsequently a similar ministry continued at the Bailey-Holt House in Greenwich Village in Manhattan.
After several years providing pastoral care, he moved into administrative ministry, serving as a church business administrator at a church on the upper west side of Manhattan. While working at the church, he entered into a Non-profit Management degree program at New York University. Shortly after receiving this master’s degree in 2000, he and his partner, Rev. Allen Harris, moved to Cleveland where Craig currently serves as Associate for Data Management on the Financial Development Ministry team at the National offices of the United Church of Christ.
He and his partner reside in an 1890’s home they rehabbed on the Near West side of Cleveland using green materials and building techniques and concepts. They will celebrate the 19th Anniversary of their Holy Union ceremony this June.
Craig is an avid environmentalist and social justice advocate. He is an active member of Archwood United Church of Christ where he serves as treasurer. In addition, he serves on the advisory board of the Cleveland chapter of PFLAG (Parents Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays).
His interests include architecture and historic preservation, genealogy, the study of systems and politics – both church and secular.
For more information, contact:
Deneen Wiley
Cleveland Black Pride, Inc
Sponsorship Liaison
deneen@bgpcleveland.com
216-404-8584
source: LIFELINES / AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland
On Saturday, May 30th, the John T. Carey Memorial AIDS Walk will, once again, take place at University Circle. And it will be the last time we lace up our sneakers for the annual event.
This year’s AIDS Walk will be the 18th or 19th, depending on how you count. The first, organized by Juliann Fausel and Jeff Swindler back in 1992, attracted about 100 walkers, and grossed about $12,000. Back then, there just over 1,000 cases of HIV in all of Ohio.
Over the years, of course, the number of cases grew. Now there are at least 20,000 in Ohio, and some 4,000 in our region. And over the years, the AIDS Walk grew in tandem with the mounting cases.
So why is this the last John T. Carey Memorial AIDS Walk?
The decision, made by all the participating AIDS Walk agencies, was a tough one, but it was the right one-for two major reasons.
First, the numbers-people walking, dollars raised-has been declining, slowly but steadily, in recent years. That’s not just a local phenomenon; the experience has been repeated across the country. While AIDS Walks in a handful of cities have continued to do well, most cities have experienced a decline, and an increasing number of cities have, like Cleveland, made the decision to discontinue their local walks. We’re not alone in our experience or our decision.
Why the declining interest? The reasons are probably endlessly debatable. More people are living longer, healthier lives, so there’s less urgency attached to HIV. HIV/AIDS no longer seems to be quite so center stage in national consciousness (though many of us wish it were more prominent)-after all, we face an enormous number of challenges as a nation. And Cleveland, like most cities, has experienced a virtual explosion of “cause walks” over the last 20 years, all vying for the public’s interest and involvement. (One long-time AIDS Walk sponsor even told us, “Even just fifteen years ago, we were asked to sponsor 5 walks a year; now, we get 60 requests annually, specifically for walks.”)
But the second reason for discontinuing the annual AIDS Walk here in northeast Ohio has more to do with the evolution of the epidemic, and the changing reality of what it means to have HIV/AIDS.
Those early walks, both here and across the country, were motivated, to a large degree, by the need for members of a community to come together and share their immediate, tangible sense of grief and loss, frustration and anger, as much as they were motivated by fundraising. We were mourning, even when we asserted that we were focusing on “living with AIDS,” and the people we were mourning were the many friends and family members who had died in the weeks and months before the annual walk. Just to illustrate: the same issue of the AIDS Taskforce monthly newsletter that reported on the first AIDS Walk back in 1992 also listed the donations made to the Taskforce in memorium for the previous month. There were 77 separate gifts, made in memory of 34 different people. In the face of that loss, the AIDS Walk became not merely desirable, but indispensable.
Much of that reality has changed-fundamentally so. We still lose friends and family members, and there is still great grief and loss associated with HIV/AIDS. But there is also something that some of us only dreamed about in those early days: people are living, and moving on with their lives. As we were debating the future of the Cleveland AIDS Walk last Fall, we realized that it might be time to replace it with something else, something that more accurately reflects and embraces the epidemic as it is now, rather than the epidemic as it once was (after all, someone just starting college now, at 18 years of age, would have been all of 4 or 5 years old when we started to see the impact of the new, life-extending HIV meds back in 1995 and 1996).
So . . . all of this led us to the decision to make this, the 2009 walk, our last. And again, it was the right decision. But if that had been our only action, we still wouldn’t have addressed some of the issues and changes mentioned above. Therefore, we made one more decision.
Next year, in 2010, we won’t have an AIDS Walk. In its place, we’ll have a Festival of Life-a change to bring together people with HIV/AIDS and their supporters, learn about evolving medical treatments, healthy living, nutrition, exercise, stress reduction, leisure, and more. And of course, celebrate-because living with HIV/AIDS, truly living, is now a possibility.
We don’t know the details yet; we have a lot of planning to do, and welcome your input. But we know it will happen. And that, without a doubt, is the right decision, and the next step.
So, join us May 30th-if you’ve ever attended any of the AIDS Walks in Cleveland, join us for one last stroll, to raise awareness and funds. We can let it be a chance to affirm the importance of the AIDS Walk in our community history, and reunite with old friends and acquaintances.
And then next year, we walk into the future of HIV/AIDS.
Register to walk or start your own AIDS Walk team by clicking here. For more information please contact Jill Rembrandt, AIDS Walk Coordinator at 216.621.0766 ext. 275 or at jrembrandt@atfgc.org.
We are anticipating hundreds of couples – gay and straight! – to come down to City Hall to declare their love and dedication to each other in this groundbreaking, pioneering, and open-to-all event. This is a chance for all unmarried couples who share a residence to record their partnership and celebrate their commitment. Please join me on the steps of City Hall at noon for this community gathering.
Registering is easy:
Not only will May 7th be the first day for you and your partner to register your relationship, we also have events planned all day to celebrate you and all of the hard work that went into the Domestic Partnership Registry:
If you and your partner intend on registering next Thursday, and I sure hope you do, I would only ask one thing of you in advance : Please visit the website of our partner in this effort, the LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland, to RSVP. Simply visit http://www.lgcsc.org/thecenter/300couples.php to sign-up. And even if you’re not planning on registering, it would be great if you could forward this email to anyone you think might be interested in taking part!
I hope you are as excited as I am for next Thursday. Your support and participation will make this a day of love, commitment, and companionship unseen before in Cleveland!
Sincerely,
Joe Cimperman
.
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Cleveland Pride 2012.
June 23, 2012.
12:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Voinovich Park.
Cleveland, Ohio.
