Cleveland Pride

Cleveland Pride is proud to reveal the official list of vendors  for our 2010 festival on June 26.  We may still be receiving contracts from vendors we approach our festival date, so keep checking back for updates!

View the full list HERE.

Cleveland Pride is proud to reveal the official list of sponsors for our 2010 festival on June 26.  We may still be receiving contracts from sponsors as we approach our festival date, so keep checking back for updates!

See the full list HERE.

Continental and South West air lines have partnered with Cleveland Pride for the 22nd Annual Pride Cleveland Rally, Parade and Festival to be held on June 26, 2010 in Cleveland, Ohio at Voinovich Park.   Three pairs of airfare tickets for any destination within the United States will be raffled off.
This is an excellent opportunity to take advantage of, with the cost to travel rising significantly.  To purchase tickets, visit any of Cleveland Pride’s fundraisers.  One ticket is $10.00, Two tickets are $15.00, and five are $45.00.   The winners will be announced at the festival, and will not need to be present to win.  Thank you, as always, in your continued support with Cleveland Pride.

General registration pricing has been extended until June 4, 2010.   Vendors registering before this date will not be charged any late registration fee. Being a vendor at the Cleveland Pride festival is a great opportunity to promote your business or charity. With over 10,000 attendees at the 2009 Pride festival, the prospect of networking with many residents and businesses of the Greater Cleveland area and Northeastern Ohio is excellent. Take advantage of the extended general registration pricing and become a part of this year’s Cleveland Pride.  Thank you for your support.  For any questions regarding vending, please contact Vendor Coordinator Chris Cavna at Chris.Cavna@clevelandpride.org

Cleveland Pride is proud to reveal the official list of entertainers for our 2010 festival on June 26.  Performance schedules will be listed on a later date.   We may still be receiving contracts from performers and entertainers as we approach our festival date, so keep checking back for updates!

View the full list HERE.

On May 13, 2010, 19 lesbian and gay plaintiffs take their fight to federal court in Boston to confront DOMA.
In 2004, when Kathy Bush and Mary Ritchie got married, they thought that they would finally be seen as a ‘married’ couple and with that, receive what ‘legally seen married’ couples receive, they were wrong.  Among other lesbian and gay couples that were married in Massachusetts six years ago when same-sex marriage became legal in that state, they are now still fighting for their rights to be acknowledged as legally married in the eyes of the federal government.  The Federal Defense of Marriage Act is now halting their ability to have this dream come true.  Bush and Ritchie, along with 17 other lesbian and gay plaintiffs, will be appearing in federal court on May 13, 2010 in Boston, to fight for their right to equal rights.  Gary Buseck, with Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders is their attorney.  Buseck states, “DOMA violates the equal protection clause of the Constitution because it is discriminatory”.
Now in 1996, Congress had a debate over DOMA, Smith writes, “One of DOMA’s authors, former Republican Rep. Bob Barr, proclaimed, “The flames of hedonism and the flames of self-centered morality are licking at the very foundations of our society.” Barr, now a libertarian, has since called for DOMA’s repeal, saying it violates states rights. President Obama also supports repeal. But his administration is in the awkward position of having to defend the law in court. As a Department of Justice official put it, we “can’t pick and choose which federal laws [to] defend based on any one administration’s policy preferences.””
It’s plain to see that this is not going to be an easy fight for the LGBT Community and those who believe in EQUAL RIGHTS, but one that is necessary none-the-less.
For more information, read the full article here.

On May 1, 2010 BCJ Photography from Chicago, Illinois interviewed and shot Cleveland Pride board member and Entertainment Director Bella Sin of Le Femme Mystique Burlesque/Ohio Burlesque for their nationwide documentary and book All That Glitter’s: Burlesque Performers In Their Homes.

Sin stated, ““I’m lucky to be the one representing Cleveland in this nationwide documentary and book. I must thank all of you; your support alone has gotten me to this point.”

As a burlesque entertainer, Sin has been well known in the LGBT community for performing for different events benefiting different causes such as the AIDS Task Force’s “Dancin’ in the Streets,” Cleveland Pride 2009, and  Frivolity 2009.

Sin has been preserving the name of burlesque in Cleveland for the last seven years and plans to continue uphold the art form’s legacy.  Le Femme Mystique Burlesque advertises many signs of unity throughout the community along with female empowerment and Cleveland history.

For more information about All That Glitters and BCJ photography, visit the BCJ website or the BCJ blog.  For more information about Bella and Le Femme Mystique Burlesque, visit their Facebook page or their Myspace profile.

On April 15, 2010 the White House released a Presidential Memorandum to include Gay and Lesbian patients the right to have their families present at their greatest time of need.
The subject of this Memorandum “Respecting the Rights of Hospital Patients to Receive Visitors and to Designate Surrogate Decision Makers for Medical Emergencies” brings a sigh of relief for all patients that don’t fit into the ‘societal norm’. To many times have Gay and Lesbian partners been not ‘allowed’ to visit with their loved ones in the most dyer of states and too many times have people been forced to lie about their relationship with one another just to be able to sit next to their loved ones bed side. This is a step in the right direction for the LGBT community to have equality in hospital stays.
President Obama states, “There are few moments in our lives that call for greater compassion and companionship than when a loved one is admitted to the hospital. In these hours of need and moments of pain and anxiety, all of us would hope to have a hand to hold, a shoulder on which to lean.”
For more information, see the full article HERE.