The passage of Cleveland’s Domestic Partner Registry not only puts Cleveland on the national stage politically, it is yet another step in the nationwide pursuit of equal rights for and by the LGBT community, and can be counted as momentous a decision as the passage of marriage rights laws in Connecticut, Maine, Vermont and Iowa.

“This is quite a victory in a conservative city like Cleveland,” observed Todd Saporito, Board President/CEO of Cleveland Pride.

“The Stonewall Riots in 1969 mark the formal beginning of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans-gender community’s pursuit of equal rights. Just as that group made history, so, too, did the Cleveland City Council by passing this important registry,” he added.

The registry, though non-binding, could prompt employers, hospitals and other organizations to grant privileges typically reserved for married couples, advocates say. The registry is a revenue booster and a symbolic gesture that Cleveland is gay-friendly. As a result, it could mean increased economic growth and revenue for Cleveland, because LGBT persons will be more inclined to include Cleveland as a travel destination. Additionally, it helps local LGBT persons feel more comfortable about spending their money in Cleveland, vs. spending it elsewhere for the goods/services tailored to their needs.

Saporito acknowledges that several local organizations were instrumental in lobbying for the passage of the Domestic Partner Registry.

“Specifically, I extend gratitude and a world of thanks to Cleveland Families Count and Ask Cleveland for their support of the registry. They were instrumental in moving this legislation forward,” he said.

“Last, on behalf of Cleveland’s entire LGBT community, I wish to thank publicly the Cleveland City Council for their intelligent debates about this registry, as well as their humanity in passing a piece of legislation that in this day and age should not be in question,” Saporito remarked.

Below is important information about the registry, and what you can do to help:

• Legislation is for both same-sex and opposite-sex couples
• May 7th is the effective date of the legislation
• Cleveland is asking all same-sex and opposite-sex domestic partners to register; http://www.lgcsc.org/thecenter/300couples.php
• The domestic partner register is only $55 per couple

Come Two, Come All
8am – 4:30pm Register as Domestic Couple’s at City Hall
12noon – 2pm Rally and Celebration at City Hall
7pm – 8:15pm Ecumenical Workshop Celebration at Pilgrim Church
8:30pm Celebration at Bounce/Union Station

To Register as Domestic Partners bring valid photo ID and $55 (financial assistance may be available…email Sue Doerfer at sdoerfer@lgbtcleveland.org).

There are several events happening that day at City Hall. Parking will be very limited. Please use RTA or Park in the Municipal Lot (E. 9th and South Marginal).

All participants in City Hall events must enter through the front door. A valid photo I.D. is required for entry.

The Wyndham Hotel at Playhouse Square and Cleveland Pride are pleased to announce they will be working together as partners for this year’s Cleveland Pride celebration in Voinovich Park on June 20. The Wyndham Hotel at Playhouse Square has become a GOLD-level sponsor of Cleveland Pride’s parade and festival, the city’s largest annual event.

By partnering, the Wyndham 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 the Wyndham Hotel at Playhouse Square as a GOLD sponsor for Cleveland Pride’s 2009 festival and parade. The Wyndham Hotel at Playhouse Square is in the heart of our city’s theater district, and is vital to the economy of Cleveland,” observed Todd Saporito, 2009 Cleveland Pride Board President/CEO. “We are pleased to be aligned with them,” he added.

The Wyndham Hotel at Playhouse Square is just minutes from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Progressive Field, the Cleveland Browns Stadium, the Great Lakes Science Center and Quicken Loans Arena.

Saporito encourages any local residents and out-of-towners coming to Cleveland that weekend to book their stay at the Wyndham.

“You and your partner or friends can stay at the Wyndham at Playhouse Square, and make a weekend of it. With new guest rooms, and a state-of-the-art fitness center, you can’t go wrong,” Saporito said.

“You can have a local place to stay the weekend of June 20 so that you may enjoy the festivities along the lakefront” he said.

“Just wake up and it’s a short walk to the parade and festival!” he added.

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.

Please visit http://www.clevelandpride.org/home/festival/hotel-accomondations/ for more information.

PRESS RELEASE
April 20, 2009

Contact:  Chris Cheuvront, Director of Marketing, Cleveland Pride
216.226.0004
executiveboard@clevelandpride.org
chris.cheuvront@clevelandpride.org

Local City Council Domestic Partner Registry Advocates to serve as Grand Marshals in Cleveland Gay Pride Parade

CLEVELAND—Twelve local city council members who are advocates of the city’s Domestic Partner Registry will lend additional support to Northeast Ohio’s gay community by serving as Grand Marshals of Cleveland’s 21st annual Gay Pride Parade, to be held June 20 in Voinovich Park.

On Monday, April 27, 2009, Cleveland Pride will meet with these individuals to bestow upon them an official certificate of participation and recognition.

With the passage of restrictions on LGBT rights in Arizona, Arkansas, Florida and most notably, California, LGBT communities and advocates nationwide have galvanized and organized to continue to pursue their civil rights and equality under the law.

“Cleveland Pride’s mission is to unite, educate and inform Northeast Ohioans of progress made by the LGBT community for full recognition of our culture and pursuit of equal rights,” explained Todd J. Saporito, Board President and CEO.

“These city council members have been at the forefront of LGBT civil rights in Cleveland. We are honored to stand behind these courageous members, who are pursuing fairness for all residents in Cleveland.”

Cleveland’s Domestic Partner Registry, which has been officially recognized and ratified by the city council, is one step in the fight for equal rights that the gay community has been pursuing visibly since the July 1969 Stonewall Riots in NYC.

“These City Council members deserve to be recognized for voting affirmatively for Cleveland’s Domestic Partner Registry. We feel truly honored to be acknowledged by Cleveland Pride as the Grand Marshals of their 21st annual parade and festival,” remarked Councilmember Joe Cimperman.

“We are proud of our stance in helping the LGBT community to make progress in its pursuit of equal rights,” he added.

By serving as Grand Marshals of the Cleveland Gay Pride parade, these city council members will help the entire Northeast Ohio community at-large to realize that equal rights for all is just and fair. Their visibility as Grand Marshals lends further evidence to the evolution of our society, and helps to put Northeast Ohio on the map as a forward-thinking, safe and welcoming community.

The following individuals will serve as Grand Marshals:
Dona Brady
Tony Brancatelli
Joe Cimperman
Kevin Conwell
Brian Cummins
Martin Keane
Kevin Kelley
Mamie Mitchell
Michael Polensek
Joe Santiago
Jay Westbrook
Matt Zone

Please support the city council, the Domestic Partner Registry and your local community by joining in the pride celebration at Voinovich Park on Saturday, June 20, 2009 beginning at noon.

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.

Please visit www.clevelandpride.org for more information.

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Cleveland Pride is please to support and host Cleveland Black Pride’s RAP Sessions. RAP sessions are a series of monthly outreach programs offered by Cleveland Black Pride to the community. All RAP sessions will be held at the Cleveland Pride office located at 11100 Detroit Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44102.   The summer series includes:

Saturday, April 25, 2009
Author: Robert Sheeley
Book: Rainbow Plantation Blues

Saturday, May 9, 2009
Domestic Partner Registry
Presenter: Craig Hoffman

Saturday, June 27, 2009
“Domestic Violence in the LGBT Community”
Detective Deirdre R. Jones
Cleveland Police Department

Saturday, July 18, 2009
“Coping with AIDS”

For more information, please contact Cleveland Black Pride at http://www.bgpcleveland.com/contact.htm

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Last month when Cleveland Pride and The Room decided to plan a fun night of activities for the LGBT community, little did they know what a success it would be! On Saturday night, April 18, the two groups hosted an event at The Room’s location to bring the LGBT community together and to generate pre-buzz for the upcoming Cleveland Gay Pride Parade and Festival.

“By working in concert with each other, we were able to create an event that helped to set a new bar for Pride fundraisers in the LGBT community in Cleveland,” said Cleveland Pride CEO and Board President, Todd Saporito.

“We are delighted with the amazing success of this event, and look forward to working with The Room again to create another fabulous event. They have an amazingly professional staff, who partnered with Autumn Ridler – Cleveland Pride’s entertainment and fundraising coordinator for this event.  We look forward to a continued partnership between both organizations,” he added.

Sales at the event was nearly triple a normal Saturday night, which is a testament to the partnership created by Cleveland Pride and The Room to create unity and awareness among Cleveland’s LGBT community.

The event included DJs Rob Black and Glisten, who spun intoxicating dance music for the larger than average crowd, as well as acts from local talent, including All 4 U, Patty L., He Said She Said, and Infusion.

Festivities ended with the Bachelor/Bachelorette Auction, which included some of the most fun men and women in the community. The auction was overseen by Carly Mesnick, emmcee extraordinaire. Participants in the auction included Keith “Darius” Madden, Bella Sin, Shannon “Riley” Burns, Christin Kundrat, Justin Evans, Crash “Autsin” Jenkins, Laura “Buff” Jaketic, Spencer Peehler, Julie Dejelo, Jen Beehler, Drew Horvat, Josh Plessinger, Carey Gibbons, Leah Quintana, Christina “Tina” Reed, Craig Hatfield, and Zac aka Athena’s Ghost (The Rooms Bartender).

“This event would not have been successful without the partnership and collaboration of all of the entertainers, site host, and Cleveland Pride volunteers,” stated Autumn Ridler, Cleveland Pride Entertainment and Fundraising Coordinator. “It was important for the community to come together and aid in the funding of a new offering, beer garden DJ’s.”

Besides the top-notch DJs and entertainment, the event raised nearly $1,300 for Cleveland Pride.

Between the music and entertainment, several items which had been donated by local businesses were raffled to attendees.

Raffle items included:
-t-shirts from The Odd Corner in Akron
-visors and t-shirts from Jagermeister
-$25 gift certificates from Body Anthology Tattoo and Body Piercing in North Olmsted (http://www.bodyanthology.com/)
-leather collar and bondage cuffs from Crow Leather Works in Seville
-two, one-hour massages from an anonymous donor

The night was truly a partnership success for The Room and for Cleveland Pride. It is a living example of our theme of “Equality through Unity”.

Stay tuned for information about upcoming events from Cleveland Pride and other community partners.

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AdultMart and Cleveland Pride are pleased to announce they will be working together as partners for this year’s Cleveland Pride celebration in Voinovich Park on June 20. Adult Mart is a Silver sponsor of Cleveland Pride, increasing its sponsorship level over previous years.

By partnering, Cleveland Pride and AdultMart 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 AdultMart as one of our chief sponsors for 2009. This alignment will help to reinforce the message to the LGBT community that it is vital to form and to continue partnerships with those businesses serving our demographic,” observed Todd Saporito, 2009 Cleveland Pride Board President/CEO.

“We believe in giving back to our community via such partnerships. We are honored that AdultMart has increased its sponsorship level with us in this tough economic climate. In return, we are pleased to be able to provide Adult Mart exposure to one of their most loyal target audiences, the LGBT community,” added Saporito.

“AdultMart is proud to be a part of the celebration of diversity that the Cleveland Pride festival represents. We are pleased to have the opportunity to offer not only our continued support to Cleveland Pride as a vendor, but also as a Silver-level sponsor,” according to Rondee Kamins, CEO of Adult Mart and its family of stores.

To locate the most convenient store for you, visit www.adultmart.com.

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 oriental 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.

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