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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (July 1, 1994)
14 ▼ July 1. 1 9 0 4 ▼ ju s t o u t L ike a birthday that stretches out over several friends’ worth of dinners, par ties and movies, with lots of presents, this year’s lesbian and gay pride cel ebrations promise to keep us going for days! Plans include a Block Party and Street Dance, a Dyke March, the 1994 Lesbian and Gay Pride Parade and Festival, and a Stonewall Commemo rative Run. So, clear your calendars and get ready to party! The weekend begins Friday, July 8, with a Pride Block Party and Street Dance, where you can kick up your heels from 7 until 11:30 pm—at which time the proverbial sidewalks roll up. The North Park Blocks, between Everett and Glisan Streets in NW Portland, have been chosen as the site of this community event, which boasts music, refreshments, dancing and the amusing prospect of melon bowling—a fund-raiser for the Cascade AIDS Project and Pride Northwest, Inc. All ages are welcome at this event. Also on Friday, and only one block away in those same North Park Blocks, a Dyke March will assemble at 6:30 pm and set off at 7:30 pm. Sponsored by the Lesbian Avengers, the purpose of this march is to pump up the volume on dyke visibility and solidarity. So, grab your capes and show up— let’s get visible! You can begin pride day itself with a “Pride Service to Celebrate Sexual Diversity,” sponsored by First Unitarian Church of Portland. This service will be led by the Rev. Mark Belletini, a gay minister from Hayward, Calif., and First Unitarian’s own Rev. Marilyn Sewell. Music will be per formed by Bridges, Portland’s lesbian and gay choir, and Mark Acito, Portland Opera Quartet’s tenor soloist. The service will be held in the church, at 1011 SW 11th Ave. W e ’ ll have a “ gay old time ” ! , , A rainbow of planned pride events celebrate the lesbian gay bisexual and transgender communities T by Jann Gilbert cocktail reception hosted at CC Slaughter’s from 7 to 8:30 pm, the evening of the parade. A $1 donation is requested; all proceeds will go to Our House, a local AIDS charity. A variety of groups will be sponsoring contin gents to march in the Pride Parade. Longterm lesbian couples, the Jewish lesbian potluck group, Asian and Pacific Islanders, and people with dis abilities are just a few of the banners you’ll see flying in this year’s parade. Last year’s parade and rally drew over 11,000 people. Following the parade is a festival which begins at 1 pm in the North Park Blocks, at the end of the parade route. The festival has traditionally pro vided a marketplace for vendors and organizations to showcase their wares. Food, drink, information and entertainment will be available. aturday night, July 9, is bursting with possi bilities for the die-hard party animal. Three giant events will vie for your time, energy and dollars! If you crave a sit-down affair after all that marching and dancing, plan to attend the Portland Gay Men’s Chorus concert “Songs of Protest and Freedom,” in the Intermediate Theater of the Port land Center for the Performing Arts at 8 pm. Bob Mensel, conductor, says, “PGMC will try to cap ture the spirit of humanity’s quest for freedom as we catalog various culture’s protest songs.” But maybe you’re not tired of twinkling those toes. Then you’d best join the Lesbian Community Project for their Pride Dance and Casino, from 8 pm to 1 am in the Emerald Ballroom of the Tiffany Center, located at Southwest 14th Avenue and leadership and other contributions. The awards Morrison Street. There will be dancing, refresh will be presented at the festival in the North Park ments, music, entertainment and gambling for Blocks, which begins at 1 pm, following the pa donated prizes. One of the most intriguing prizes is rade. a flight of doves donated by a local school, which trains them as part of student activities. ortland’s Pride Parade is expected to draw Another dance option is Code Blue, self-de people from all parts of the state and nation. scribed as “Portland’s hottest women’s dance bar!” One of the more notable groups visiting are They’ll be kicking at the Melody Ballroom from 9 the Seattle Chapter of the Sisters of Perpetual pm until 2:30 am, so you die-hards can party-hop Indulgence. The sisters run a nonprofit AIDS char into the wee hours! ity organization involved in fund-raising to benefit Then at 9 am Sunday morning, July 10, bring other AIDS organizations. Made up of men and your tennies and run or walk in the Stonewall women from all facets of the community, the group Commemorative Run, sponsored by the Portland Frontrunners. The run begins at the Duniway Park Track, adjacent to the Metro YMCA on Southwest Barbur Boulevard, and follows the Terwilliger Hill bike path. Check-in begins at 8 am. Medals S Pride march through Portland, June 1993 has worked with the Equity Foundation, the Les bian Community Project, and African Americans Voting No on 9, among others. Recognized in 1991 by the Right to Privacy PAC at the Lucille Hart Dinner, Walker has been a regular fund-raiser and contributor to many activities, programs and groups supporting equal rights for African Ameri cans, gay men and lesbians. Fulmer’s involvement in the queer and main stream communities goes back 20 years, during fter the Pride Service, get set for the big event, the one we anticipate all year, the Lesbian and Gay Pride Parade and Festival. Parade participants are asked to assemble in the South Park Blocks, at Southwest Park Avenue and Columbia Street, at 9 am. The parade steps out at noon. The Pride Parade is the third largest parade in Portland, after the Portland Rose Festival Grand Floral and Starlight Parades. The Pride Parade will step out promptly at noon, going west on Columbia to Broadway, then making a trek north on Broadway to Washington Street. A left there will take marchers to Southwest which time he has been completely out. He cur rently serves on the Multnomah County Commis 10th Avenue, where the parade heads north again, sion on Children and Families and is a member of crossing West Burnside to Northwest Davis. It the Sexual Diversity Project. Fulmer has been makes one more right and disperses into the North assisting people in the terminal phase of HIV Park Blocks at Ninth Avenue. disease for 10 years, through personal care, advo Grand Marshals of this year’s Pride Parade, cacy and pinch-hitting case management. In the and recipients of the 1994 Spirit of Pride Awards, '80s he was a co-founder, board member and are Floreid Walker and Steven Fulmer. Chosen for chairman of CAP’S Personal Active Listner pro their community involvement and longterm hard gram. Other past involvements include the Port work, both Walker and Fulmer are well known land Gay Men’s Chorus, the Equity Foundation, around Portland. Right to Privacy PAC, and the Bishop’s Task Walker is currently the district manager at Force on AIDS. Waddell and Reed Financial Services and is a The Spirit of Pride Awards were initiated in board member of the American Civil Liberties 1993 by the organizers of Lesbian and Gay Pride to Union, the Community Education Project, and the recognize individuals for their contributions in the Portland Area Business Association. She is a mem community. Consideration for this award includes ber of the Portland City Club and the Women’s community visibility, years of voluntary service. Foundation of Oregon. In the recent past, Walker P A strives to bring awareness to everyone, as well as a warm and healing spirit to those who are fighting HIV disease. Sister Ignatia Agnostia, Mistress of Communi cation, writes, “When we want to be ’high profile’ in the public eye, we don our habits, which give us our unique identification and ‘no doubt about who we are appearance.’ ” The image of the nun as a tireless caregiver echoes the group’s goals and ideals. * The sisters are inviting the community to a festival SITE will be awarded in several divisions, and donated prizes will be given away in a drawing. All gen ders, ages, races and abilities are welcome. So much to do, so little time. When this week end is over, you’ll need a weekend to recover, but with the Oregon Citizens Alliance and the reli gious right constantly tearing at our right to live proud, visible lives, this shot in the arm is just what the doctor ordered l »