I »' !• j ; i i ; i v i * .1
luly 16* 2004 -
tnewsbriefs
B igger T han E ver ,
V ancouver P ride
C elebrates 10 Y ears
H
undreds of people gathered July 10 to cel
ebrate the 10th anniversary of the Pride
festival Saturday in the Park in downtown Van
couver, Wash.
“It was our biggest event yet," organizer
Jon Martin says. He estimates more than
3,000 people attended the festival, which was
held on a mild afternoon at Esther Short
Park.
This year’s theme was “Your World Is Our
World: Freedom, Faith and Equality.” Mayor
Royce Pollard offered opening remarks, and
several other city and state officials spoke,
including openly gay state Rep. Jim Moeller,
D-Vancouver.
Martin says Saturday in the Park has “more
of a neighborhood, family kind of feel” than
Pride celebrations in bigger cities like Port
land and Seattle. He told Just Out the majori
ty of attendees were Vancouver residents, but
he also welcomed folks from the Rose City as
well as Camas, Washougal, Woodlawn and
Saturday in the Park attracted both the joyful and the hateful July 10 in Vancouver, Wash.
Everett, Wash.
A total of 34 groups and vendors set up
booths, including the Clark College Queer Pen
Martin says the Rose City Swing Band was a
ever oo oon to lan
guins, which Martin says is becoming an impor particularly big hit. Colorfield and De’Zhon
for ong erm are
tant hub for the sexual minorities community in
Fields also got the crowds grooving.
Vancouver.
With an “ intimate” atmosphere and marked
nne Seelye, a lesbian financial adviser at
No food booths were necessary, as the event
ly more press coverage than in years past, Mar
Waddell & Reed, will facilitate a long-term
bordered the weekend farmers market at the
tin is enthusiastic about the festival’s success and
care seminar 6 p.m. July 21 in Suite 2C at
park. The market ensured that the festival had a what it means for Vancouver. The 42-year-old
500 N.E. Multnomah St.
very public presence, and more than one het Vancouver native hopes that other queers will
She says the sexual minorities community might
erosexual couple were seen dancing to some of increasingly find the city to be as “gay-friendly” not be aware of the importance of buying long-term
the Pride performers.
as he has always found it to be.
care insurance—and might wait until it’s too late.
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“The need for long-term care is about two in
three people,” she told Just Out, referring to
both nursing home stays and in-home care.
According to Seelye, the average cost of such
care is $52,000 a year.
Baby boomers of all sexual orientations are
facing this need. “The fact is that, in the past,
people were taken care of by...their kids,"
says
Seelye,
noting
that
adult children
often live in
different cities
from their par
ents nowadays
and that a lot
of queers don’t
have kids to
begin with.
Sh e
adds
that gay and
lesbian couples
often make a
pact to take
care o f each
other later in life. But if one partner dies or
becomes incapacitated, the other partner is
left in a vulnerable position.
While long-term care insurance is often
thought of as nursing home insurance, Seelye
says the new long-term care insurance “helps
people stay in their homes.”
Waddell & Reed district manager Marc
Sundberg will speak at the queer-focused semi
nar. He has 10 years of experience in estate
planning and long-term care insurance.
Seelye says she wanted to hold the seminar to
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