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AS T O RIA
PRIDE
THE LOWER COLUMBIA Q CENTER PRESENTS
THE INAUGURAL LGBT PRIDE CELEBRATION IN
DOWNTOWN ASTORIA JUNE 9, 10 & 11
By REBECCA SEDLAK
G
Gay pride is coming to Astoria. The
Lower Columbia Q Center is organizing the
fi rst Astoria Pride event Thursday through
Saturday, June 9 to 11.
“Astoria Pride is a time when we all get
to come together and celebrate who we are
as a people,” says Marco Davis, chairman
of the Lower Columbia Q Center, which
serves the local lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender, questioning, intersex and asex-
ual community.
“In a lot of ways, it’s like the Scandina-
vian Midsummer Festival: All the Scandi-
navians get together. This is an opportunity
for us to celebrate where we’ve come from,
who we are,” Davis said.
“Sometimes I don’t think we celebrate
enough; we spend so much time fi ghting
and rallying for things. This is that one
time a year when we can actually, really
celebrate.”
ASTORIA PRIDE
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Thursday, June 9
“The Madness of Lady Bright,” 8 p.m.
KALA, 1017 Marine Drive, 18+, $10
Big Fat Gay Movie Night: “Purple Rain,”
10 p.m., Columbian Theater, 1114 Marine
Drive, donations accepted
Friday, June 10
Astoria Pride Gala, 7 p.m., Astoria Armory,
1636 Exchange St., $10 general admission
Mezzanine, $20 general admission main
fl oor, $120 premium table for eight w/
champagne
Tickets on sale at A Gypsy’s Whimsy, 1139
Commercial St., the Astoria Pride Hub
The festivities
The lineup is full of events for LGBT
individuals, friends and allies to show their
pride. Gender-fl uid pop icon Prince will
be remembered at a showing of “Purple
Rain” at 10 p.m. Thursday at the Columbian
Theater.
Friday evening’s Pride Gala will feature
a glamorous array of performances in the
Armory. With general admission seating
on the mezzanine and main fl oor as well
as premium tables, attendees will enjoy
drinks, appetizers by local restaurants and
entertainment galore. Local “Dragalution!”
cast members will lip-sync and dance, three
guest drag queens — Shitney Houston,
Annie DePressant and Annya Allnight —
will perform, and Portland band Seven Cake
Candy will raise the roof.
Work Dance Company, a hip-hop and
jazz/funk dance troupe from Eugene, will
teach a free, all-ages hip-hop dance work-
shop at Astoria Arts & Movement Center
annex next to the Columbian Cafe at 1114
Marine Drive in an annex, or at the door
Saturday, June 11
AIDS Memorial Quilt Viewing, 9 to 11 a.m.,
Astoria Armory, free
Riverwalk Gay Pride Parade, 2 p.m., Bay
Street to 11th Street, free
“The Coast is Queer” art exhibit, 6 p.m.,
KALA, 1017 Marine Drive, free
DJ Dance Party, 9 p.m. KALA, 1017 Marine
Drive, free
Hip-hop dance workshop, 6 p.m. Astoria
Arts & Movment Center, 342 10th St., all
ages, free
Dance party with DJ Ali Aht, 9 p.m., Asto-
ria Arts & Movment Center, 342 10th St.,
all ages, free
SUBMITTED PHOTO
The last display of the entire AIDS Memorial Quilt was in October of 1996 when The Quilt cov-
ered the entire National Mall in Washington, D.C. Two blocks of the quilt will be on display at
the Armory during Astoria Pride.
at 6 p.m. Saturday, followed by a free,
all-ages dance party. With Astoria Pride in
its fl edgling year, organizers have received
encouragement and support from the larger
LGBT communities in Eugene, Portland and
Seattle.
“We have so many people coming from out
of town who want to celebrate,” Davis said.
The celebration culminates in the Riv-
erwalk Pride Parade at 2 p.m. Saturday. All
are welcome to join the parade or watch the
walkers and bikers start at Bay Street under
the Astoria Bridge and make their way to
11th Street. Emcees Dida DeAngelis and
Portland drag queen Poison Waters will be
on stage at Buoy Beer to entertain the crowd
and announce notable parade participants
and groups who have signed up in advance.
In an effort to represent different aspects
of the LGBT community, the Astoria Pride
parade will be led by three grand marshals:
HIPFiSHmonthly publisher and activist Di-
nah Urell, who is a lesbian; longtime LGBT
activist Tessa James Scheller, who is trans-
gender; and Washington state Democratic
Sen. Marko Liias, an openly gay member of
the Washington State Legislature.
“We did three grand marshals so that we
kind of are encompassing everything, other
than just a gay white male,” Davis said.
“These are the things that you think about
when you’re working in a diverse communi-
ty: How do you honor everybody’s voice?
“That’s really why we’re calling it
Astoria Pride,” Davis said, “because it’s not
just for ‘the gays.’ It’s for everyone. We’re
nothing without the people who support us.”
Honoring struggles of the past
Beyond the celebration, Astoria Pride
will also honor the history of the LGBT
community.
Two blocks of the AIDS Memorial Quilt
will be on display at the Armory. Managed
by the NAMES Project Foundation, the
AIDS Memorial Quilt aims to foster heal-
ing, heighten AIDS awareness and inspire
HIV prevention. Started in San Francisco
in 1987, the full quilt now numbers 48,000
3-by-6-foot panels that commemorate the
lives of people who have died from AIDS.
“It’s such a visual and tangible part of
our history and how terrifying the AIDS
pandemic was,” Davis says. “It’s an aspect
of our history that a lot of the up-and-com-
ing LGBTQIA community aren’t aware of.”
The quilt is the largest community art
project in the world. By visually illustrating
the number of people lost to AIDS, the quilt
aims to humanize statistics. Sections are
continuously on display in schools, churches
and community centers around the country.
Visitors can view the quilt blocks during
Friday’s Pride Gala, during which there will
be a moment of silence, followed by the
Lower Columbia Q Center Choir singing
“Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” The quilt
will also be on display from 9 to 11 a.m.