Pride Cookout - A Busy Pre-Pride Weekend

This weekend has a number of events running up to Pride week (several already took place last night), including the first Ocean View Pier Party of 2011 which kicks off at 5:00 PM this afternoon (a $5 donation is being collected at the door). The Ocean View Pier is located at 4th View and I-64 on the beach. A full schedule of weekend events can be found here.

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As noted a couple of days ago, the boyfriend and I are hosting (with help from friends) a fundraising event at our home at 1615 Chesapeake Avenue in Hampton tomorrow to help underwrite the costs of putting on both Hampton Road Pride's "Out in the Park" in Norfolk's Town Point Park on Sunday, June 5, 2011 and the City of Hampton's "Diversity and Pride" in Hampton's Millpoint Park which will take place on Saturday, June 11, 2011.

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The event tomorrow is from 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM. The menu will include BBQ numerous side dishes, desserts, beer, wine and other beverages - compliments of the boyfriend, myself and friends who will be recognized at the event. The cost is $15 pre-paid or $25 at the door.

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Local readers who would like to attend and show their support for "Out in the Park" and Hampton's "Diversity and Pride" events need to come out! To purchase tickets, use this link here now.

The Importance of Straight Allies Speaking Out

The 2011 "Out in the Park" pride celebration in Hampton Roads is finally moving to a premier venue - Norfolk's Town Point Park on the downtown Norfolk waterfront - after years of being relegated to the off the beaten path hinterland in Chesapeake. The new venue is vastly increasing the costs of the event and the pressure to put on a truly first class event given the high visibility of the event. In order to insure a great event, rather than being sponsored solely by Hampton Roads Pride, this years event will also be sponsored by HRBOR, Equality Virginia, and AltDaily, an alternative online news and opinion publication. In response to questions as to why AltDaily became involved, Jesse Scaccia, the publisher and editor-in-chief, wrote an amazing op-ed piece that explains why he as a straight man has decided to become involved and join the push for LGBT equality. The piece is entitled "Why I Care About GLBT Rights" and I hope Jesse's call will lead others to realize that when we fail to oppose the message of the Christian Right and other merchants of hate and division, we all lose out. Here are some column highlights (I recommend a read of the full well written and moving column):
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I’ve been part of the team that championed for this year’s Out in the Park to be moved from Chesapeake to the more prominent Town Point Park. I will be a part of the fundraising and organization leading up to the event right up until when the night of June 5th is over.
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I’ve been asked—and it’s impossible for me to not ask myself—why I care so much about this cause that doesn’t necessarily directly affect me. I’m not gay, nor am I bisexual. The simple answer would be to quote Martin Luther King Jr. and say that “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” While I do believe that, my answer is deeper, and steeped in more personal history, than that.
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As a Jew, it is impossible for me not to have sympathy for another group oppressed for nothing more than the way they were born. Sympathy is nothing without action. That is one reason I’m a part of Out in the Park.
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So I know something about what it’s like to be discriminated because of my sexuality, even if the ‘accusations’ were false. I know how impotent this kind of discrimination can make a person feel. How wronged. I get how confusing it can be, to know you’re a good person with a lot to give and a lot to add, but to be turned away because you didn’t fit the part they want you to play.
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I want to live in a society where it literally does not matter what choices a person makes when it comes to who they love. For that kind of society to be actualized, people like me need to come out and say that physical contact with someone of your own sex is not implicitly gross. It is not wrong. It is not immoral. It’s okay, really. To some people—people I love dearly—it is how God intended them to live. That, to me, is an immutable fact.
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I’m part of Out in the Park because the GLBT community needs straight allies, and I want them to know they can count on me. See, the destiny of Right is not manifest. Right must be fought for. It dies—it shrivels like a heart cut off from blood—in the absence of the fight.
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For to live, one’s soul must be without fear. And oh, dear lord knows, there are far too many of our brothers and sisters who are so afraid. Our brothers and sisters in the closet live in fear, but also their oppressors, whose hatred is based on ignorance and fear of a world where their version of Manhood does not automatically plop them to the top of the social schemata.
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I know that I am making my path harder in this Southern military town full of Pat Robertson and his followers. I welcome that harder path. Because hard is good. The fight is what sets us free.

Pride Weekend Reflections

Despite the very, very hot weather, this weekend's Pride events in Hampton Roads seemed to have come off without a hitch. Things got underway yesterday with an always popular pier party at the Ocean View Fishing Pier - the door proceeds went to help finance the Hampton Roads Men's Chorus. I am not sure what the total attendance numbers turned out to be, but during the 4:00 PM til 10:00 PM and later event, I suspect that the total numbers were 750 to 1000. The pier parties are always an interesting study in contrast with the LGBT party goers of every age bracket and description - certainly not our detractors' stereotype image - partying away on the top deck while redneck Bubba types are fishing on the pier. Fortunately, this year two additional bars were operating on the top deck to help cut down the log jam getting drinks.

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Out in the Park today seemed the best organized ever and even included a local auto dealership as one of the exhibitors. Also new were several new churches - including Eastern Shore Chapel, one of the oldest Episcopal Church parishes in Virginia Beach - MetLife, the district management for Farmers Insurance, and several mainstream advertising home improvement/construction companies. While this area's Pride event is nothing compared to many cities, the fact that it's taking place - this was the 22nd annual event - and growing speaks a lot to the change taking place in the region, albeit way to slowly for my satisfaction. Working the HRBOR site at Out in the Park I discovered that LOTS of folks saw yours truly on the Friday evening news discussing HRBOR's meeting with Economic Development personnel from the City of Hampton.

Reminder - Out in the Park is Tomorrow

Just a reminder that HR Pride's "Out in the Park" event is tomorrow from Noon to 6:00 PM at Chesapeake City Park. The boyfriend and I will be there part of the day covering the HRBOR table. Last year's event drew more than 7,000 people. Hope to see you there!!

Weekend Reflections and HR Pride

Today is the day of Hampton Roads Pride's "Out in the Park" event which was timed to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. We will be headed over to the event in Chesapeake where I will be working since I am on the board of HR Pride. It looks like we have a wonderful day weather wise and I hope local readers will try to attend the event at Chesapeake City Park off of Greenbrier Parkway. The event runs from noon to 5:00 pm. There will be food, musical acts, and a beer tent as well a display of the History Project which traces the history of the LGBT community in Hampton Roads through the years.
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I have not posted since Friday morning due to a very busy weekend to date. Friday evening, we had a wonderful couple over for dinner who are long time clients of the boyfriend's salon. They are very gracious and have embraced me as the new love interest in the boyfriend's life. Yesterday was crazy and began with us helping pack up a friend's 85 year old mother who is moving to North Carolina. We were at her house at 7:15 am to help load the truck. That was followed by a therapy session with my youngest daughter and then preparing for another dinner party at our home. We entertained two of the boyfriend's clients - two gracious and lively women - and one of the other stylists from the salon. .

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The food for both dinners was amazing and presented in "camera ready" form, thereby further justifying why I call the boyfriend "Martha Stewart." I like to cook, but I'm not in his league - I'm the table setter, dishwasher and scullery help and leave the artistic creation to him.