On Saturday, June 13, the 17th Annual Pride Picnic set a record for attendance. We estimate a minimum of 330 people joined us for a day of good friends, food and fun!
On Saturday, June 6, 2009, Youngstown OH held its first ever Pride event. The event was made possible with the financial support of people throughout the Mahoning Valley and by fundraisers held by the Pride Youngstown staff at neighborhood establishments. For more info about Pride Youngstown, browse to www.prideyoungstown.com or email prideyoungstown@gmail.com
Erie Gay News is giving away a 6 oz sample of the new Wet Gellee Jelly Lubricant and a 1.5 oz Wet Platinum Premium Body Glide! To enter, just fill out the form here between June 26 and July 17
Erie Gay News is giving away a pair of tickets to Waldameer, good for the 2009 season only. To enter, fill out the form here between June 29 and July 6. These tickets were generously donated by Street Track and Trail. They are valid through September 7, 2009 on the days that the park is open. The park is open Tuesday through Sunday through September 7, 2009. Admission starts at 11 AM for Water World and 1 PM for Waldameer. The park is closed Mondays (except holidays) and August 31 through September 3. The tickets can be redeemed at the Main Ticket booth. They are not redeemable for cash.
On an early morning flight from Orlando, after appearing at the 19th Annual Gay Days at Disneyworld, I was “sirred” twice by a cab driver and flight attendant. All before 7 a.m. I would have thought the brand new faux leopard Croc flats I was sporting would have thrown them off. Or that the “Gay Day” banners everywhere would have heightened their threat levels to rainbow.
People from around the tri-state area are invited to a big weekend event on the second weekend in September on the grounds of the Chautauqua Institution.
By the end of July, we will have copies of the photo album from the recent record-setting Pride Picnic for sale! More details will be available at this web site, email Michael Mahler at info@eriegaynews.com or call (814) 456-9833.
Erie Gay News has been stepping up the number of online giveaways that we have been offering to about 1 a week. All that you need to do for any given contest is fill out the form at the contest page at the Erie Gay News web site (http://www.eriegaynews.com.) You can either check our web site frequently or you can also get notice by signing up for the Erie GLBT News and Events list at http://lists.eriegaynews.com. We also have a group at Facebook that gets notices about contests and other important news. So, stay in touch with the GLBT community, and also win free stuff!
Starting on July 10, there will be drag competitions hosted by Victoria Spaulding the 2nd and 4th Friday of each month at Craze Night Club, 1607 Raspberry Street, Erie, PA. Doors open at 9 PM; show starts at 11 PM and there will be dancing until 2 AM. There is a $2 cover and must be 21 to enter.
Commemorations are being held across the world this weekend to mark the fortieth anniversary of the Stonewall uprising that launched the modern gay and lesbian rights movement. The uprising began in the morning on June 28, 1969, when New York City police officers raided a gay bar called the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village. As the police began dragging some of the patrons out, members of the gay community decided to fight back, sparking three days of rioting. We play a documentary, Remembering Stonewall, with the voices of people who were there and speak with historian David Carter. [includes rush transcript] See the rest of this article here.
StoryCorps, heard on NPR’s Morning Edition, will be coming to Erie’s Perry Square from July 30th through August 22nd. StoryCorps is an independent nonprofit project whose mission is to honor and celebrate another’s life through listening. Since 2003, tens of thousands of everyday people have shared stories and life experiences with family, friends, and their community through StoryCorps. Each conversation is recorded on a free CD to take home and share, and a copy is preserved at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.
Buffalo Artists staged reading of All About Eve; Kathy Griffin in Cleveland; Directors Circle Theatre Closes; Marsha Stevens and Justin Ryan in Concert in Pittsburgh.
PITTSBURGH -- Unified For Youth -- Pennsylvania’s first statewide conference for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender youth, their straight allies, parents and family members -- kicks off over the weekend of July 17-19, 2009,
Colmbus, Ohio June 17—With a vote of 8 to 5, House Bill 176, the Equal Housing and Employment Act, passed out of State Government Committee in the Ohio House of Representatives. The committee vote marks the first time in Ohio’s history that a vote has occurred on legislation protecting the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in Ohio in either chamber of the General Assembly. The only previous issue to come to a vote in the Assembly related to LGBT issues was the 2003 legislative Defense of Marriage Act (banning same-sex marriage.)
I have recently drafted and am shortly introducing legislation which would cause Pennsylvania to join the other states that recognize same-sex marriage. I do so now for several reasons. Many other states are moving to consider this issue, including Maine, Vermont and DC which have passed legislation in just the past few weeks. Also, a bill banning same-sex marriage was recently introduced in the Pennsylvania State Senate and it is important to provide the legislature with a timely pro-civil rights, pro-family alternative. But mostly, I feel that every day we spend living under a law which treats an entire category of citizens as second-class, and denies them their fundamental human rights is a profound injustice.
The Zone Dance Club and Drew Riggs/Angelica Redd wishes to congratulate Mistress Vanitay on earning the Miss Erie crown on June 6, 2009. We look forward to a productive and fun filled year with her and Buffylynn Hayes, her first runner up.
Erie Gay News is giving away a copy of Junior Vasquez new dance music compilation CD, Generation Next. To enter, just fill out the form here between July 3 and July 24.
Issue #80 of
the print edition of the current run of Erie Gay News is out as of Tuesday, June 23, 2009!
You can pick
it up at several locations. You can also read the articles here. There have been 164 issues of Erie Gay News since the first issue in January, 1993.
Craze Night Club
GLSEN Pittsburgh
Do What's Right Ohio
Vertigo
