Great time at Butler Rainbow Community Picnic

by Mitchell

The Butler Rainbow Picnic, hosted by PFLAG Butler County and Persad Center's Community Safe Zone project, was held on July 24, 2011. The picnic lasted from 2pm to 6pm and hosted over 60 people.

The picnic had typical cook out food such as hotdogs, hamburgers, potato salad, etc. The grill was manned by Ted Hoover and he did a fabulous job. The picnic had an overall friendly, warm, and inviting atmosphere. There were many new faces to meet and old friends to greet. This year's picnic had people as north as Erie and as east as State College.

Several people from the Erie County PFLAG were in attendance, including Mark Hoovler. Also, Jason Goodman of The Pennsylvania Student Equality Coalition (PSEC) was at the picnic. He shared about the newly formed student lead organization and their goals. PSEC is the first ever state-wide LGBTQ organization run by students for students. Goodman is president of the coalition.

The picnic had a time period where PFLAG Butler County president, Joe Tomlinson, shared PFLAG updates. He announced details about the upcoming National Coming Out Day celebration that will be hosted at Butler County Community College on October 8th. For more details, please see www.pflagbutler.com. He also shared about the work being done for a Non-discrimination Ordinance in Butler, and introduced the officers and board members.

Ted Hoover briefly told the audience about Community Safe Zone and their recent projects with the community in the five counties that surround Allegheny County. He shared about the newly formed Butler LGBTQ Interfaith Network. The Network is a group of pastors and lay persons who support LGBTQ persons. The group will be hosting a movie series this coming fall. More Details are to come.

Many people felt the day went by quickly and are looking forward to next year's. Many thanks to Persad Center, Community Safe Zone, PFLAG Butler County, and all of those who attended!

Photos are by Michael Mahler, co-editor for Erie Gay News, with editing by Deb Spilko, co-editor for Erie Gay News.