Pride Parade and Rally

On Saturday, August 24, about 300 people attended the Pride Parade and Rally put on by NW PA Pride Alliance.

Delta Foundation sent up a bus from Pittsburgh with about 40 people, who marched as a parade unit. Parade units included Erie Gay News, NW PA Pride Alliance, Erie Sisters, Community United Church, Pennsylvania Student Equality Coalition, Amisha Tribal Belly Dance, Greater Erie Alliance for Equality (GEAE), Delta Foundation, Marriage Equality for Pennsylvania, PFLAG Erie and Crawford Counties, Persad Center and LBT Women. There were about 170 people in the parade.

The rally was emceed by Mark Tanenbaum of PACA. Speakers and performers at the rally included Michael Mahler for NW PA Pride Alliance, drag performers Lovin' Heart and Eva Destruction, Ted Martin of Equality PA, singer/guitarist Bob Bearfield, Caitlyn Strohmeyer of TransFamily of Erie Support Group and GEAE, drag performer Velvet Lace, PFLAG Erie and Crawford Counties President Jayne May, Amisha Tribal Dance. Leann Romitti of Persad Center‘s REAL TIME LGBTQ youth suicide's prevention program, drag perfomer Cammy Seoul, Kim Conti of LBT Women of Erie and drag performer Misty Kall.

Info tables and vendors included American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), NWPA Chapter, Cocktails and Cream Puffs, Community Health Net, Community United Church, Equality PA, Erie County Human Relations Commission, Erie County Suicide Prevention Task Force, Erie Sisters, Erie Summer Festival of the Arts, Greater Erie Alliance for Equality (GEAE), Keystone Progress, Lake Erie Counseling Associates, Marriage Equality for Pennsylvania, National Organization for Women, NWPA Chapter (NWPANOW), Northstar Equine Foundation, Northwestern Mutual, Pennsylvania Student Equality Coalition, Persad Center, PFLAG Erie and Crawford Counties, Safe Harbor Behavioral Health, SafeNet Center, Steadman Law Office, TransFamily of Erie Support Group; Just Pride, Lion's Den Adult Super Store, and Rainbow Creations

NW PA Pride Alliance also gave away goodie bags to registrants. We collected 30 pounds of food for the Second Harvest Food Bank of NW PA.

The weekend also included a kick-off drag show at PACA the night before the parade, lesbian comedian Kristen Becker from Buffalo NY at PACA the night of the rally (presented by Equality PA) and the Lake Erie States Progressive Summit the following day (organized by Keystone Progress, with participation from Pennsylvania, New York and Ohio.)

Photos

Also view photos here.