Preview: Hampton Roads Pride
Words Joval Martin
Friday, June 25th, 2010 at 9:35 am
As “LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER Pride Month,” so proclaimed by President Obama, draws to a close, Hampton Roads gets ready to put on its own version of the festival.
This Sunday, June 27th from noon until 6pm, Hampton Road Pride will produce its 22nd Annual “Out in the Park” at Chesapeake City Park in the Greenbrier area of Chesapeake. This is hidden from the main road by a line of trees, houses and businesses.
Come one, come all.
After years of criticism for poor management and allegations of mishandling of funds, the board of Pride went through a complete transformation in 2007. New board president (since 2008) James Parker, along with the help of former treasurer Patrick Bradley, worked tirelessly to restore the integrity of the organizational structure. One of Mr. Parker’s goals has been to make Pride a more diverse organization. He said the 11 member board now had 4 women, two of the officers; previously there were none.
Three years into the changeover, the festival seems to be reaping the benefits of all the hard work. Last “Out in the Park” had its biggest turn out ever, more than 7,000 people. And this year’s line-up looks to be more organized with more music, including one of Hampton Road’s favorite singer/songwriters, Narisa Bond, and the Funk-Soul band “Seed is….”
While in most places “Pride” is usually associated with parades started in New York City as commemoration of the 1969 “Stonewall Riots,” the Hampton Roads version is a festival with “a variety of local and national entertainers, a showcase of over 50 local artisans and businesses in the GLBT marketplace, a children’s activity area, as well as several informational booths and confidential HIV screening,” according to the Hampton Roads Pride press release.
From the SF Pride.
When I asked Mr. Parker whether or not Hampton Roads Pride ever planned to put on a public parade, he said not in the near future. Among the several reasons he gave for not making “Pride” an event that was more publicly accessible was the idea that those in the military “would not be comfortable” openly out at a gay event. He said that “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the policy that bans in the military from openly expressing their sexual orientation and prohibits military officials from asked about sexual orientation, was in “very much in effect.”
Across the country and around the world, Pride is the one event during which the LGBT community had the ability to collectively express their right to exist and be recognized. But in Hampton Roads there is long standing tradition keeping pride secluded deep in a park far away from the eyes of others. Hence the name “Out in the Park.” This practice has had the effect of keeping Hampton Roads Pride “in the closet.” While Hampton Roads Pride bills the event as “Virginia’s largest and most attended GLBT Pride celebration,” the turnout is pitifully small for the largest metropolitan region between DC and Atlanta. Attendance for Capital Pride is estimated to be approximately 100,000 for its Saturday parade and 250,000 for the Sunday festival. Atlanta Pride’s numbers range between 300,000 and 400,000 annually.
Now might be the right time for Hampton Roads Pride to make a venue change. “For the first time,” according Charles M. Blow of the New York Times, who cites the Gallup’s May 2010 poll, “the percentage of Americans who perceive ‘gay and lesbian relations’ as morally acceptable has crossed the 50 percent mark.” And the major jump in acceptance is amongst men, who now accept gay and lesbian relationships more that women.
From the Atlanta Pride.
One is the reasons that Blow gives for this change is what he calls “The contact hypothesis. As more men openly acknowledge that they are gay, it becomes harder for men who are not gay to discriminate against them. And as that group of openly gay men becomes more varied — including athletes, celebrities and soldiers — many of the old, derisive stereotypes lose their purchase.”
So, Hampton Roads Pride, come out of the closet and publicize your 22 year old event. Gay People in Virginia deserve to be seen and have their voices heard. Move to Towne Pointe Park, have a parade downtown, or in some locations where the sight of thousands of LGBT people will have an impact. When people see the size and energy of the group, they will be drawn to it. There is safety and solidarity in numbers. We don’t need tens of thousands of LGBT people just to boast; we need tens of thousand of LGBT people and their supporters to show Hampton Roads that we’re here and we matter.
And by the way, attendance at a LGBT Pride Festival doesn’t make a person gay. So you can tell Officer So-And-So that if she wants to know what her soldiers were doing at a festival with a bunch of gays and lesbians, all she has to do is ask.
Disclosure: Joval was a board member of Hampton Roads Pride from April 2009 to Jan 2010. Other LGBT organizations which he has worked or volunteered for and/or have donated to include: Family Equality Law Center, Hampton Road Business Outreach, Equality Virginia, Access AIDS Care (formerly CANDII House and Full Circle), Hampton Roads Mens Chorus, Gay Mens Chorus of Washington, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Human Rights Campaign, The AIDS Fund (formerly Tidewater AIDS Community Taskforce), and Servicemen’s Legal Defense Network.
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ABOUT THE WRITER
Hampton Roads Native Joval Martin, studied Art History and Urban Planning at Virginia Commonwealth University. Before that he sang with the Virginia Opera Association and studied classical voice at the Governor's School for the Arts, a visual and performing arts high school serving the Greater Hampton Roads Region. After two years in Washington, DC at the Smithsonian Institution, Joval has returned to Tidewater to attempt to make a difference in his local LGBT community.
Other posts by Joval Martin.
Other posts by Joval Martin.
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I agree Jessie! It would be great if it was “Out in the Park” instead of Way, way, way “out in the Park”
Jesse,
It would be SPECTACULAR if we had the support of Mayor Fraim and City Council to be welcome in the Town Point Park. Honestly, the LGBT community has better support from other cities in Hampton Roads.
N.
I don’t think we need city support as much as we need their respect. As long we remain a fractured community that cowers in the bushes, we won’t have the political clout that makes them stop ignoring us. A significant portion of our community is concentrated in near Downtown and Ghent, we owe to them, to ourselves to make our voices heard.
that wasn’t meant to be anonymous… I posted that.
all right then, looks like we got some work to do!
My suggestion to anyone — gay, straight, or otherwise — who supports Jesse’s idea of a more-visible Pride is that they involve themselves with the year-long effort that Hampton Roads Pride puts into making the event happen. Contribute your energy, enthusiasm, resolve, and skills.
I hasten to note that I say this not as someone who has heeded the call himself, but as someone who knows quite well that HR Pride seems to have a much greater demand for assistance and involvement than the supply-line furnishes. Willing bodies and material contributions are often scarce resources.
Actually, I should’ve said Joval and Jesse’s ideas for a more-public Pride.
(90-degree temperatures + broken AC at the office = a brain that has attempted to relocate itself to a place more pleasant than the one in which the body currently sits.)
NY does a Pride 5k. I like the idea of a crossover event tie in…
While I agree with some of these statements and some of the quotes in the article, which are my own, I have to say that the article accuses Hampton Roads Pride of being “closeted” when that is far from the truth. We hold our meetings once a month in a public library. We hold our event in the largest park with in the area, with the most accessible parking for several thousand attendees. And, as a previous poster commented, Chesapeake has been the most amenable to our cause. Moving to Town Point Park is a goal, a long term goal that I hope to eventually see achieved. And as a different person commented, it takes many people to put this event on. As for moving to Town Point Park for 2011, at this time we do not predict that happening due to FestEvents controlling all celebrations in Town Point Park. While it one day will be a great place for Hampton Roads Pride to celebrate, until the City Council of Norfolk and the people at FestEvents allow for consideration to us, we will remain at Chesapeake City Park, no hiding from the public, but holding the largest GLBT Pride event in one of (if not the largest) parks in the Hampton Roads area. To get more involved, go to the website http://www.hamptonroadspride.net
And thank you to all who came out, despite the heat, to celebrate Pride with us.
James Parker
President
Hampton Roads Pride
I agree that I would love to have a more OPEN pride festival, but sadly, when it has taken several years to even get 12 people to join the board of HRP and even as the event was taking place, one of those 12 dropped out. It is no strange thing that HRP does what it can. As some people may not realize, the author of this article WAS a member of HRP but backed out without fulfilling his term. So to all the people that believe Out in the Park should be more out, I state, get off your ass and get out there and help. For 10 people to work all year and put on that event it is amazing what they accomplished. For DC, there are over 100 people that attend the planning meetings every month for a year to plan it. There meetings last 2-3 hours and then they also have committee meetings once every two weeks that last for an hour or two. That is well over 43000 hours they have to dedicate every year to putting on their pride parade and festival. Since HRP has currently 11 Board members and about 9 regular members that show up to help at the meetings and give ideas and suggestions, that means that those 20 people would need to put in close to the 43000 man hours that DC does and with 20 people that is 41 hours per week. I personally hear it all the time that people would get more involved if it was at town point park, but if you want it there, show up to the meetings, get involved and do something to give back to the community.
So to James and all the rest of the people that take hours away from their family and friends throughout the year, and give up most of their May and June, I personally say THANK YOU. Would I do things differently, possibly, but for what you all do you do not deserve the criticism that you receive, you deserve our praise and appreciation for being the only ones that step forward and make an effort.
Anonymous its obvious that you are a member of the board of directors of Hampton Roads Pride, why do you post your comment as anonymous? If you want to be thanked and you want the rest of the board to be thanked then don’t hide behind anonymous posts. Come out of your closet. Or is there some reason why you are trying to stay anonymous?
I find it amazing the complaint of not having enough people is being used. 22yrs ago, we only had 6 people a hateful public and hostile education/medical environments. With all that working against us, we were able to organize, finance and run not one but 3 festivals for the area. (One in winter “Breaking the Ice”, one in summer “Out in the Park” and one in fall “Fall Fest”) For the inital 5 years, we worked not only on the festivals but networking the community together and making it safer for the gay/lesbian/tg community atlarge.
We took our lumps and looked into ourselves to see how we could improve what we were doing. Our goal was for the betterment of the community. People helped us because they wanted to and saw they could make a difference. People participated at the level they could and we were grateful and acknowledge thier contributions.
I am thankful for those who organized/managed this years and previous festivals. I understand the sacrifices needed to put such an event on. But I do make this recommendation to the Board of HR Pride.
No matter how negative or opposing an idea or person maybe, there is always a kernel of usefulness or positive outcome can be yours if you keep your mind and heart open to possibilities.
It was great to see “Out in the Park” at Town Point Park this year : ). I’ve been to it in its many different locations and have seen it change and grow along with our community. There is still a long way to go as far as being excepeted but to have been to the “Out in the Park” over the various years and being able to look back now – I can see improvement and growth that is wonderful to see. So don’t unfasten your seatbelt yet, no one said it would be a smooth ride, but at the same time isn’t nice to see the progress that has been made.