[OutVoice] Chicago Pridefest protest update

scott free xscottfreex at yahoo.com
Fri Jul 14 15:34:15 CDT 2006


Our Pridefest protests were noticed by the gay community of Chicago this year in a big way. We created an on-line petition for the LGBT community of Chicago to voice their complaints – we received over 150 signatures! 
 
http://www.petitiononline.com/cpes/ 
 
Local gay newspaper Chicago Free Press printed Letters to the Editor from both Lars Von Keitz and me. Sukie De La Croix, a columnist for the paper, wrote a scathing piece about the situation. Windy City Times was less friendly, with a piece that didn’t give our side a chance for rebuttal. But still, the coverage on the subject was encouraging. 
 
As it turns out, Pridefest did have some gay acts perform – a local theater group, the ROTC twirling group, and a cabaret act in which the pianist is gay. None of these performers were announced or publicized before the event. We cannot say if these were last-minute additions – our protests started immediately after their press release came out, which had announced an all-straight line-up. No queer bands or singer/songwriters ended up performing. No lesbian acts performed. 
 
We are hoping to build on the response we received from the community. In presenting the petition to the organizers I will make these suggestions. 
 
1. Have a Chicago Pridefest website. 
2. Include information on how to apply to be considered for a performance slot. 
3. Include members of the Chicago LGBT music community in planning the event 
 
We know that the pressure is on for Chicago Pridefest 2007 – we’ll let you know what happens! 
 
Scott Free


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