Pride Season Is Upon Us!

Yep, It's that time again.  We're starting to have a smattering of sunny days mixed with the rainy ones.  A time with us northwesterners (is that a word?) start to feel hopeful and happy.  When we get to enjoy the gorgeous outdoor settings that the Pacific Northwest has to offer.  It's also, for us queers, Pride season. 

Yep. Pride.  I remember my very first one.  Nearly, well, um, it was a while ago anyway.  I was a young lesbian, newly out, working for the only lesbian dance club in town at the time.  It was very exciting to me because we threw these over the top theme parties each night of Pride weekend.  My babydyke, early party producing days.  Awww.  Memories.  At the end of the weekend was the parade.  Everyone who worked at the club would converge on a flat bed truck and erect some sort of theme on which we all rode through the parade.  I'll never forget how moving it was to me to ride down that parade route for the very first time.  I COULD NOT BELIEVE how many gay people there were!   This was back in the early 90s. Pride has become a totally different monster since then.  The parade used to go down Broadway in Capitol Hill, now it goes down 4th Avenue.  The festival used to take place at Volunteer Park, now it takes up most of the campus of the Seattle Center. 

When PrideFest moved to the Seattle Center there was a lot of drama and hullabaloo and by the second year the festival changed hands and Egan Orion of One Degree Events started producing Seattle PrideFest.  I was one of the only girls to play that first year and I've been with the festival ever since.  Now, my company (along with my business partner, David Richey), Qulture Qreative, currates a good portion of talent for the festival each year, and manages the DJ stage.  It's something that we look forward to every year.  It's been very exciting to see how the festival has evolved, and to be a part of such a world class event.  There have been a lot of good times for sure!

Today Seattle PrideFest made the first talent announcements public for the 2012 festival (Sunday June 24th).  The lineup includes Cazwell, Peppermint, Vockah Redu, Phil B and Debby Holiday thus far.  Already the lineup is shaping up to be an exciting one that reflects a wide community appeal.  In the next two weeks, all the rest of the pieces will be announced, promotion will reach a high fever pitch for Pride events in general, and then in the blink of an eye, it will all be over.  Let the games begin!

XXX


L.A.K.

An Historical Day!

Wow.

What a day!

This morning while watching Good Morning America with my fiance, it was obvious that GMA host Robin Roberts was boot scooting out of there to jump on a plane to DC for her interview with Obama.  I told my lady "mark my words, the gay marriage issue is going to come up, and whatever happens is going to be perfectly orchestrated political theater".  Several hours later, while out running some errands, I heard on the radio that President Obama came out in favor of gay marriage.  Bam!  There you go!  Perfectly orchestrated political theater.

Some will say that the President has done the politically expedient thing.  Maybe so.  It's also the right thing to do.  I don't just feel this way because I am gay, or because I want to get married.  I feel this way because I believe in equal rights.  For everybody.  Period.  Watch this video.  Then tell me all people don't deserve to be protected equally.  If you can do that, you are on the wrong side of history.  I can't understand how anyone can look back at the last 100 years of civil rights struggles and feel comfortable being on the wrong side of history.  You know what I am talking about, and if you don't, well, I'm not sure what to say. 

"I have to tell you that over the course of several years as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors, when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together; when I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that 'don't ask, don't tell' is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage, at a certain point I've just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married."
-President Barack Obama

Well played Mr. President.  Way to make history.  Again. 

I, for one, intend to work even harder to make sure he gets re-elected. 

What do you plan to do?

XXX


L.A.K.

We Lost A Real Peach.

Yesterday I received some sincerely sad news.  Beth Darr, beloved Lezzbook.com Founder and Publisher, passed away due to complications from injuries following a car accident. She had struggled long and hard since the fateful collision and the health problems that had resulted from the accident. She was a bright light, a visionary, an enthusiastic fan/friend, and her smile was always large and in charge. 

Just last week Beth and I were texting.  It's hard to believe that the phone meeting we had planned will never happen.  Though the plans we were discussing, which she was very excited about, will continue.  Beth has a passionate group who wants her vision with Lezzbook (essentially a facebook for Lesbians) to continue and evolve to a point that Beth would have done herself, had she not been so ill, and fighting so hard.   

I remember my last conversation with Beth.  She had booked me for a Lezzbook party at The Baltic Room last July.  She was adorable in her fashionable outfit with the matching fierce shoes.  She had, with the help of her team, done up The Baltic Room and made that puppy feel like a special event.  It was packed and the vibe was good.  She even had a boy go go dancer, which is rare with women's parties, and which I thought was RAD.  We had some brief moments outside where I thanked her for including me and complimented her on a successful event.  She was very humble and appreciative of what I had to say.  Then she came back at me and heaped praise upon me, referencing parts of my career that even I sometimes forget happened.  I am glad that my last in-person interaction with her was one of mutual admiration.

My heart, thoughts, and well wishes go out to her close friends, family, and partner.  She was a class act.

RIP Beth.

XXX

L.A.K.