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Celebrates Pride 2005
CHARLOTTE — Police increased their
presence at this year's gay pride festival
in Marshall Park in Uptown Charlotte
on Saturday, May 6. It was the
Charlotte Pride's fifth anniversary cele
bration.
Dozens of anti-gay protestors
showed up at the event A group called
"Operation Save America” held a vigil
Charlotte Pride 2005
at the park Friday evening, and came
back Saturday to rally against the event
itself.
Police were on site to prevent a dash
between the gay partidpants and anti
gay protestors like one that happened
last year.
This year's emcees were Derek
Hartley and Romaine Patterson, from
Sirius Radio's OutQ, the only national
ly broadcast entertainment outlet for
the LGBT community in the United
States.
Hartley has been featured in numer
ous articles in newspapers and maga
zines inducting: The New York Times,
The Advocate, Unzipped, Genre, Instinct,
Out and About Travel, On Our Backs and
Hero Magazine.
Sudden fame surrounded Patterson
following the death of her friend
Matthew Shepard.
Appearing to counter-protest Fred
Phelps, the image of Patterson in silent
defiance to hated landed her on the
cover of countless newspapers and
Hundreds gather at Charlotte Pride in: Uptown Charlotte on Saturday. Photo by Stepbani McCarson/Blackbox Studios
magazines.
Her experience was central to the
theatre production The Laramie Project
and she was portrayed memorably by
Christina Ricci in the HBO film of tire
same name.
Jen Foster was this year's headliner,
and performed at the end of the festi
val. Other acts included Eric Himan,
Sasha Sacket and Josh Zuckerman.
Forever Plaid, a new musical comedy
from NC Blumenthal Performing Arts
Center, performed selections.
With many new vendors and many
former vendors returning the Pride
Market was filled with many options
for all attendees.
Message of Hate
Fundamentalists in red shirts min
gled with people attending the
Charlotte Pride festival, singing to
them, preaching to them and pulling
them aside for conversation and argu
ment, according to a report in the
Charlotte Observer (5/6/05).
As amplified Christian music blared
from the sidewalk, Sherry Welpe of
Charlotte had a simple message for the
proestors: "Do something constructive
with your time instead of telling us
we're going to hell."
Hundreds came, but some people
probably stayed away from the festival
because of the protests, said Mette
Andersen, executive director of Time
Out Youth, an advocacy and support
group for gay teens and young adults.
"I'm very concerned about the mes
sage of hate," she said. "Our youth are
very vulnerable, they're insecure and to
be f»it over the head with the Bible like
this is unsettling.”
Charlotte Pride, a nonprofit organi
zation, hosts the festival each year. It
usually features speakers and enter
tainment. And each year, some
Charlotte residents push dty officials to
deny access to uptown’s Marshall Park.
But the dty says the group breaks no
laws and retains its First Amendment
rights.
Unlike recent events in the Triangle, Charlotte Pride still brings its share of protestors. At left, a lesbian Pride participant humors demonstrators by allowing
them to pray for her. Afterwards, the woman pretended to “speak in tongues” before jumping up to say “Just kidding*. Photos by Doug Shockley.
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