And just like that Pridefest is gone. After 15 years! And why? CAU (one of the Mayor's offices) declined the application from HOP (Heritage of Pride - the organizer) to hold it in Chelsea between 14 and 23rd street along 8th Avenue this year.
For 15 years the Pridefest (a part of Pride Weekend) and was always held below Christopher Street on the same Sunday in June. Police and fans of Pridefest alike all agreed that the west village venue is getting old and tired (there are potholes and the road is narrow etc, people get hurt).
Pridefest is no longer about go-go boys and drag queens. They don't define pride celebrations but they are still well loved.
These days, families and children enjoy Pridefest in NYC more than the LGBT community. LGBT Community's goal is to mainstream LGBT issues and its challenge is to demystify the images created by the media, which influence the way people see the gay community (sexually charged images, etc, that appear in large-scale pride events in places like NYC and SFO).
Believe me, I love men dancing on floats or kissing (you do too, and who doesn't?), but that's not the entirety of the gay community. Those images of men kissing and dancing, and women showing off their breasts on floats, etc, are well understood eventhough we could use more pictures of families and children having fun.
The Pridefest is now very family-friendly, very healthy -- good, wholesome event for the whole city. Non-LGBT people enjoy Pridefest every year because of its family-friendliness nature.
To decline HOP's application to hold it a day earlier and to move it to Chelsea (one of the world's most affluent and greatest gayborhoods) is to disrespect the LGBT community.
For 15 years the Pridefest (a part of Pride Weekend) and was always held below Christopher Street on the same Sunday in June. Police and fans of Pridefest alike all agreed that the west village venue is getting old and tired (there are potholes and the road is narrow etc, people get hurt).
Pridefest is no longer about go-go boys and drag queens. They don't define pride celebrations but they are still well loved.
These days, families and children enjoy Pridefest in NYC more than the LGBT community. LGBT Community's goal is to mainstream LGBT issues and its challenge is to demystify the images created by the media, which influence the way people see the gay community (sexually charged images, etc, that appear in large-scale pride events in places like NYC and SFO).
Believe me, I love men dancing on floats or kissing (you do too, and who doesn't?), but that's not the entirety of the gay community. Those images of men kissing and dancing, and women showing off their breasts on floats, etc, are well understood eventhough we could use more pictures of families and children having fun.
The Pridefest is now very family-friendly, very healthy -- good, wholesome event for the whole city. Non-LGBT people enjoy Pridefest every year because of its family-friendliness nature.
To decline HOP's application to hold it a day earlier and to move it to Chelsea (one of the world's most affluent and greatest gayborhoods) is to disrespect the LGBT community.