We'll have details for this weekend's Charleston Pride Festival in tomorrow's edition. But before we get to the parade, rally, art walk, film screening, and drag contest, the Pride Festival is looking for volunteers.
Those interested should meet at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Starbucks on Rivers Avenue. For more information, visit the festival on Facebook.
We have some really exciting features in next week's Gay Issue, but one of the most important will be a listing of local resources for the LGBTQI community.
We do our best to scour our local connections and find all these different groups, but someone will inevitably be left out. Don't let that be you! Email greg@charlestoncitypaper with the name of your organization and contact information for someone in charge or a link to more information online. ASAP!
Thanks! — Greg
Local Log Cabin Republicans are hosting a reception for Republican presidential candidate Fred Karger.
A longtime Republican operative turned gay rights advocate, Karger spoke with us last fall about being the first openly gay presidential candidate.
"I'm a realist — I'm probably not going to win," he says. But he points to Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, the New York Democrat who was the first major-party African-American candidate 36 years before President Barack Obama. "She didn't win, but she paved the way for others."
An opportunity to share the stage with other GOP hopefuls would be an accomplishment, whether or not Karger makes it to November. He says his campaign has developed a strategy to reach those platforms.
"I've been aggressive and a fighter my whole political life, and I'll do that with this campaign," he says.
The reception is from 7-8:15 p.m. Friday at Fish Restaurant, 442 King St.
The 2011 Charleston Pride Festival will return to Park Circle and North Charleston's Riverfront Park with three days of events, capped off by a Pride parade, rally, and after-party on May 14.
Across the country, Pride rallies are held in support of the gay and lesbian community. Last year's inaugural local event attracted more than 4,000 people.
For 2011, local drag favorite Brooke Collins will be the grand marshal for the Park Circle parade. The rally at Riverfront Park will include musical performances and speakers, including Warren Redman-Gress of the local nonprofit Alliance for Full Acceptance and Elke Kennedy, who became an advocate for hate crimes legislation after losing her son in a well-publicized hate crime in Greenville in 2007.
This year's festival will also include an art walk on Thurs. May 12 at Park Circle restaurants and bars, as well as film screenings at the Olde Village Picture House. There will be a Pride drag pageant at the American Theater in downtown Charleston on Fri. May 13. Pride will host an after-party at 10 Storehouse Row on Sat. May 14.
"We want the entire community to embrace this event, come together to celebrate Pride, and to support one another," says Rob King, entertainment director for the festival.
For more info, visit charlestonpridefestival.org. And keep checking back here for regular updates on musical performers, speakers, and more heading up to the event.
