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Pride is Proof God Loves Gay Atlanta

Queers have been accused of creating a lot of havoc, so maybe it’s time to turn the tables and take a little credit. Atlanta Pride could be seen as proof that God loves gay people and wants us to have rain. If right-wing conspiracy theorists like Jerry Falwell and friends believe that homosexuals are the cause of hurricanes and terrorist attacks, then are we not also deserving of credit for last weekend’s much-needed rain over the city of Atlanta?  Why not.

Atlanta’s extended drought caused concerned city officials to kick Pride out of Piedmont Park for fear of  further deterioration of rain-starved trees and grass.  What history teaches us, however, is that it very often rains during Atlanta Pride.  This year was no exception, with a torrential downpour dampening Sunday’s Pride Parade.  In fact, statistically speaking, if Atlanta wanted to erase our rainfall deficit, LGBT Atlantans should be encouraged to celebrate Pride several times a year.

After a good soaking on Sunday, the skies cleared and gave gay Atlanta a pleasant afternoon to spend in the Civic Center parking lot.  All in all, it seemed that the Atlanta Pride Committee did the best that could be expected under the pressure of a last minute date and venue change.  It seemed the festival was slightly smaller, both in terms of vendors and visitors.  But I did not do a scientific count of tents and tables, so it could have been an optical illusion created by the unfamiliar location.  The crowds were respectable, despite the rain and a significant amount of unexplainable community backlash about the location change.  I don’t understand how Atlanta gays and lesbians could punish the Pride Committee for circumstances beyond their control.  Atlanta Pride is to celebrate and benefit the LGBT community.  It is by us, for us.  Piedmont Park, too, is in many ways a part of our community.  Why should we be angry when efforts are made to preserve it?  All in all, it seemed to me that not too many queers cut off their own noses to spite their faces.  People came out, despite heavy rain, and showed some Pride.

Get Exposed to Queer Music During Atlanta Pride

Southern Exposure, the successful weekly live music series at Blake’s on the Park, will give Atlanta’s LGBT community a chance to hear the group’s established roster of LGBT musicians – renowned, rising and underground – in the first annual Southern Exposure Gay Pride Music Festival, scheduled to coincide with Atlanta Pride. The event will be held at Front Page News (Midtown location) on Friday, July 4th & Saturday, July 5th, The festival will feature 14 local and two national musical acts. Solo artists and full bands, all fronted by GLBT performers, will perform their uniquely queer approach to folk, spoken word, electronic, punk, country and rock music.

Southern Exposure Pride Schedule (Subject to change)

Friday July 4th
Doors open 6 p.m.

Richard Solomon, Barb Carbon + Hollin Gammage + Arrie Bozman, Miss Xanna Don’t, Mike Rickard, Jessica Dunnagan, The Sexual Side Effects, Jet Blk Joy featuring: Emily Kate Boyd, Angela Motter and West, Eric Himan

Saturday July 5th
Doors open 6 p.m.

The Wayne Fishell Experiment + Amy Lashley, Julia Carroll + Corey.E.Houlihan, Guyton Maurice, Mr.B, Sean Kagalis, Flat Cat, Tracy Rice, Richard Bicknell & the Shameless Lovers

Representatives from Chriskids.org “Rainbow House Program” will be on hand both nights to accept contributions for homeless and displaced GLBT youth in Atlanta. This is a grassroots effort to raise awareness and create a positive impact in the community.

Get exposed to gay and lesbian music at The Southern Exposure Gay Pride Music Festival. There is no cost to attend this event. Get your gay and lesbian music fix at:

Front Page News, 1104 Crescent Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30309
Phone: (404) 897-3500

Ample off street parking is available, as well as a full parking deck across the street from the venue. The festival is all ages until 9 p.m., 21 and over after 9 p.m.

Women’s Guide to Atlanta Pride

So much to do. So many places to see and be seen. What’s a dyke to do at Atlanta Pride? Well, I’m going to try to help. This is Life on Q’s officially unofficial guide to Atlanta Gay Pride. In this post, you’ll get the 411 on where the women will be.

What’s different about this Atlanta Pride Guide is my attempt to describe some of the events and venues as I have experienced them as a “pride veteran.” I have lived in Atlanta since… well, since a long time ago… and I have attended Pride events and have patronized gay and lesbian nightclubs in Atlanta for what feels like forever. For out-of-towners trying to figure out what’s what and who’s where, consider me your dyke welcome wagon. I’m going to list all the events, meetings and such I’ve researched with a combination of the promoter’s description and, where I have one, my own opinion and experiences. Please take my opinions for what they are. If you’re old enough to get into a bar, you’re old enough to think for yourself and make your own choices. If you’re planning to visit Atlanta Pride from out of town, or you’re an Atlantan looking for a change of scenery from your usual haunts, read on.

Three Themes, One Pride

There are three different women’s events happening simultaneously during Atlanta Pride weekend. The “official” women’s events (i.e., promoted by the Atlanta Pride Committee) are sponsored by Curve Magazine and are branded as “Peach.” The Peach events culminate with a massive dance party Saturday night. Girls in the Night and Girlology 101, who regularly bring Atlanta women great events, are calling their weekend party package “Fever.” And why not–it will be hot, on many levels. And Traxx Girls is adapting some of their regular events for a pride audience under the theme “Honey.” Both Peach and Fever events have individual night cover charges or VIP passes for all events. Check the specific event details below for info on cover charges, where available.

Getting Out and Around

For any out-of-towners or Atlantans who have been living under a rock, you should know that Atlanta Pride has moved from Piedmont Park to the Atlanta Civic Center. Almost all of the women’s events are just a few blocks north and south of this new Pride Central. Many are in Little 5 Points, just a few blocks south and east of the Civic Center. Others are in Midtown, a few blocks north of Pride itself. Remember that 14th Street has been closed for construction and that the Peachtree Road Race will be creating congestion early in the morning on July 4th. But if you’re planning to kick-off Pride with Thursday night’s events, you’ll probably still be sleeping as thousands run down Peachtree Street. If you’re a morning person, you’ll want to plan your breakfast location accordingly.

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It’s Official: Atlanta Pride Moves South

Southern Voice reports that Atlanta Pride has a final decision on the location of the 2008 LGBT festival. Although Executive Director Donna Narducci indicated the new location will cost the Pride Committee significantly more, the Civic Center location is only a few blocks south from Atlanta Pride’s traditional home in Piedmont Park. The serious drought in Georgia prompted the City of Atlanta to kick all major festivals out of the park out of concern for the health of the grass and trees.

The dates of the festival have also moved out. No longer on the traditional Stonewall weekend at the the end of June, this year’s Pride will be held on an all-American holiday: the 4th of July.  Thinking through the pro’s and con’s of the changes to Atlanta Pride, a few issues come to mind.

Pros:  The parade route will essentially be reversed, rather than rebuilt. This will minimize confusion for participants and watchers. The July 4 weekend dates will maintain some symbolic significance, although more mainstream than the traditional Stonewall Riot anniversary. The Civic Center will provide the Pride Committee with both indoor and outdoor festivities, eliminating the threat of a total washout from violent Atlanta summer storms. And the Civic Center keeps the festival close to Atlanta’s largest gay neighborhood, Midtown, while actually improving the accessibility via public transportation.

Cons: Outdoor activities will presumably be held in a parking lot. If you’ve never experienced being baked alive on concrete, this gives you a chance to raise your body temperature in the height of an Atlanta summer. On the bright side, you’ll be able to cook your own meal on the pavement right where you stand. Parking around the Civic Center is significantly more limited than the minimal parking around Piedmont Park. With the festival itself taking up parking spaces, driving to Pride will be significantly more difficult. The Independence Day date will cause Pride to compete with the Peachtree Road Race, fireworks displays and other July4 festivities for access to hotels, restaurants and event facilities. Ultimately, the biggest risk in this move of dates and location will likely be the confusion it will create for festival goers. Many of my fellow Atlanta queers have expressed concern that Pride may be a bust this year.

All the changes interject a lot of unknowns into one of the nation’s largest Gay Pride events. We’ll watch and wait to see how the Atlanta Pride Committee steps up to the plate to minimize the negatives and promote the positives.

Atlanta Pride Pushed out of Piedmont Park

It won’t be raining men, or women, in Piedmont Park this June. Southern Voice reports that Atlanta Pride will not be held at the Midtown Atlanta greenspace that has been the festival’s home for three decades. What’s more, a new Atlanta Pride location has not been selected, nor is a date yet known.  Pride is being pushed out of the  because of concern for the condition of the 100+ acre park after 2007’s severe drought.

Pride Executive Director Donna Narducci told Southern Voice that no major events will be held in Piedmont in 2008 due to damage already inflicted by the drought.  It will be interesting to see if the City of Atlanta does indeed bar all events from the park, including the world-famous Peachtree Road Race, which brings thousands of runners pounding through the park every July 4, just days after the traditional Pride weekend.

A date for Atlanta Pride 2008 will not be set until a new venue is chosen.  Narducci indicated that the Atlanta Civic Center is one possibility.  If the Civic Center is chosen, the parade route to end where it traditionally starts. The festival itself would then be held inside and around the Civic Center.  The Pride Committee is also reportedly reviewing Atlantic Station as another possibility.

It’s somewhat ironic that Atlanta Pride, which regularly is deluged with heavy rain, will be moved because of a lack of water.  It would seem that scheduling pride is as good as a rain dance (or Gov. Perdue’s prayers) at inducing downpours.   Of course, a single rain event, or even continuous drought-busting showers, would not likely revive the park in time.

Atlanta Pride has always been a sprawling, outdoor test of individual heat tolerance.  It would seem somewhat odd to have it become an indoor “trade show.”  Not undoable, but decidedly different.  On the other hand, perhaps there are other, less abused park spaces that could accomodate the festival.  Freedom Park, which separates toney Virginia-Highlands from punky Little Five Points, comes to mind.  It is aptly named, with the Carter Presidential Library at its heart.  There are parking lots, street parking and reasonably easy access from MARTA.  Or Grant Park, which hosts the annual Pride Run, offers pavilions and multiple spaces for stages and exhibits.  There are three parking lots (if you count the zoo lots), as well as street parking.

Whatever the Pride Committee choice, Atlanta’s annual LGBT festival will certainly feel different this year.  It is hard to believe it is leaving it’s heart:  the heart of Midtown Atlanta.

Atlanta Shows Pride In The Life

Black Gay Pride is back, bringing thousands of African-American queers to the ATL starting tonight. Produced by In the Life Atlanta (ITLA), Black Pride festivities will include a film festival, a Healthy Living Conference, a marketplace, a fashion show, a pride march, and of course plenty of parties, picnics and people-watching opportunities.

Atlanta Black Pride is billed as the world’s largest Pride event for people of African descent. Event organizers point out, however, that Black Pride is open to anyone who wants to celebrate the diversity of the LGBTQ community.

A Celebration of Life candlelight vigil will light up the First Metropolitan Community Church of Atlanta to start things off, beginning at 7:00 p.m. A complete schedule is available on the ITLA Website.

In contrast to the multicultural, multiracial Pride Celebration in June, Black Gay Pride is as much a conference as a party, with workshops and forums addressing social, religious, cultural and health issues of interest to the queer community. Black Pride central is moving out of midtown this year to the Sheraton Atlanta Downtown on Courtland Street, due to construction at the previous location at the Sheraton in Colony Square.

Black Pride continues through Labor Day at multiple venues around the city. ITLA’s mission is to promote unity, pride, self-empowerment and positive visibility within Atlanta’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community of African descent through education, advocacy and coalition-building activities.

Welcome to Life on Q

Hello, Queer World! We’re back.

Life on Q has been on hiatus for several months while we worked out technical glitches and other gotcha’s. Just in time for Pride 2007, we’re online and ready to blog and podcast your Life….On Q. Our reporters will be at Atlanta Pride 2007, documenting the in’s and out’s of the queerest weekend in the ATL. Will we capture your mug for our photo gallery? Interview you for one of our audio or video podcasts?

Stay tuned and look for your Life on Q, updated often.