Long Beach Pride Announces Grand Marshalls
By Denise Penn
Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride (LBLGP) has announced that openly gay council members Gerrie Schipske and Robert Garcia will be the Grand Marshalls of the 27th Annual Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride Parade Sun., May 16. The parade will step off at Lindero and Ocean. The Festival will take place over the entire weekend on Saturday and Sunday, May 15-16, at Marina Green along Shoreline Drive.
The last few months before the festival are always hectic for the LBLGP Board, staff and volunteers. But this year will be even busier. After the May festival and parade are over, they will continue working on an event slated for October which will draw LGBT people and allies from all over the world.
LBLGP will host the 26th Annual InterPride Conference; InterPride is an international, membership-based association for organizations like LBLGP that produce pride festivals. InterPride, the international network of Pride organizations, holds an annual conference each October. This conference provides the opportunity for organizers to network and to attend various workshops and seminars to improve events and strengthen their own organizations.
InterPride was founded in 1982 in Boston as the National Association of Lesbian and Gay Pride Coordinators. In the fall of 1982 representatives from about half a dozen US Pride Organizations gathered together to network. Since then, an annual conference has been held, in a different city and attendance has steadily grown.
As the movement for LGBT rights grew, so have Pride Events and the need for a global organization like InterPride. The 2001 conference, held in Auckland, New Zealand was the first one held in the southern hemisphere and the Prime Minister welcomed the delegates. The 2003 conference in Montréal, Canada was the first time a conference was held in a city where English was not the primary language. Last year’s conference was held in St. Petersburg, Florida.
The conference will take place at the Westin in downtown Long Beach and feature workshops, and speakers, and a special event at the Aquarium of the Pacific.
Most recently, InterPride made history with their sponsorship of A PRIDE House at the 2010 Winter Games, in partnership with other organizations such as GLISA (The Gay & Lesbian International Sports Association). PRIDE House will be open from Feb. 8 through March 21 and will take in three incredible events: The Olympics (Feb. 12-28), WinterPRIDE in Whistler (Mar. 1-8), and the Paralympics (Mar. 12-21).