by Jessica Carreras
Recent rumors in the LGBT community surrounding the future of the Motor City Pride festival have been debunked.
Talk has circulated suggesting that in 2009, the festival would be held in a location other than Ferndale, such as the Southfield Civic Center. It was also believed that the event would be turned over from the Triangle Foundation to another organization or group of individuals, and that the event would be held for profit.
Not true, insists Triangle Board Vice-Chair Ron Miotke.
"I know that there's been a lot of discussion with who's running it and if it's going to be a community event or not," he said. "In all honesty, I can understand where some of the cloudy areas have surfaced, but I can unequivocally relate that Motor City Pride will be a community event and…it will be a production of Triangle and as far as I know, it's not moving. For sure."
Discussions of relocating Motor City Pride for 2009 began some months ago when, in addition to the usual location of downtown Ferndale, Detroit, Southfield and Royal Oak were also considered. Talks began as a result of looking at ways to maximize the reach of the event while cutting costs and expanding to allow for the growing number of LGBT and allied people who show up each year.
When word hit Ferndale Mayor and Midwest AIDS Prevention Project Executive Director Craig Covey that his city could possibly lose the festival, he took swift action to make sure that it would stay in Ferndale. "It's everyone's goal to keep it downtown but they were getting full," Covey explained. "There's issues of parking and such so we gave them a whole bunch of options for keeping it in downtown Ferndale.
"As a Ferndale resident and elected official and MAPP director I'd encourage them to stay in Ferndale," he added. "It's important to have it in the center of the community."
After a meeting with both city officials and representatives from the Motor City Pride committee, it was clear that most wanted to keep it in Ferndale, and as of right now, that's the plan for next summer's event.
Rumors regarding who is overseeing the event have ranged from another non-profit organization to several individuals, including Kevin McAlpine, who recently left the Triangle Foundation.
"That's not possible. He isn't part of that anymore," Miotke said of McApline. "But that doesn't relate to his leaving Triangle. He had officially left the committee and that's it. He's no longer part of putting on Motor City Pride."
Instead, Triangle board member Dave Wait has been named as the chair of the pride committee, and the event will remain a production of the Triangle Foundation. "It is going to be, like in the past, a community event," Miotke assured. "It's not going off to any individual or another company or anything like that."
