BY AJ TRAGER
The festival expanded this year to include parts of West Troy Street, which allowed for the 100 vendors to have more space and brought more visibility to the stores located in Ferndale. Organizations such as Stand with Trans, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Metropolitan Community Church of Detroit, Transgender Michigan, Equality Michigan, CARES, the University of Michigan-Dearborn and the Hillary Clinton campaign all held booths and spent the day networking with folks and making connections.
Headliner Sick of Sarah and Natalie Cole’s Drag Show, Lezbinati, Katie Stanley, For Ghosts, Scarlet Lies, Candace Sosa and Telephon9 took to the main stage near Woodward Avenue and a secondary dance stage was set up on the opposite end of the Pride strip on Nine Mile which hosted DJs Ace Franco, Dav, Octavia and Selina Style as well as The Greatest Ease Circus, a circus dance troupe.
This year was the city’s first Pride since a ruling by the Supreme Court of the United States swept marriage equality across all 50 states. That broad decision has changed the lives of hundreds within the LGBT community, especially couples who have been together for years, maybe even decades, who are now granted the right to wed. On top of the dance and party festivities, three lucky couples joined together in marriage at Ferndale Pride, officiated by Angela Marie Lippard, Deacon at Christ the Good Shepherd.
“I think as the night goes on, it will get busier,” Valerie Roberts said around 2 p.m. She was their with her youth, Miki Roberts, and their friend Breejen Chandler. Miki and Chandler both attend the gay-straight alliance at Berkley High and were excited to be out for Pride. This was Miki’s first Pride and they were extremely enthusiastic despite encountering a small group of nonviolent protesters.
“This is awesome. There’s rainbows everywhere and there are just people doing their thing,” Miki said. “The people protesting this left earlier. These people were like, ‘Repent for your sins.’ I’m not Christian, so they weren’t going to intimidate me with their extremism,” Miki said.
This was Chandler’s second Pride celebration. They attended Ferndale Pride last year and were pleased to have time to celebrate without getting drenched.
“I stayed in Affirmations the whole time last year, so it was cool,” Chandler said. “But this is the one time a year when everyone is just themselves and no one really judges them. It’s really cool that there are a lot of religious booths for people that want a church that is accepting. Even though I’m not religious, I appreciate what they do for other people.”
For Sonsia Belfiore and Jasmine Allen, Pride is all about visibility. They were seen carrying behind them the bisexual pride flag. Belfiore identifies as pansexual, and Allen identifies as bisexual. Many believe those two sexualities are the same, but the community remains divided on the issue.
“I don’t judge based on physical characteristics and gender isn’t important,” Belfiore said. “I know a lot of bisexuals identify that way and I don’t see too much of a difference, but it makes sense to me.”
As a dancer, Allen likes to stay around the music when she attends Pride festivals. She’s practiced in ballroom dancing and enjoys upbeat and fast paced tempos like the ones found in the tango.
“This is my first time in a few years. Before, I would always go to Motor City Pride. Today, there are a lot more people than there has been in the past,” Allen said. “People be a little timid, but not everybody is comfortable with each other. I like it, though. I think it’s important to come out to Pride to support each other. If we don’t see each other, then we won’t know they’re there.”
For some, Pride is a celebration of their activism and visibility; some come to celebrate their identity and indulge in the party.
Good friends Natalia Allport and Becca were seen strolling together for most of the day in black shorts with vibrant accent colors. Allport was pleased to see a higher attendance from last year, given all the rain.
“I came out to meet some people because I have a lot of friends that are here. I came out to show myself out because I’m fabulous,” Allport said. “I just noticed that it’s a bit busier. Last year there wasn’t as many people here and I’m pretty sure that was because of the rain. There’s definitely more people here than last year.”
Many people know the gay leather community, or have seen men dressed up in puppy masks and collars. But not many know about the women within the leather community. Megan Carnell ran for Miss Michigan Leather Pride in 2015 and is running again this year. She believes the women in leather culture are underrepresented and she decided to run to ensure female visibility. Part of her responsibilities as Miss Michigan Leather include being in the Motor City Pride Parade and teaching a class or two on the kink scene.
“I basically had to represent the title and the Michigan’s women community at as many events as I could. I had to go onto Great Lakes Leather and compete for Miss Leather Pride. At Great Lakes there were six women, and I came in first runner up by less than a point. It was a lot of fun. I made a lot of friendships that weekend, and I couldn’t be happier with how I represented Michigan. All three of the Michigan contestants got runner up,” Carnell said.
James SoLegendary brought his friends Alan Jones and Corey Clerk from Flint. The group was searching for a place to grab a drink before walking around to engage vendors. It was SoLegendary’s fifth Ferndale Pride.
“I like coming to Pride. It’s always a good atmosphere. You see different types of people. And you have to come on out and support the LGBT cause.”
Jones and Clerk drove all the way from Flint to attend Ferndale Pride. They are in a new relationship and decided to spend their day checking out how Ferndale celebrates Pride.
“I hope everybody who comes out has fun,” Jones said.
The festival also included the Hot Daddies Contest, a community art gallery at Affirmations, free HIV and STI testing, the Arts and Crafts Bazaar, a Pride prom for youth, a Rainbow Run, drag show, Bears in Speedos car wash, and a presentation of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
For more information on Ferndale Pride, visit http://www.ferndalepride.com.
