Ann Arbor gets its Pride back

For the first time in years, the LGBT community in Ann Arbor gathered for a Pride festival all its own. Tree Town Pride was held in Braun Court on June 20, nestled between the autBAR, Common Language Books, WRAP Resource Center, Trillium Real Estate and SHaut.
Though holding Pride in the city is not unheard of, the event hasn't taken place there since the mid '90s – and autBAR owner Keith Orr hoped to change that.
"Ann Arbor used to have a Pride festival, but it's been years," he said. "Apparently there was something lacking because a lot of people have come out to show their support."
Over a dozen groups handed out information, including many from gay sports organizations like Rainbow Bowling League, A2QUA, Ann Arbor Women's Rugby, Girls Only Bowling and the Michigan International Gay Rodeo Association.
Leeron Kopelman, creator of http://www.teammichigan.us, helped organize the sports fair aspect of Tree Town Pride.
Kopelman – an Ann Arbor native – and Don Hubbard from The Rainbow Bowling League came up with the idea for a gay sports fair in Ann Arbor after learning about a similar event that premiered at Affirmations Community Center in Ferndale earlier this spring. When the men approached autBAR owner Keith Orr about hosting the event, they were all happily surprised to find that a Pride event was already being planned for the same weekend. "The two came right together," Orr said. "We had no idea. It started out as a bar party. The day after we made that decision, Leeron came to us and we got the sports fair added on. Other people heard about it, and within a couple days we had a dozen people wanting to get involved."
Including legislators. State Rep. Pam Byrnes opened the festival with remarks about gay marriage. "According to The General Accounting Office, there are over 1,000 benefits tied to marriage," she said. "We need to make sure we get those rights for every citizen in the state of Michigan."
Byrnes is introducing legislation to start the process of amending the state constitution to overturn Proposal 2 and legalize same-sex marriage. She said that her office has been keeping an eye on New Hampshire, and that they will likely be using wording similar to legislation in that state. "We're working with Triangle, Michigan Equality, Unity Michigan, the ACLU and other organizations to make sure we get the wording in this statute right before we introduce it."
After her speech, it was an evening of fabulous music and fun. A 50/50 raffle was held to benefit the struggling Common Language Books, and vendors lined the side lot with information on LGBT organizations. The One-Voice Chorus, Washtenaw County's LGBT mixed choir, performed a long set of harmonious songs while visitors enjoyed a cookout and mingling at the booths.
Later, Tracy Mack and Allysa Jones rocked the crowd in Braun Court, followed by DJ Janks.
According to Orr, around 400 people attended the event.
Among them were Paul Haebig and Martin Heggestao, both of Ann Arbor. The couple has traveled to Ferndale and to Lansing to attend Pride festivals and is happy to have one close to home. "We only come out to the bars maybe once every couple of months," Haebig said. "It's nice to have this going on."
Orr plans on making Tree Town Pride an annual celebration. For more information about this and other events year-round at autBAR, visit http://www.autbar.com.