by Jessica Carreras
If the forecast for Michigan's LGBT community has been cloudy, you couldn't tell last Sunday in Ferndale. There, on a breezy, beautiful spring day, the sun was shining – both literally and on the faces of the estimated 50,000 people who showed up to the Motor City Pride Festival.
The recent Michigan Supreme Court decision prohibiting public employers from providing domestic partnership health care benefits seemed like a distant thought as people danced, laughed and enjoyed being out and proud. Indeed, visitors to the festival felt that coming together to celebrate was even more important given their recent setbacks. "It's important to celebrate Pride," insisted Diane Nothaft, 41, of Ferndale. "I don't feel any different about celebrating.
Nothaft came with her partner, Nichola Freeland, 38, who has loyally come to Motor City Pride every year – even back when it was held in Royal Oak. Both women were determined to have a good time, despite the recent health care decision.
Many apparently shared their mentality, as this year marked one of the largest Motor City Pride celebrations in history – from attendance to performance to vendor participation. "We had well over 150 vendors," said Chene Koppitz, who, as director of community events at the Triangle Foundation, was one of the primary organizers of Pride. "It was the highest number of vendors we've ever had."
And Pride had everything. Line dancing. Speed dating. Dogs in maribou. Choirs. Twinks in short-shorts. Bears in drag. Sunburnt leathermen.
Ferndale mayor Craig Covey strolled down the festival roads amidst shouts of "Hey, Mr. Mayor!" while main stage performer Eric Himan took time away from performing to help give out shirts and undies at the ever-popular gay.com booth.
At the end of Nine Mile Road, men from the LGBT groups Front Runners and Team Detroit Aquatics awaited a fall into a dunk tank from a visitor with good aim. "It's been very popular," said Bob Knight, Aquatics general manager, of the tank. "This year's a lot better than last year because it was a lot colder last year."
The teams raised over $300 for the Triangle Foundation, due in part to the fact that throwers could choose their target – Bush, Michael Jackson and even Halliburton. "Bush was the most popular," Knight said. No surprise there.
Further down, gays and lesbians took turns at GM's speed dating. "We definitely had a big response," Maureen Jones of Affirmations said of the booth. "People thought it was cool to do it in cars."
But, more than having fun and checking out GM's latest wheels, they were able to make some love connections. "We've definitely been making some matches," Jones said. "About 50 percent or more per round."
On the more serious side, when Pride-goers were all danced-and-dated out, many booths gave out information on relevant issues – or at least a petition to sign. The Midwest AIDS Prevention Project was there providing free HIV testing, while the Human Rights Campaign offered encouraging words on how to make 2008 a great year for the LGBT community.
Whatever one's fancy, on Sunday, downtown Ferndale's Pride was the place to be.
Even Madonna made an appearance. Well, sort of. After owners showed off their couture-wearing pups at the Doggie Drag Show, Madonna impersonator Into The Groove recreated a live Madge show – '80s hair and fishnet shorts included.
The family area was packed all day with children making sand creations and having their faces painted. "We went to the family picnic," said Ara Hachigian, 27, who came with his partner, Austen Isbell, and Isbell's daughter, Khalan. "That's the biggest thing we come here for."
The West Bloomfield men stood and patiently waited as Khalan, 6, got her face painted and then gleefully took to the foam collage station. "She met her best friend at the Pride Family Picnic three years ago," Hachigian explained.
"She loves it," Isbell, 30, added with a smile.
And her favorite part? Throwing water balloons at her dads.
Both men marveled at the togetherness of Pride, and were quick to say how gatherings like that showed what one community could accomplish. "Morale might be low right now, but I think that (Pride) is good for any community in this type of situation," said Hachigian.
The situation he referred to, of course, is the one denying families like his health care, though fortunately Hachigian and Isbell aren't affected. Still, the men said, coming to Pride was an important way of showing their support. "It's important for everyone in the community to see that there's a lot of us here," Isbell explained.
Also there to show their support were LGBT allies, including PFLAG, who had a booth for both their Detroit and Ann Arbor chapters. Laurie Jessup of Ypsilanti, who manned the Ann Arbor booth for part of the day, said that she felt it was important to support events like Pride. "Everybody needs their friends and their allies if we're going to make changes in our society so that LGBT people can have equal rights," she said. Jessup, whose younger sister is a lesbian, has been a member of PFLAG for two years and experienced her first Pride fesival on Sunday. "It's great!" she exclaimed of the event, adding that she was eager to get a better look at all the booths and entertainment when her shift was over.
And there was a lot to see – even just people watching from the window of Strawberry Moon Cafe while enjoying a sandwich and air conditioning yielded views of couples with puppies and drag queens in leopard print. Or, if they were lucky, they'd catch a glimpse of Ima Cornholer of the LGBT square dancing group the Cadillac Squares, who sashayed around in a bright yellow dress and wig. "I can't get anywhere without stopping every 30 seconds," he said, adding that there were so many pictures taken of him that he stopped counting.
The outrageous get-ups were inevitable in Ferndale on Sunday, and the spirit of Pride was tangible – from newborns getting their first exposure to the community to lifelong Detroiters who could remember a time when "out and proud" was not part of their vocabulary. Whatever the journey they took to get to Pride, they all ended up there together. "I think any time this community gets together, there are a lot of good things we can do," Hachigian summed it up. "It's power in numbers."
