By Curtis Lipscomb
Welcome, Motor City Pride, to Detroit!
Whether you cross the city of Detroit boundaries via M-10 from Oakland County or you cross over 8 Mile Road from Macomb County, you will see displayed a green sign with bright white words that read "Detroit – City Limit." That sign welcomes you to the Motor City, a city that survives through perseverance and media scrutiny, with a certain synergy that ignites the air and unites its residents to proudly display their Old English D and shout, "Welcome to the D!" So as Motor City Pride crosses the legendary city boundary with Ferndale in its rear-view mirror, Detroit's already established LGBT community welcomes you to our city and we welcome this big new thing!
I vividly remember when it was said, "There couldn't be a Pride within Detroit." But in 1996 "Hotter Than July!" Pride was established for LGBT community and will host its 16th annual celebration this July. Although Detroit is a major player on the global front in industry and commerce, the culture of the city is sometimes outdated to fit current times. Other major U.S. cities wrap their arms around their LGBT communities and cultivate the communities with booming city sectors that display vibrant LGBT businesses, families, and outreach programs. Although Detroit may not be known by some for warmly embracing its LGBT residents as of yet, the move of Motor City Pride to downtown Detroit's Hart Plaza indicates that the times are a-changing. I enthusiastically applaud Motor City Pride's forward-thinking action.
I applaud the decision to make Pride bigger and more visible. We applaud the decision to use Detroit's international riverfront to display the diversity of our rainbow-colored people. And because the LGBT community is a rainbow of people, I challenge us to remember that we are all in this movement together. We gotta work it out. Together.
