Tag: Gay Pride

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This weekend – Las Vegas Gay Pride events!

It’s Gay Pride Weekend in Las Vegas!

Lots to do, so get out there and take advantage of the many events to attend and share with your friends and family!

Here’s a list of things to do this weekend:

The Gay Days Las Vegas Expo at the Tropicana Hotel Conference Center
Located in the Gay Days Host Hotel, offers an exceptional opportunity for Gay Days attendees to view and sample goods and services specifically targeting our community during their vacation. It is also perfect for locals to come and enjoy this Expo as part of Las Vegas’s newest Gay Days celebration.

Friday, Saturday & Sunday September 7th, 8th, 9th
11am-6pm – Free admission

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Gay Days Pool Party – at Tropicana Hotel Bagatelle Beach Club
Voted the “Best Las Vegas Pool” and set on almost two acres, Gay Days guests can experience the ambiance and bask in the glowing reflection of a tropical pool right in the heart of Las Vegas. With a bright, tropical setting that embodies the vibrancy of the Tropicana resort’s South Beach-inspired theme, the pool features an expansive deck with lush landscaping, waterfalls and private lounge spots.

Lounge poolside on luxurious recliners, or relax within several connected lagoons that provide the ideal place to refresh in the water. The pool also premiers a number of exclusive cabanas

Friday, Saturday & Sunday September 7th, 8th, 9th
Noon – 6pm

$15 Advance Purchase
$20 at the Door

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Las Vegas Gay Pride Parade
Friday, September 7th
Pre-show begins at 7pm
Parade begins at 8pm
The parade route begins at West Charleston Blvd. and heads north along 4th Street to Ogden Avenue. Secure your spot where the action happens early. The main stage is at Bridger Avenue just two blocks south of the Fremont Street Experience.

This year Cox Cable is proud to support Southern Nevada’s GLBT community as the official broadcast partner of the PRIDE Night Parade. Watch the parade LIVE on September 7th from 8pm – 10pm on Cox Channel 96 or online at www.cox96.net. Plus, there will be many rebroadcasts on Cox Channel 96 at 8pm on September 17, 20, 23, 30 and October 4 or 6.

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Las Vegas Gay Pride Festival
Saturday, September 8th
From Noon – 10pm
The Clark County Amphitheater features a beautiful outdoor main stage surrounded by soft, cool grass, plus a food court and convenient drink stations. There will be more than 100 exhibitors on site. You can relax on the lawn as you are entertained by the festival’s featured performers, as well as great local talent. Watch for more expansions to the festival grounds (and overflow parking at the World Market Center with free shuttle service to the festival). Pride organizers are pleased to announce the expansion of the Family Activity Zone filled with fun activities for parents and children 12 and under.

Bartenders from local GLBT bars will be will be serving water, soda, Bud/Bud Light, wine, and mixed drinks to whet your thirst. We have expanded our food court this year so you will have even more great food from which to choose.

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A Taste of Gay Days – at Tropicana Hotel Club Tower
A perfect evening event to mingle with friends while sampling beers, wines, spirits & food.

This event is 21+ Age Restricted.
Proper ID Required.

Saturday, September 8th
6 – 10pm

$25 Advance Purchase
$30 at the Door

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Gay Days Official Closing Party – Tropicana Hotel Bagatelle Beach Club
As the sun sets over the city, re-energize with cocktails served to blissed-out beats. Come nightfall, lose yourself to the music at this exclusive, full-service nightclub.

Sunday, September 9th
10pm

$20 Advance Purchase
$30 at the Door

For complete info on all the events this weekend, visit the official website for Las Vegas Pride.

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Las Vegas: Family Pride Skate Night – Sept 3

Hey Las Vegas!  Good, clean family fun at Pride Family Skate Night at Crystal Palace – Monday, September 3 from 6-10pm.

Great event that helps kick off Pride Week 2012 in Las Vegas.

Click on the pic above for larger view or go to LasVegasPride.org for more events this week.

More Pride Week Events…

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Las Vegas hits the trifecta of Pride Grand Marshals – Joan Rivers, Kathy Griffin & Margaret Cho

To quote a line from one of my favorite off-Broadway shows Pageant – “more is better.”

Las Vegas – a city known to do things in the “bigger and better” category, will be welcoming not one, not two but three major LGBT icons as Grand Marshals for the Las Vegas Gay Pride Parade.

Joan Rivers, Margaret Cho, and Kathy Griffin have been announced as the Grand Marshals, and they’ll be performing in Las Vegas during the Pride festivities. 

In addition to seeing them at the start of the 2012 Las Vegas Gay Pride Parade Friday, September 7 at 7pm,  we’ll be able to see our favorite funny ladies in their own shows:

• Margaret Cho at the Terry Fator Theatre at the Mirage on Thursday, September 6th at 10pm

• Kathy Griffin at the Terry Fator Theatre at the Mirage on Saturday, September 8th at 10pm

• Joan Rivers will be at the Venetian on September 6-8, performing at 9:00pm

Las Vegas Pride President/ Parade Chairman Ernie Yuen says,“We are very excited and proud to host an amazing trio of beauty and talent; best of all they all make us laugh!”
 

Yuen says, “What a great way to start our spectacular event. This will be history making for us and I am sure the LGBT community will be out in full force to welcome these wonderful LGBT supporters.”

For more info about Las Vegas Gay Pride 2012, click here.

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Ten “out” gay & lesbian 2012 Olympians take home medals

The LGBT community can be proud of the showing gay and lesbian athletes made at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

From SBNation: Ten publicly out gay and lesbian Olympians are taking home medals from these Olympic Games in London, most of them gold.

If Team Gay was a country, it would have finished 31st overall with seven medals, tied with Mexico, Ethiopia and Georgia.

They would have beaten the medal count of such countries as Jamaica, Ireland, Argentina and India.

They would have finished 21st overall for most golds (four), tied with Iran, Jamaica, Czech Republic and Korea.

The 2012 openly gay Olympic medal winners are:

  • GOLD: Seimone Augustus, USA, Basketball. The U.S. women’s basketball team was arguably the most dominant team in any sport at these Olympics.
  • GOLD: Carl Hester, Great Britain, Equestrian. Hester and his two teammates won Great Britain’s first-ever Team Dressage gold. Hester finished fifth overall in the individual competition.
  • GOLD: Marilyn Agliotti, Carlien Dirkse van den Heuvel, Kim Lammers, Maartje Paumen, Netherlands, Field Hockey. The Dutch women beat Argentina, 2-0, in the gold medal match. Paumen and Dirkse van den Heuvel scored the team’s two goals.
  • GOLD: Megan Rapinoe, USA, Soccer. The Americans beat Japan, 2-1, in the gold medal match. Rapinoe had a key pass in the game. She also had two big goals in the semifinal match. Coach Pia Sundhage is also openly lesbian.
  • SILVER: Judith Arndt, Germany, Cycling. Arndt was the first out athlete to win a medal in London, taking silver in the road race time trial.
  • BRONZE: Edward Gal, Netherlands, Equestrian. Gal was on the bronze-medal team for Team Dressage; He finished ninth overall in the individual event.
  • BRONZE: Lisa Raymond, USA, Tennis. Raymond and partner Mike Bryan won the mixed doubles bronze medal.

Let’s hear it for Team Gay!

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Active servicemembers march in San Diego Pride parade in uniform

For the first time since the repeal of DADT, today in San Diego members of the military marched in a gay pride parade in full uniform. Earlier this week the Pentagon, which typically does not allow uniformed personnel to march in civilian events, said that it was making a one-time exception for San Diego Pride.

The loudest cheers from the parade crowd of nearly 200,000 were reserved for them. The U.S. military contingent included about 40 members — some active, some retired. As they assembled in the staging area, countless spectators took pictures of and with them. Most of the active-duty personnel said they were under orders not to give interviews although photos were fine. Sean Sala, 27, who left the Navy last year but helped organize the military group, said the significance of this year’s active-duty uniformed participants is bolstered by government approval for the first time. “I think everybody wants to make it a gay thing, but it’s just an American thing,” he said. “These are people that have laid down their lives for their country, you know, and they deserve recognition for their service regardless of their sexuality.”

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Pentagon: Servicemembers may wear uniforms in pride parade

The Department of Defense has given its permission to all branches of the military to wear their uniforms while marching in a San Diego gay pride parade this weekend.

In a letter sent by Rene Bardorf, deputy assistant secretary of Defense, the Pentagon officially blessed the idea. “We hereby are granting approval for service members in uniform to participate in this year’s parade,” Bardorf wrote. There are two conditions — marchers are participating in their “personal capacity” and always follow the military’s standards for appearance and behavior while in uniform. The ruling also only applies to this year’s march in San Diego.

“Today is a great day of Pride! San Diego Pride is honored to have the privilege of celebrating our country and our servicemembers with dignity and respect,” said San Diego LGBT Pride executive director Dwayne Crenshaw. “The fight for equality is not over and it is not easy, but this is a giant leap in the right direction.”

Via The Advocate

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San Diego Pride 2012

With so many fun Pride celebrations clustered at the end of June, it’s great that San Diego LGBT Pride – one of the nation’s most vibrant, colorful, and friendliest such events – is scheduled for mid-July. It’s also a great place to beat the heat! While most of the country is steaming in summer’s intolerable temperature and humidity, San Diego is relatively cool, especially in the evening, much to the surprise of many visitors.

This year’s theme for the 38th annual celebration is “America’s Pride” and also honors the 40th anniversary of Stonewall with the Spirit of Stonewall Rally to be held on Friday, July 20. Check below for main highlights of the 2012 San Diego LGBT Pride event.

San Diego LGBT Pride Festival
 
Balboa Park
6th Ave and Laurel St
San Diego, CA  92103

WHEN

Saturday, Noon – 10 PM
Sunday, 11 AM – 8 PM

TICKETS

One day ticket $20
Two day ticket $30
Buy tickets online here.

PARKING

Parking lots in Balboa Park are free, but fill up fast during Pride weekend. A free shuttle is offered to the parade and festival when parking at the Old Naval Hospital parking lot. Pickup/drop off at 6th Ave. and Juniper St.

ENTERTAINMENT

San Diego LGBT Pride sure knows how to throw a party! Once again there will be three entertainment stages packed with amazing talent. Gay favorite and iconic comedian Sandra Bernhard headlines Saturday, along with Randy Report favorite and Billboard dance chart artist Matt Zarley, and  UK pop diva Natasha Bedingfield on Sunday. Other notable performers Erika Jayne, Frankie Negron, Wynter Gordon and Chris Cox. Festival amenities this year include a Farmers Market, hiNrg dance floor, Beer Gardens, Wine Grotto, Cool Zone for those 55+, Leather Realm, Interfaith Pavilion, Art of Pride (LGBT local artists), Youth Zone, Children’s Garden, and over 300 vendors. Click here or click the banner below for the entire weekend line-up.

Via Gay.net

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Greek Pride Festival attacked by crowd

Via Associated Press:

Police say about 50 people threw eggs and plastic bottles of water at about 400 people holding a gay pride parade in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki. Police moved in to restrict the attackers on Saturday, but no injuries were reported. In recent days, Anthimos, the senior Greek Orthodox cleric in Thessaloniki, had publicly criticized the planned gay pride parade. Anthimos, who only uses one name, is known for outspoken speeches on social and political issues.

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On pride and dignity

Taken at a gay pride event and shared on the Obama twitter account

“The most sweepingly positive changes any president has ever made to address gay rights. How can we not vote for that? I may not have a job yet, but I have my dignity! OBAMA 2012”

I was reading on some of my favorite blogs and saw this comment on JoeMyGod. It was posted as a guest, but I wish I could attribute it to the author.

That sentiment resonates to my core.

While the terrible economy continues to slowly improve – in spite of the GOP obstruction in Congress to keep things from improving so President Obama might not be re-elected – I have to say the statement above says a lot about why and who supports President Obama.

No President has done more for lifitng the level of respect for LGBT Americans than President Barack Obama.

From repealing DADT (which he said he would do, and he did) to refusing to defend the unconstitutional Defense of Marriage Act, to supporting marriage equality for all Americans – NO President has done more to help us feel equal.

The conservative gays at GOProud love to rally ’round the GOP saying gays rights aren’t the only issue and “economic issues affect us all.” Yes – economics affect us all, but before you make money, have a job, raise children or even just get up in the morning we all need to feel our worth. Our dignity.

I’m not in campaign mode here, but Mitt Romney does not see some Americans as being as equal as others. He has said he would support a constitutional amendment banning marriage equality for millions of gay Americans. He did not support the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Thousands of American men and women, who put their lives on the line for our country every day,  that Mitt Romney does not feel should be able to serve their country.

Jobs are slowly coming back after the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. There’s a saying: “you walk seven miles into the forest, it’s seven miles back out.” It took eight years of bad decisions on behalf of the last administration to get us into the mess Obama inherited.  The worst recession in 80 years isn’t going to be resolved in three.

President Obama is doing his best despite a Republican party that stated that their number one goal was not to create jobs for Americans; it was to deny President Obama a second term. And it’s clear that’s what their focus has been on.

America’s future continues to improve. We are still the great country we always have been. AND the LGBT community has many reasons to support a President who sees us as equals. Who treats us with dignity.

I’m pretty sure that falls under the definition of the word “pride.”

Celebrate Pride kids.

Forward.  No fear.