Saturday, June 10th Pride Erie Picnic Once again, the Pride Erie Picnic will be held at Presque Isle State Park at the Rotary Pavilion.We are back to having the Picnic on the traditional 2nd Saturday in June (June 10) and we will run from 1 PM to 6 PM (starts 1 hour earlier)
Now here's something very cool In addition to celebrating gay pride, these fine folks up in the Northwestern regions also use Pride to generate support for hunger programs.
Food Bank Donations
As we did last year, in addition to the potluck buffet, we will also be collecting nonperishable items for the Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest Pennsylvania. Last year generous GLBT people and their supporters collectd 99 pounds of food. Let's see if we can top that!
Below is a list of the most needed items. Please no home-canned foods, glass containers, unsealed or opened packages, outdated baby food or formula, or bulging or severely dented cans.
If you are looking for something to do this weekend, check this out:
Steel Queer N'At BlowOUT Show
at Pittsburgh Eagle
June 2nd
Doors open at 8:30, Show starts at 9pm.
Tickets are $5 in advance, $8 at the door.
ADVANCE TICKETS STRONGLY RECOMMENDED.
THIS SHOW WILL SELL OUT.
Tickets are available at A Pleasant Present and A Big Idea, or send us a message for more information.
This is a 21+ show.
Showcasing the best queer art Pittsburgh has to offer, it'll be a night of sexy burlesque, fresh musical performances, some of the region's hottest spoken word artists, and much more, topped off with a headlining performance by Sonji Woodruff (myspace/sonjimusic). The show's lineup performances by The Sweet Jezebels, Thrive, Joey Edgar, Colelea, Lakisha Wolf, Cathryn Calhoun, Grit of the Grass, ISIS da Genius, The Butch Kings, Yah Lioness, Sonji Woodruff, and more, plus surprises and giveaways.
In another overt example of homophobic law enforcement, Allegheny County police are "stepping up patrols" around a South Park bathroom suspected of being the location of many a gay tryst.
The Post-Gazette report hits the classic homophobic note -- the site's proximity to a children's playground. Because you cannot report on gay sex without making at least one subtle allusion to children.
Now I understand that having sex in public places is illegal. But when is the last time you read a story about cracking down on heterosexual public sex? I guarantee you that there are more incidencts of breeders having public sexual relations than homos. And I guarantee you that most gay men are not having sex in public restrooms. But those who do are not guilty of a greater crime than the majority of high school students parked at South Park.
When I was in high school, we rode the activity bus and had to walk through the parking lot of Sam's Club to get home. Every day for the entire track season in my junior year (1987), a car was parked in that lot containing an adult man and woman having sex. We walked right past it every day and they never batted an eye. They were having sex within eyeshot of the middle school and a half a block from a preschool. Where was the umbrage? Who protected me?
Let's be honest -- this is not a crackdown on public lewdness. This is a crackdown on the crime of being gay.
Last night, we took a drive into Regent Square to hear singer/songwriter Eve Goodman perform at the Square Cafe.
She's great. We heard about her performance through a local Queer Events email list and thought it sounded like a nice evening. So off we drove. It was well worth the $98.34 in gas (kidding). :-)
Eve is very personable and her music was thoughtful and entertaining. I enjoy live music somewhat, but get kind of bored quickly as my attention wanders. Especially when the artists performs 17 monotonous songs about their inner thoughts on, well, anything.
Eve ain't like that. Her introspection felt universal, not self-centered. She has some delightful numbers on her partner's 94 year old grandmother and two best buddies, Big Dog and Little Wag. Her parents were in attendance which made it just seem somehow more cool.
Laura is defintely the musical one in the family. I enjoy music, but sitting in a smoke filled club (or standing) surrounded by self-styled hipsters listening to someone whine about their life is not my idea of a good time. The environment destroys any connection I may feel with the performer. Hence, the Square Cafe is perfect -- no smoke, lots of seats and really delish hummus.
Check out Eve's website for her performance schedule. You'll be happy you did.
