Pittsburgh is fortunate to have a talented pool of queer and queer-friendly performance artists, some of whom I have met over the past year. They include singer-songwriters, spoken word artists, comedians, poets, rappers, puppeteers, and so forth.
PrideFest is the annual community celebration of all things queer (or gay) and includes a chunk of stage time dedicated to performances. Among the usual suspects are the Renaissance City Choirs (men and women) and a slew of drag queens as well as some other amateur artists.
See the disconnect? What I'm wondering is why this whole group of talented professional and semi-professional queer artists are not on the PrideFest performing schedule? I know the budget doesn't allow for bringing in a huge name, but given that some of our homegrown talent have performed around the country it would seem worthwhile to give them a shot at headlining. Or at least allocating a slot or two. To be fair, I have to wonder why the artists haven't pursued it themselves more aggressively. As most of them seem to perform at every other queer benefit in the region, it doesn't make sense.
My gut tells me that this is a mini-front for some of the internal culture wars in the queer/gay community. PrideFest is this odd fusion of mainstream family-friendly festivalishness (lemonade, non-profit vendors, children's areas) atmosphere with the retro shout out to the drag queens. The queer arts movement is less focused on assimilating into mainstream heteroculture and more in tune with queer identity.
PrideFest should be the venue where these disparate trends find, at least for one day, a common ground in celebrating all aspects of our community. There's small movements on either side --- the Pride parade is now an awareness march. Its not earthshattering but it does shake off some of the complacency of the white upper middle class gays who aren't always attuned to those outside their realms of privilege. Just as seeing lots of gay couples with babies and toddlers enjoying an afternoon of family fun reminds this lesbian of how much progress has been made at shifting the heteronormative standards of "family."
The arts would be a powerful venue to explore the intersection of these two seemingly disparate communities.
So I've begun compiling a list of all the local performers I would like to see at PrideFest. It is on the right hand side of this blog, with links to their assorted websites and myspace pages. It is not comprehensive by any means. Check out their sites and see what they have to offer. In my opinion, they have something meaningful to say to the entire gay/queer community.
Let them entertain us.
If you'd like to volunteer for the PrideFest committee, clink on the icon above for more information.
What with all the weather and all, I missed this little gem of a letter in the Beaver County Times that was penned by Paul Kisiday of Freedom (ironic, no?). Paul decries the sissification of contemporary society as exemplified by complaints over Super Bowl ads. It seems that all the furor over distraught robots, homoerotic chocolate kisses and K-fed's diss of fasfood workers has pushed Mr. Kisiday over the edge and he's determined to save us from ourselves:
Sorry to break the news, but there are winners and losers in life and people do get their feelings hurt. In the adult world, the better person gets the job (in most cases, excluding affirmative action, which is another way our society is sissified).
As a species, we dominate the planet. It's about survival of the fittest, with the strong on top. We are getting away from that and setting a bad example for our youth.
They need to realize it's not about free handouts, that you need to work hard to achieve your goals and that sometimes you will have your feelings hurt.
So get over it and move on.
Wouldn't it really be awesome if the better person always got the job? I mean I could live well in a society like that; I'd be able to offset feeling bad about being passed over if I could truly believe that the majority of jobs impacting my life are filled by the best person. Not the whitest person. Not the most masculine. Not the best connected person. Not the one capable of consuming the most alcohol. Not the one most likely to end up in the boss's bed. The best person.
Too bad Mr. Kisiday have never actually read Darwin or, apparently, any of our Founding Father -- a bunch of the "fittest" who set up a system not based on keeping the strong on top.
Congratulations on raising spunky, articulate and polite daughter. As you know, she took the time to post a comment on this blog several months ago, sharing her thoughts on the Upper St. Clair performance of "The Importance of Being Earnest" and the potential for homophobia. Unlike most of those who comment here, she had the guts to post her real name and stand up for that which she believes. That's commendable and I'm sure you are very proud of her.
But you aren't happy that googling her name brings up a lesbian website. Out of deference to your sensibilities, your daughter has very politely asked me to take her comment down.
Given that your daughter seems to rock, it is quite discouraging, H's Mom, that you are a homophobe. Oh, I know you probably don't think that way of yourself and would never be the kind of person who says "I hate gay people." And you probably think we deserve some civil rights and disagreed with Rick Santorum's man-on-dog slurs.
But let me be clear, H's Mom, that being "freaked out" because your daughter's name is associated with lesbians is nothing but homophobic. And you freaking out sent a very clear message to your daughter that if she is gay, it's not okay with you. And that, H's Mom, makes you a very real threat to myself and my community. And your daughter, too.
If being mistaken for a lesbian or perceived to be lesbian-friendly is the worst assumption people make about your daughter, is that so bad? If you are worried how people might treat her or what they might think about her, you might want to consider why people do that. Perhaps you might use the opportunity to teach your daughter some lessons about tolerance, rather than capitulating to gay panic.
I'm honoring your daughter's request to take down her comment because she asked me politely and was very respectful and straightforward with me about her reasons. She seems like a great ally for my community and has her head on straight when it comes to your being freaked out over this whole thing. I doubt she's going to develop a sudden fear of lesbians over this.
I do hope you take a moment to consider the lesson you've taught her.
By now, you've certainly caught this week's edition of the City Paper and noted the feature story on local blogs aka the Burghosphere -- yes, dear readers, we have yinzerized the blogosphere. The Burghosphere is young, hip, sassy and an "alternative" to the mainstream media (MSM). Or so says all the white guys writing the blogs. And if they don't know alternative, then I ask who among us does?
Not that I have anything against white guys per se and I certainly 'fess up to reading their blogs on a regular basis - Carbolic Smoke Ball; 2 Political Junkies; Pittsburgh Rocket; Angry Drunk Bureacrat; and, of course, MacYapper. They make me laugh, cry, smirk, snicker, gnash my teeth, and frequently think about Pittsburgh in a new and interesting way.
But all this fuss about bloggers rocking the mainstream media is just a bunch of hooey. The absence of a diverse range of voices in the Burghosphere should at least warrant a mention in a story. The outgoing CP news editor (and all around groovy white guy) Marty Levine quotes two female bloggers - Maria of 2 Political Junkies and Pittgirl who chooses to remain anonymous. They include a grammatically challenged excerpt from this blog and that's pretty much it for diverse voices. I'm not suggesting the City Paper ignored minority or alternative voices -- I'm pointing out that they don't appear to exist in Pittsburgh. Two chicks and an irreverent lesbian do not an alternative media make.
Where are Pittsburgh's African-American blogs? What about the disability community? We have a significant number of immigrants. Or what about our vibrant young art community -- especially those who are politically aware and active? They are all over MySpace so its certainly not about a lack of intimacy with technology. And the responsibility lies among those of us who are counted among minority voices -- we can't simply cede control of yet another medium to the powers that be and decry their lack of attention to us.
My opinion? The blogosphere and the Burgosphere are rife with the same issues that keep alternative voices suppressed in the mainstream -- access, leisure time, affordability, collegiality, literacy, etc. To the detriment of us all.
We can keep talking about which white guy done the other white guy wrong. We can keep the bathrobe/coffee cup iconography sacred. We can keep posting comments on each other's blogs. But until we find a way to make this whole 'sphere accessible to our sisters and brothers who are disenfranchised, disempowered and dissatisfied with the status quo ... then let's not kid ourselves about being out of the mainstream.
Pittsburgh is fortunate to have a talented pool of queer and queer-friendly performance artists, some of whom I have met over the past year. They include singer-songwriters, spoken word artists, comedians, poets, rappers, puppeteers, and so forth. 
