David Trinidad to Judge '09 Atlanta Pride Poetry Contest

CONTEST DETAILS
• All entries must be the poet’s own original, unpublished work.
• Poems must address one of the following topics:

(1) Pride Begins With You
(2) LGBT Civil Rights
(3) Stonewall

• Two pages is the max length per poem submitted for the contest.
• Poets entering may not have been a student of the contest judge.
• All entries must be received no later than midnight on May 11, 2009.
• Poems should appear in the body of an email as well as in an attached Microsoft Word Document. The first page of the Microsoft Word document should contain the poet’s name, email address, phone number, and titles of poems submitted. The first page is the only page that should contain the poet’s name, email address, and phone number.
• Entries should be submitted via email to poetrycontest@atlantapride.org with a subject line of :“*Insert Name Here*-- Atl Pride Poetry.”
• The contest winner agrees to acknowledge the Pride Magazine as the first publisher in future reprints of books,anthologies, website publications, podcasts, radio, etc. Copyright reverts back to authors upon appearance in the Pride Magazine.
• The final contest judge is David Trinidad. Trinidad will announce the contest winner by June 30, 2009.


PRIZE
• Atlanta Pride will split the collected entry fee money, 50%-50%, with the contest winner.
• An announcement regarding the contest winner will be posted on the Atlanta Pride website.
• The winning poem will be published in the ‘09 Pride Magazine with a brief bio of the winner.
• The winner will be featured at the Atlanta Pride Literary Event as well as a reading at Outwrite Bookstore & Coffee House.
• The winner will receive a brief interview to be featured in Limp Wrist, an online magazine with queer sensibility.
• Please note the contest winner is responsible for his/her transportation to and from the Atlanta Pride Festival, as well the reading at Outwrite.


FEES
• Poets may submit three poems with an entry fee of $5. Poets may submit an additional three poems with a fee of $2 per poem.
• Payments must be postmarked by May 11, 2009.
• Payment should be in the form of check or money order and made out to Atlanta Pride Committee.
• Mail to:
Atlanta Pride Committee, Inc
Attn: Poetry Contest 2300 Henderson Mill Rd Suite 125
Atlanta, GA 30345

2009 Atl Pride Logo Contest

The Atlanta Pride Committee has selected PRIDE BEGINS WITH YOU as the theme for the 2009 event and is now soliciting logo submissions in its logo design competition.

Contest submission are due by Feb 27, 2009 and the logo will be selected in March 2009.

DOWNLOAD THE 2009 EVENT LOGO CONTEST RULES and GUIDELINES

Voting Starts on 12/8/08

The Atlanta Pride Committee wants feedback, so take a moment to vote on the theme for 2009 Atlanta Pride Festival. As seen above, your options:

Stonewall to Atlanta: Our Story Continues
Become The Impact
Pride Begins With You

I am casting my vote for Become The Impact because it is versatile (no jokes from the peanut gallery).

Become The Impact can be political-- write your elected officials, so they know how you feel about the issue. Or, simply make an impact by voting. It can be non-political--- Become the Impact by volunteering or making a donation to a nonprofit. Become the Impact by simply coming out to someone who has been in the dark about your sexual orientation. Become The Impact by recycling and/or buying green friendly products.

There so many ways we can Become The Impact.

Tomorrow, visit atlantapride.org to vote!

****UPDATE-- Change in voting-- it will begin on 12/10/08.****

Fundraising Announcement & The Tree

Before I write about the night I want to make an announcement. From 12/5/08 to 12/31/08, I am going to donate $1 from every "O" bumper sticker purchased directly from me to the Atlanta Pride Committee. Buy a stocking stuffer and help Atlanta Pride at the same time. This is definitely a win-win situation.

Tonight was the annual lighting of the LGBT Christmas Tree at Outwrite Bookstore and Coffee House, which is a fundraiser for the Atlanta Pride Committee. I want to give a huge thank you to Philip, the owner of the fagulous Outwrite. Philip does so much for the Atlanta LGBT community, so I hope the Atlanta LGBT community will remember Outwrite when it comes time to Christmas shop. Keep your eyes open over the next week or so because Outwrite is going to have a fan page coming soon!

There were great performances from Our Song and the Atlanta Gay Men's Chorus. And, Wild Cherry Sucrets in the form of Tony was an entertaining MC for the night. It was all around good times. Thanks to everyone who attended. If you didn't attend, don't worry because you can attend next year.

The Annual GLBT Tree Lighting

Submit a Theme for the 2009 Atlanta Pride Festival

THEME SELECTION PROCESS

NOVEMBER 2008
COMMUNITY SUBMITS THEME SUGGESTIONS
SUMBIT THEME IDEAS TO newideas@atlantapride.org

DECEMBER 6, 2008
THE ATLANTA PRIDE COMMITTEE WILL PUBLISH THE TOP THEME SUGGESTIONS ON OUR WEBSITE

DECEMBER 7- JANUARY 1, 2009
REGISTER YOUR PREFERENCE BY VOTING ON THE ATLANTA PRIDE WEBSITE

JANUARY 3, 2009
THEME SELECTION IS ANNOUNCED!

JANUARY 2009
2009 EVENT LOGO CONTEST SUMISSIONS ARE ACCEPTED (GUIDELINES WILL BE POSTED IN JANUARY)

FEBRUARY 7,2009
THE PRIDE COMMITTEE ANNOUNCES THE 2009 EVENT LOGO WINNER

2009 Atlanta PRIDE Theme Guidelines
• The theme should be short and to the point, no more than roughly 4-8 words.
• The theme may embody a “call to action”
• The Theme should lend it self to being illustrated via simple graphic design.
• The theme should be able to be translated into floats and costumes for the parade.
• The theme may use a secondary clarifier or "tag line" if necessary and appropriate.
• The theme must harmonize with the tag line of “2009 Atlanta PRIDE Celebration” or “2009 Atlanta PRIDE Festival’.
• Please include your name, address and phone number for verification purposes

Atlanta Pride Selects Date for 2009 Festival

Atlanta Pride Selects Date for 2009 Festival

The 2009 Atlanta Pride Festival will be held at Central Park on the weekend of June 26, 27, and 28, 2009.


ATLANTA, October 6, 2008 – After reaching consensus with the City of Atlanta and the other Class A festivals in town that Pride 2009 would be held in Central Park, the Atlanta Pride Committee has selected June 26th, 27th, and 28th as the weekend for next year’s festival.

“We know that the community has been waiting anxiously for the dates for Pride 2009.” says Deirdre Heffernan, Pride’s Board Chair, “However, we first needed to ensure a venue that included a workable park. Once we secured Central Park, we were able to take the necessary steps to move our event back to the more traditional and historically significant month of June.”

This return to June is supported by a month-long poll run by Atlanta Pride on its website which asked the community in which month it would like to see Pride held. June was the most favored response at 41% of the votes cast.

The final selection of the actual dates in June was dictated by the availability of the venue. “We are fortunate that Central Park is available for the last full weekend in June. Having Pride 2009 return to a green space in the month of June will really bring the event back to its roots,” said Heffernan.

As the Pride Committee now moves into program planning for the 2009 festival, it encourages community members to forward ideas on how to improve future Pride events by emailing ideas to newideas@atlantapride.org. “Obviously we have time constraints, financial limitations, and city ordinances that impact the services and entertainment we are able to offer, but Pride is constantly working to find ways for our organization and festival to better meet the needs of our community. And we would love to hear from the community how their Pride experiences might be enhanced,” says Heffernan.


####

The Atlanta Pride Festival, an event organized by the non-profit Atlanta Pride Committee, promotes unity, visibility and self-esteem among lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender persons. The celebration traditionally includes entertainment, a marketplace, charity poker tournament, slam poetry event, commitment ceremony, dyke march and parade. The festival is supported through donations and sponsorships.

LIMP WRIST Mentioned......

LW on Poets & Writers

LW Scholarship mentioned in Jameson Currier's Blog-- See Oct Publishing Notes

Christopher Hennessy gives LW a shout-out and so does Kate Evans and Collin Kelley

Atlanta Pride shares LW Scholarship Info

Dine OUT for Pride

WED. OCTOBER 8
OSTERIA 832
VIRGINIA HIGHLANDS

WED. OCTOBER 15
DOC CHEYS
EMORY VILLAGE

WED. OCTOBER 22
STELLA
GRANT PARK

WED. OCTOBER 29
DOC CHEYS
VIRGINIA HIGHLANDS

The generous owners of Homegrown Restaurants will donate 15% of your lunch and dinner to Atlanta Pride. Do your part to support Atlanta Pride-- plan a night out with friends at a Homegrown Resaurant this month!

Editorial in DAVID

Atlanta Pride was this weekend, and it was a blast. I'm still recovering-- not from any form of partying, but from working the event. I'll share more on the weekend later. For now, I want to share an editorial I wrote about Pride for David Magazine, which is a free gay publication here in Atlanta.


‘Showy & Impressive’
Time for the gays to take center stage

DUSTIN BROOKSHIRE | 7.2.2008

Pride. For the primrose Baptists, it's a time of sodo-sinning. For the city of Atlanta, it's a nice economic boost. And for the evening news, it is a gathering of leather-daddies, dykes who march or ride bikes, and barely dressed twinks.

Webster has a handful of definitions for Pride, but the one that strikes me like a pair of Bette Davis eyes is "a showy or impressive group," because this is one of the things the Atlanta Pride Festival is for me.

It is a time we come together as the LGBT community to show ourselves and our numbers with a Vietnam mantra of "Hell no we won't go!" And I hope our elected officials and political hopefuls have enough time to quit bagging interns and stop smelling the bribes to realize these numbers translate as votes.

I hope our numbers translate as opportunity to businesses — not only as potential customers, but as potential employees. Recognize us with the same employee benefits as you do breeders, and market to us outside of gay publications and productions. I think I'd probably buy any product, even Spam, if it has an advertisement featuring a cute gay couple in People or runs during "Grey's."

Pride is a time for us to take notice of our allies, "enemies," and GLBT entrepreneurs. When you walk through the festival and watch the parade, take notice of who chooses to be a part of Pride. Never forget any organization who 'fesses up to gayness and show them some love.

As far as I am concerned, Hannibal Lecter and Clarice had it right — quid pro quo. Why in the hell should we give money to businesses and organizations that don't support us?

Pride is time for our numbers to come from all cities and counties in Georgia. People need to realize that we are a part of every community. The gays are not only found when you take a fieldtrip to Atlanta.

Damn it, the LBGT community is not just Inside The Perimeter! I confess, I live OTP, just barely though. Don't judge! I could spit on the interstate, but I don't believe in spitting.

Each year, I seem to meet someone who has traveled from a bo-funk city that I couldn't locate with my GPS, much less find on a map Which makes me ask the person, "You sure that's in Georgia?

It is always a similar story: Pride is the only time when the person from Bo-Funk, Ga., gets to be out and proud without worrying. As a guy from a small town that has the motto of shoot it, stuff it, or marry it, where any minority is always watched with one eye, I can relate.

Creating a safe haven for GLBT people is my leading reason for being a volunteer with the Atlanta Pride Committee.

Ok. I have been pretty damn serious about Pride, but don't get me wrong. I am far from a prude; just ask those two guys from New York I met during my first Atlanta Pride back when I was … well, I was young and hot.

Pride is a time to enjoy yourself! Let your hair or shorts down — maybe both, it's your preference. Just remember to do it in a safely.

If you're letting your shorts down, have a quick HIV test at the festival (they are free!) Then grab a Durex or three; someone is always giving them away — take a handful for that "friendly" friend.

Don't drink and drive, and don't forget: No alcoholic beverages may be brought inside the Civic Center complex during the Pride Festival. But stay away from anything you snort or inject — it's trashy, like Bridgette Fonda in "The Point of No Return" before her CIA transformation, not good trashy like "Sordid Lives."

So yeah, make it a gay ol' time and have loads of fun! And when you're having fun, I hope you'll have the mindset that there are no ifs, ands, or buts — Pride must take place.


borrowed from DAVID

Limp Wrist & Atlanta Pride Sponsor Free Poetry Workshops

FREE POETRY WORKSHOPS

On June 21, 2008, Atlanta Pride is joining forces with Limp Wrist to offer two FREE poetry workshops in honor of Pride month! Both workshops will be 3 hours long; however, one will be targeted to the intermediate/advanced poet while the other will be for the beginning poet.

Beth Gylys will lead the workshop for the intermediate/advanced poet from 10am to 1pm. Gylys is as an associate professor at Georgia State University. Her work has been published in numerous of journals, and she has published two award winning collections of poetry, BODIES THAT HUM and SPOT IN THE DARK.

Beth Gylys has fun with form--her comic postmodern villanelles wrap their
lines around the complexities of modern day relationships. Her poems are full of
sass and surprise. We can all learn a lesson from her--and her work. ~ Denise Duhamel

Dustin Brookshire will lead the workshop for the beginning poet from 2pm to 5pm. Brookshire has been featured at numerous events in the Atlanta area, won awards from two state poetry societies, and currently serves as the editor of Limp Wrist.

Dustin Brookshire is a tell-it-like-it-is poet whose direct, passionate
intensity both charms and captivates. He is a delight. ~ Beth Gylys

To Apply:
Send an email to dustinvbrookshire@gmail.com with two poems pasted in the email and a subject line of "Poetry Workshops." (No attachments will be opened! ) You must include your name, contact number, workshop preference, and a couple of sentences about your poetic "career." All entries must be received by Friday, May 10, 2008, and poets will be notified of a decision by May 31, 2008. Each workshop will be limited to twelve people.

Atlanta Pride Festival Date

Since the park isn't hosting Class A Festivals in 2008.....

Atlanta Pride Festival

July 4th-6th

on the Atlanta Civic Center Property.

Atlanta Pride

Within the month there will be a few announcements regarding the 2008 Atlanta Pride Festival.

Currently, the annual logo competition is underway. I'll try to post the details of the competition later today.

Keep your eyes open for those announcements!

Get to know Atlanta Pride-- Part 1

Over the next couple of months I will post parts of an interview I am conducting with Atlanta Pride's executive director, Donna Narducci.

I hope people will take time to read the interview in full; it is my goalto provide an inside glimpse to the workings of the Atlanta Pride Festival... show peeps how it happens... who makes it happen... and prove that it is indeed more than a three day
par-tay of twinks, leather daddies, drag queens, dykes on bikes, and hot muscled studs prancing around shirtless. Of course all of those things make it fagulous, but there are some of us who give up time 10 months out of the year and 40 to 80 hours the week of the event as well as people whose careers are to ensure the festival happens.


Q:

First off, thank you Donna for agreeing to this interview. I'm excited to give Atlanta Pride a voice in my blog. You've seen a lot of changes regarding Atlanta Pride; what would you consider the largest or most important change with the organization?

A:

Thanks Dustin for the opportunity to reach a larger audience and engage in
conversation about Atlanta Pride -- the event and the people behind the scenes
who put on the event for the community.

I began volunteering with the Atlanta Pride Committee in the spring of 1993 when I joined the Board of Directors. At that time, the Board was comprised of about 12 individuals who planned the festival and parade, which was a 2-day event held the last weekend. in June. I remember that year's festival being very chaotic...the person who was in charge of the market didn't show up, so people who had paid for a
booth space had no idea where they were supposed to set up and it became a free
for all. Back then we didn't erect many tents, we bought those blue canopies from K-mart and that was the tent we gave to people to set up their booth under.

Also, we were anticipating 100,000+ people coming to the event, so we ordered 15,000 t-shirts for our merchandise sales. Big mistake...we had never sold more than 1,000 shirts before and that year wasn't any different. It put us nearly $64,000 in debt after the event was over.

But, it also made the Board take a good hard look at how we were doing business, and put together better systems...budgets, forecasting, etc. It also made us realize that the event was growing faster than we --- as an all-volunteer organization -- could keep up with. The next year we held much tighter purse strings and managed to retire the debt from the year before, which paved the way to hire a part-time administrator, Hubert Alexander.

In my opinion, this was the first of 2 very important changes for the organization -- hiring staff. That may sound self-serving, but I promise you it is not. It is very scary for an organization to bring on an employee, and to make the financial commitment to paying their salary. But as was the case for APC, once you have someone to handle the day to day operations of running the organization, you actually stand a better chance of making more money because you are not relying solely on volunteers to handle everything.

I resigned from the Board after the '95 event to apply for the Executive Director position, and started as a part-time E.D. in October of '95. In '97 my position went to full-time, and over the years I have added 2 additional full-time staff. A festival committee was created to deal entirely with the planning and execution of the annual festival and parade, and the Board now focuses on policy, long-term planning, and governance.

So -- big change #1 was establishing a business/corporate environment for the organization which has facilitated the growth we have seen in the event over the last 12 years.

Big change #2 I believe we experienced while we began planning for the event this past June, and that is, the infusion of a global perspective on LGBT Human Rights, which started with the selection of the '07 theme: "Our Rights, Your Rights, Human Rights".

The annual PRIDE events have their roots in the commemoration of the Stonewall uprising in 1969. The Stonewall was a little gay bar in the gay area of NYC known as "the Village". During the '60's it was pretty commonplace for the police to raid gay bars at will and arrest patrons for a variety of offenses. It was blatant harassment but in those days, no one really cared. Well that night of June 27, 1969 the patrons of the bar didn't go willingly into the back of the paddy wagon, instead, they kicked and punched and screamed and started a small riot that lasted for several days. It was the shot heard 'round the world and is considered by many to be the turning point in the LGBT rights movement -- here in the US. That is why PRIDE events are usually held in June -- to make that connection to commemorating the brave queens, dykes, and trannies who stood up and faced off with their tormentors.

Over the years the PRIDE events have been used to protest, rally, motivate, mobilize, educate, and celebrate. Here in the US, our PRIDE events have a more celebratory tone, our parades are festive, the weekend events resemble many other traditional festivals held annually. Some might say we have lost our way, we are not
as political as we should be, we've gotten too soft -- too complacent.

Well, at this year's event a few members of the Festival Committee established the Human Rights Display which was placed on the bridge over the lake that connects the 2 sides of Piedmont Park. Twenty four panels were placed on both sides of the bridge to educate folks about the ongoing struggle for LGBT rights globally. Congressman John Lewis came and viewed the display then addressed the audience from the stage that Saturday afternoon.

Also, the Pride Committee had a float built for the parade that addressed the theme of "Our Rights, Your Rights, Human Rights and the float was prominently placed at the beginning of the parade to remind viewers of the emphasis on this year's event.

This was a HUGE shift in the focus of the event -- we weren't just planning another festival, we were getting back to the reason why we come together as a community each June, to remind ourselves that there is still work to be done, each and every day until full-equality is achieved for every single lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender person here in the US and throughout the world.

The Atlanta Pride Committee has selected our theme for this next year's event, and we continue with our focus on LGBT Human Rights -- but we bring it a little closer to home. After all, this is an election year and we are making history by making the presidential candidates accountable to us -- as witnessed in the ongoing debates, the raising of the marriage equality issue, ENDA, and the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell. These are no longer issues that candidates can brush aside, but must face head on.

The theme for '08 is: Your Vote, Your Rights, Your Future. It is a call to make a stand, to get involved in ensuring your voice is heard through your vote, which affects your future!

2007 Atlanta Pride Festival Pics

Here are a few pictures from this year's
Atlanta Pride Festival:

Love it!


Congressman John Lewis spoke on Saturday. Lewis gave a passionate speach that moved me to tears. He told festival participants that the GLBT community will always have his support while he's in office. He stressed we can't accept things because "they are." We must demand and fight for change!

Deborah Gibson (formerly known as Debbie Gibson) performed on Saturday. I was on my way to enjoy VIP seating to take better pictures than the one above, but I lost my 2-way radio in route. I never made it to the VIP seating because I started the search for the radio, hoping I wouldn't have to tell the powers that be that I lost it.

I didn't find my radio, but I did find the leather people.

I wanted to buy this for Montgomery, but I gave up when I found out
it was filled with air instead of lube.

2007 Atlanta Pride Festival

I am exhausted!

The Atlanta Pride Festival was held this weekend. I was at the park 10 hours on Friday, 15 hours on Saturday, and 12 hours on Sunday. No, I'm not a super-party-animal.... I'm on the Atlanta Pride Committee, which is a volunteer committee of about 20 people who help make the festival happen.

I will post more on the event at some point during the week and share pictures.

Dine for Pride at Doc Chey's Noodle House

When you go to Doc Chey's Noodle House, make sure to take an extra twenty dollar bill because you'll have the chance to buy a "Peace Love Pride T-shirt" for $10 each. Besides having a cute t-shirt, 100% of the shirt proceeds will go to Atlanta Pride.


Doc Chey's Noodle House Locations:
Emory Village- 1556 N. Decatur Rd
Virginia Highland- 1424 N. Highland Ave.

IDAHO & A Picture--- Serious & Entertaining

Today, at the monthly Atlanta Pride Committee (yes, it has been proven safe to allow me to serve on committees) I learned something new. May 17 is International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO). Check out the IDAHO website for information, including an interview with the founder of IDAHO.

To the left of the web page is a list titled Global Information-- guess what? The United States isn't listed. Honestly, I was shocked, but maybe I shouldn't be. I'm more likely to have a number hit covering a Dolly Parton song than our President making a positive public statement in regards to the day.

I want to see some action regarding IDAHO! Hopefully, I'm not the only one. Since my discovery occurred only IDAHO an hour ago, I am still reading information from the site; I'll post more information as I continue to research.

OK. On a much, much lighter note-- below is a picture of me in my new favorite shirt for the time being with my beautiful friend/coworker Unni (also known as the Unester--pronounced une-ster).



I had a woman give me an odd look, which made me think she was about to throw her sandwich at me; then she says, "I like. I'm a hot mom."

Fundraising with Atlanta Pride

COLLECT & EARN

JOIN THE BUCKET BRIGADE

Volunteers from Community Organizations walk throughout the park and along the parade route and ask folks to give a little or a lot!

WHO GETS THE MONEY?
YOUR ORGANIZATION GETS 50%
and the rest helps pay for the expense of putting on Pride weekend. APC attracts the crowds & supplies the T-Shirts, buckets & I DONATED stickers; you provide the volunteers.

HOW DOES IT WORK?
Throughout the weekend, your group volunteers for at least one, 2 hour minimum shift. Walk through the festival and collect from the 100,000 people who come to the park each day.

$55,000 AND COUNTING!

For the last 6 years The Atlanta PRIDE Committee has partnered with other organizations to help them fundraise during the PRIDE Festival. This program has allowed APC to move more than $55,000 back into the community.


CALL THE PRIDE OFFICE 404-929-0071 OR APPLY ONLINE NOW!

Good News!

For the past three years I have volunteered for Atlanta Pride, and for the last two years I have served as the Lead Volunteer for the In-Park Donations Committee. As of February 2007, I have advanced to Co-Chair of the In-Park Donations Committee. Today was my first Atlanta Pride Committee meeting. I know it's going to be hard work and fun-- both I enjoy.

I am excited to serve on the Atlanta Pride Committee and look forward to keeping Atlanta Pride free and enjoyable.