Pride Guide, June 3, 2005

Stand out, stand proud at Dayton dinner and parade

by Anthony Glassman

Dayton--It�s time to Stand Up, Stand Out and Stand Proud, as the theme for this year�s Dayton Pride suggests.

As in the past, Dayton Pride is being divided into two separate weekends this year, with the Pride Dinner and Expo on one weekend and the Pride Parade and Festival on another.

Unlike previous years, however, the dinner and expo will come first, on June 4 at the Schuster Center on the corner of Second and Ludlow.

The expo begins at 5 pm, the dinner at 7 pm. Following the meal, comedian Marga Gomez will perform.

One of the most prominent lesbian stand-up comedians around today, Gomez starred in the documentary Laughing Matters alongside Kate Clinton and Ohioans Suzanne Westenhoefer and Karen Williams. Gomez has also written and starred in six one-woman shows, been seen on a half-dozen networks on cable and broadcast television, and starred in the 1998 film Sphere.

Two weeks later, Dayton Pride returns with the parade and festival on June 18.

The parade will step off at noon from Cooper Park at East Third and St. Clair, then head down to Courthouse Square at Main and Third where it lets out into the festival.

Dayton Pride�s perennial emcee, Rob Austin, will keep the day going as he brings in the speakers, including Andrew Hyde of the AIDS Resource Center Ohio�s Mu Crew, and keynote speaker Ann Wilger, former regional director of P-FLAG.

Entertainment will be provided by, among others, a showcase of Dayton�s best drag performers, the Queen City Marching Band and the Flaggots, the LGBT flag corps.

For more information about Dayton Pride�s dual weekends of events, go to www.daytonpride.org.

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