by Anthony Glassman

Cleveland--Northeast Ohio�s African American LGBT community and their allies will gather this weekend for the eleventh annual Black Gay and Proud Celebration.

The weekend begins with a Thursday jazz and poetry night at the AIDS Taskforce, 3210 Euclid Ave., at 7 pm.

The annual White Fantasia Party this year will be held on the Majestic party yacht, which sets off from the parking lot of Shooters on the west bank of the Flats at 9 pm Friday.

Dinner and a cash bar, along with music and dancing, are part of admission, but tickets will only be sold in advance. They are $40 per person, or $75 for a couple.

Unfortunately, the State of Black Gay America symposium, slated for the morning of August 2 at the Red Cross, has been postponed until the fall. No further information is available yet.

That won�t stop the celebration, however, as DJ Robbie Robb will take care of the music at the Sweat Party on Saturday night. A $10 cover gains admission to two floors of festive fun at Flex, which will open its doors to women for the event, held in a separate part of the facility from the remainder of the bathhouse.

Sweat starts at 9 pm and admission is $10. Flex is at East 26th St. and Hamilton Ave.

The following morning at 9 am, the gospel church service and brunch returns to Archwood United Church of Christ, 2800 Archwood Avenue, followed at noon by the Family Picnic.

After being held for many years at Edgewater Park and then moving to Kirtland Park, the picnic now finds itself in the scenic Lakefront State Park just east of where Martin Luther King Jr. Drive ends at Lake Shore Boulevard, north of I-90. The picnic, near the park headquarters at 8901 Lake Shore, continues until dusk.

For more information about any of the events, go to www.bgpcleveland.com.