OutHudson directors made these statements about this year's pride festival:
Rick Volo, a.k.a. "Trixie Starr": In 2010, I organized a small group of people in Hudson to put together the first Pride parade. Now, the TENTH parade, Pride has helped define the City of Hudson, and Columbia County, as a welcoming home for the LGBTQ community. People now move here, open businesses here, and are raising families under the rainbow flags that line Warren Street. Throughout the years, with over sixty contingents, the Pride Parade and Pride Festivities have become one of the largest events in Columbia County.
Charlie Ferrusi: Our theme, "Faerie Tales," ties in the community-focused and anti-establishment Radical Faerie movement, with the queer fairy that is Hudson. The nature of Pride in Hudson has always been grassroots, supported and organized entirely by local small businesses and community members. Looking back to our first pride in 2010, I remember the joy of realizing that local LGBTQ kids like me didn’t have to move to big cities to feel proud of who they are. That we had all the love we needed right here in Hudson, in a city of 6,000 people. That feeling of “community” is still incredibly important today, as we celebrate our tenth Pride.
John M. Schobel: On behalf of OutHudson, we could not be happier to put on the 10th annual Pride Parade in Hudson. As made clear by the 50th celebration of Stonewall, the entire world is turning its attention to the importance of LGBTQI issues. Given the increase in hate crimes, and the conscious efforts to restrict our civil rights, it's critical that we all continue to celebrate the beautiful diversity of our community. Our Faerie theme expresses that beautifully.To learn more about this year's OutHudson Pride Festival, visit OutHudson.com.
COPYRIGHT 2019 CAROLE OSTERINK
The reason there is now a local PRIDE EVENT to recognize very important, neglected history, and to celebrate the rights of our continually globally oppressed LGBTQ community is because it was began in 2009 by badass friends Mary and Dana in Catskill - for the record, this DID NOT BEGIN IN HUDSON, PEOPLE! People need to get the local history correct, once and for all. The original event was called "River Pride" and was intended to be all-inclusive and also to alternate celebrations each year on both sides of the river. The first event in Catskill was met with all kinds of resistance, including threats of violence, and boycotts of any participating businesses, including that of the organizers. Up until the very last minute there was lots of sketchy uncertainty as to whether it would even take place. And also at the very last minute, due to the threats of violence, the parade route was drastically reduced from Main Street to the river park, to a small area, only a few short blocks and off to an invisible side street, and even then, the then-Mayor Vince Seeley did not even march with us in the abbreviated route down Main street and around the block - he rode safely in a police car, in some sort of fear or shame, who knows, but certainly not proudly out walking out in the open with the rest of us. For those few of us who did march, there was indeed a palpable fear of violence. (This was only 10 years ago, y'all!!!) Trixie was not one of us. she was busy setting up her Tupper Ware goods to make money on the event, oblivious to the very real fear and confrontations that were happening in the "parade", where marchers were very much needed. Oh well, don't miss a chance to capitalize, I suppose! It was also a grey, rain-threatening day, which added to the scary mood overall. But those of us who knew how much this meant were not deterred by rain or other threats! I remember meeting Trixie for the first time, in the event in the park, after we marched and carried a gigantic rainbow flag (that had also been used in historic NYC gay rights events) down Main St, and then we went down to the Catskilll park where cops possibly outnumbered vendors. (Again, paranoia of violence, where there was nothing but peace and love!) Trixie's very first words to me were, "WHY ISN'T THIS IN HUDSON?!!!" And after discussing the idea that the goal was to make it an event called "RIVER PRIDE" that would alternate towns each year across the river, I could see the wheels turning - she was gonna make this yet another HUDSON-CENTRIC event, not 'hearing' the cross-county concept at all, nor understanding how powerful it was for Greene County to have a Pride Event, unforch. And it was not hard for her to usurp it all, given the Catskill Officials' complete lack of vision and support for how GREAT and MEANINGFUL and REVENUE-BOOSTING a PRIDE event in Catskill would have been, on alternating years. Oh well, snooze, ya lose, homophobes! So, I would gently ask the Hudson folks to remember, that for ALL of our rural areas, LGBTQ rights and freedoms and peace for all ages is still a long way off, and don't forget that you would not even have the annual PRIDE PARADE in Hudson if not for a few hard working brave people, gay and straight, not from Hudson, who pioneered the first event in Catskill in 2009. Much love to Mary and Dana! Cheers and love to all, especially to the original LGBTQ Stonewall Love Warriors who risked it all and fought back!!!! Happy Stonewall 50! Fierce love/no fear forever!
ReplyDeleteYes, all credit to Mary and Dana in Catskill.
ReplyDeleteThe next year, in 2010, we coordinated the two events. Riverpride happened on the Saturday, and the parade in Hudson happened the day after, on the Sunday, which was Father's Day.