With the coming of summer, so comes a series of celebrations. Across the nation, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people and supporters of the GLBT community gather to celebrate and relate their love, struggles, pride and hope. In 2009, the festivities began in Phoenix on April 17 and will spread all the way to the East Coast and back again, ending in Palm Springs, Calif., on Nov. 8.
From June 6 to 14, Indianapolis hosted Indy Pride Festival. The celebration began with a kick-off party with the famous Bag Ladies who launched their 2010 calendar. The theme? Showtunes. The party included several performances, which included those from the calendar shoots.
One highlight of the week was the parade held Saturday morning. There were more than 100 entries with supporters from Absolut Vodka to Walgreens to the Jesus Metropolitan Community Church. The parade lasted over an hour and a half. From there, attendees could roam around
Entertainment provided during the festival, held Saturday, included a range of numerous DJs, the Indianapolis Men's Choir, the Pride of Indy Jazz Band, the duo of Halcyon (this writer's favorite performance of the day), the national anthem by Tobin Strader and - of course - the Drag Show.
The drag queens are an obvious favorite of those attending the festival and they lived up to the hype. A mutual favorite of all fans was the stunning (seriously gorgeous) Kathryn Cole performing as a Lady Gaga impersonator. And though it poured on the much-anticipated concert, the performers endured the rain and fans continued to dance, sing and tip the queens while ringing out their clothes.
The highlighted performer was Kat DeLuna who sang. The 21-year-old singer performed her hit "Whine Up" while promoting songs from her sophomore album, "Inside Out." Her incredible voice and positive energy drew in a huge crowd and maintained the enthusiasm of the day - any performance following the Drag Show is tough.
Of course, no gay pride festival is complete without someone standing at a street corner, Bible in hand, preaching of the eternal damnation that God will bestow on those who happen to fall in love with someone of the same gender. Overall, the judgmental man was overlooked.
The week was wrapped up with the Pride Tea Dance, a relaxing afternoon held at the Metro Night Club full of live music and good food.
But this isn't the end of Indiana's pride celebration. From July 24 to 25, northern Indiana will host another Gay Pride festival. Fort Wayne Pride will be held at Headwater's Park East.
While the festivities in Indianapolis may have ended and we anticipate those in Fort Wayne, through these gay pride celebrations, the GLBT community have the opportunity gain support and learn to love themselves despite the injustice they suffer in society. With this support and love, the internal celebration will never end.
Mia Hanneken is a Ball State University student and writes 'Messages From Mia' for the Daily News. His views do not necessarily agree with those of the newspaper.
Write to Mia at mlhannek@bsu.edu
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