On the 40th anniversary of Stonewall, the Twin Cities are louder and prouder than ever

This Saturday will see the kickoff of the Twin Cities' 37th Annual Pride Celebration. Organized by non-profit group Twin Cities Pride, the GLBT extravaganza is the third largest pride celebration in the United States. The theme of this year’s celebration is "Our Rights, Your Rights, Human Rights." Last year, the event attracted over 450,000 attendees from across the country and is said to be the second largest community event in the state, following the Minnesota State Fair.

The celebration takes place over two weekends and includes a range of activities from the Pride Boat Cruise in Stillwater to the Pride Family Picnic at Saint Paul's Como Park to the 2009 Ashley Rukes GLBT Pride Parade. The parade was named to commemorate parade director Ashley Rukes, who greatly expanded the size of the parade during her tenure.

Adding excitement to the parade this year is a brand-new giant rainbow flag. The old flag will be decommissioned in a brief ceremony before the parade. Cheryl Maloney is the executive director (and the first employee) of Twin Cities Pride. “The new flag is stunningly beautiful," she says. "It’s the largest carried in a parade!” The flag includes all eight of the original rainbow colors, and spans 37’ by 74’. “It’s about the size of a city block," says Maloney. "Of course, we are still looking for volunteers to help carry it in the parade—it will be a great honor to be a part of this, especially since Gilbert Baker is serving as Grand Marshal.”

Gilbert Baker, visiting from San Francisco, is the creator of the international symbol for the GLBT movement known as the Rainbow Flag. The icon made its debut in the San Francisco Gay Freedom Parade in 1978.

The Pride Festival itself offers a range of activities to suit every interest. Recognized by City Pages as the Twin Cities' best festival, the event will feature headliners Exposé, Kat DeLuna, and Kristine W along with music by DJ Red Richard on the Loring Stage.

In addition, the festival will include a children’s and family area sponsored by Target, a history pavilion, two beer gardens, and a fireworks show. The fireworks display will take place over the lake in Loring Park following the headline show at the end of the evening on Saturday, June 27. To help keep as much of the Pride Celebration available and affordable, with the exception of the Headline Show, the Pride Festival is open to the public and admittance is free.

David Hill, board chair of Twin Cities Pride, says that the recession isn’t necessarily having a major impact on the events, though the organization did have to pare back dramatically. Yet the Festival is bigger than ever. “We are going to have a record number of exhibitors at the park [Loring]...there are over 400 exhibitors."

This year marks the 40th Anniversary of the Stonewall Inn riots in New York. The history pavilion will have an exhibit spanning the past four decades with large images from the Jean-Nickolaus Tretter collection at the University of Minnesota. “Jean Tretter is a depositor of GLBT history from all over the world," says Maloney. "People send him things to hold and keep safe with the hope that some day they will have something to use for their own museums."

Betsy Mowry (betsy.mowry@hotmail.com) is a mosaic artist and an arts education associate at COMPAS.

Betsy Mowry

Betsy Mowry (betsy.mowry@hotmail.com) is a mosaic artist and an arts education associate at COMPAS.