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              Copied with permission from Southern Voice                 
                          by: Richard Perry                              
                                                                         
                                                                         
                        A WEEKEND FULL OF PRIDE                          
          Lesbians, gays and their supporters, answering the call,       
              `It's Time to Tell America,' pack Piedmont Park            
                                                                         
     It was hot.  It was humid.  Television coverage was better than     
   usual-only one station focused exclusively on the stereotypes.        
   Newpaper coverage was short buy accurate.  Politicians stumped for    
   votes. Piedmont Park was packed, but no one could really agree just   
   how packed.                                                           
                                                                         
     Only a couple of small pockets of religious extremists met the      
   marchers on Peachtree.  The rain held out long enough for the         
   fireworks, although an evening thunderstorm provided almost as much   
   of a visual display as the rockets.  And by the way, the Lesbian      
   Avengers did take their shirts off.                                   
                                                                         
     Lesbian and Gay Pride in Atlanta, in its 22nd year, has really hit  
   the big time.                                                         
                                                                         
     "Looking out from the stage and seeing this park full was           
   overwhelming," said Skip Marklein, co-chair of the Atlanta Lesbian    
   and Gay Pride Committee, after welcoming the crowd, estimated by      
   police at 100,000, to Piedmont Park.  "I've never spoken to over      
   100,000 people before.  I'm excited, and I can tell you that it's     
   only because of every volunteer we've had working with us this year   
   that something like this comes across."                               
                                                                         
     Marklein said she couldn't estimate the number of volunteers        
   involved with Pride because so many had stopped by the Pride tent to  
   work just for the day.  But there was plenty to do and see-not only   
   for Pride volunteers but for all the lesbians, gay men and            
   supporters who came to the park, and other locations, for the         
   weekend festival.                                                     
                                                                         
     The Pride Market ballooned to over 150 merchants and organizations  
   this year, with booths covering the field between the 10th Street     
   stage and the Charles Allen Drive entrance to the park and rounding   
   the corner of Lake Clara Meer to a new, second stage at that end of   
   the park.                                                             
                                                                         
     Vendors sold jewelry, T-shirts, cold drinks, art and the            
   ever-popular freedom rings.  Organizations handed out literature and  
   signed up members.  And all day long on Saturday and Sunday, a        
   stream of entertainers kept both ends of the park hopping with the    
   sights and sounds of music, dancing and the spoken word.              
                                                                         
     Despite a thunderstorm that rolled in Sunday evening, even the      
   promised fireworks display went off as planned, although Pride        
   organizers had to set it off early.                                   
                                                                         
     The march itself, from the Civic Center down Peachtree Street and   
   into Piedmont Park, featured its usual wide array of participants,    
   from the Gay Bird (a lavender Big Bird) to drag queens and female     
   impersonators, from gay vets to lesbian moms, from leather men and    
   women to average homosexuals having an average walk down the street.  
                                                                         
     Marchers carried signs touting gay and lesbian families and the     
   right of lesbians and gay men to serve in the country's military,     
   while the usual chants of "Gay rights, y'all" echoed off the walls    
   of Peachtree's buildings.  Along the way, thousands of spectators     
   lined the street, cheering the various contingents as they paraded    
   through Midtown.                                                      
                                                                         
     Tow City Council challengers from District 6, Andy Loftis and Joe   
   Kelly, participated in the parade, as did incumbent Mary Davis, who   
   rode atop the city fire truck staffed by Atlanta's openly gay         
   firefighters.                                                         
                                                                         
     Councilman Bill Campbell, who is running for mayor, marched with    
   State Sen. Ron Slotin, D-Atlanta.  Councilwoman Myrtle Davis, also a  
   mayoral candidate, was out of town and did not participate, but a     
   "Myrtle Davis for mayor" convertible brought up the rear of the       
   march with a stand-in for the candidate riding on the back.           
                                                                         
      Atlanta Police Major Wayne Mock estimated the march at 100,000,    
   which was the figure used by the Atlanta Journal/Constitution and     
   WXIA-TV (Channel 11).  The other television stations used different   
   figures, with WSB-TV (Channel 2) putting the number at 50,000 and     
   WAGA-TV (Channel 5) hedging its bets by describing the crowd as       
   "tens of thousands."                                                  
                                                                         
     Marklein accepted the police estimate as to the number of           
   marchers, although she added that the committee's estimate of the     
   number of people in the park was higher-from 125,000 to               
   130,000-because of people who came directly to the festival.          
                                                                         
     Television coverage of the day's events was much better then        
   Atlanta's gay community has come to expect.  WSB came in at the       
   bottom of the list for focusing its story on Sunday's 11 p.m.         
   newscast almost exclusively on drag queens and noting that the        
   parade participants' focus appeared to be "calling attention to       
   themselves."  WGNX (Channel 46), WXIA (Channel 11), and WAGA          
   (Channel 5) all fared much better, although WXIA anchor Carmen Burns  
   repeatedly referred to "the gay lifestyle" throughout her report.     
                                                                         
     Saturday, organizers estimated 1800 lesbians marched around         
   Peidmont Park in Atlanta's first Dyke March.                          
                                                                         
     The March was a spirited affair, with drumming and dancing first    
   down Piedmont Avenue and then back up Monroe Drive and 10th Street    
   before ending back at the park with a display of fire-eating by the   
   Lesbian Avengers.  About a dozen Avengers took off their shirts       
   before reaching Ansley Mall.  Police made no arrests, despite media   
   reports before the march in which police said topless women would be  
   arrested.                                                             
                                                                         
     "If i get an order to arrest, I will, but I'm not going to do       
   anything on my own," said Officer H.C. Ewing.  "We have a law         
   against riding a motorcycle without a helmet, too, but that's what    
   happens in parades."                                                  
                                                                         
     Friday night's Commitment Ceremony brought 75-80 couples to         
   publicly join together.  Nearly 400 onlookers watched as Rev. Ann     
   Johnston officiated at Winn Park.  Many of those were up and running  
   Saturday morning, as 600 runners and walkers participated in Front    
   Runners' third annual Pride Run, benefiting Project Open Hand.  And   
   several hundred participated in Saturday night's AIDS candlelight     
   remembrance-"Our Thousand Points of Love"-at John Howell Park.        
   Nearly 1500 gathered later in the evening at Zoo Atlanta for Joining  
   Heats' "Wild Again" benefit for AID Atlanta's housing program.        
                                                                         
     Skip Marklein said she and the rest of the committee were ;leased   
   with this year's celebration, adding that work on next year's Pride   
   will begin after the committee has a few days to recoup.              
                                                                         
                                                   K.C. Wildmoon         
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