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