Some fortunate souls have lived in Oakland all their lives. For many of us who landed here, Oakland was initially a destination, a city like many others. Then time took root. Many of our lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer brothers and sisters came to the same conclusion: We love Oakland! Together, we have helped make Oakland one of the most diverse cities in the nation.
Let us identify the elephant in the room. All urban centers have their problems. Oakland is no different in this respect. Judging Oakland as the epitome of big city trouble is not only wrong, it misses the diversity, gifts, development, and yes, the beauty of a city that graces its residents.
Oakland has been recognized as having the sixth largest LGBTQ population by percentage of adults and the second highest number of same-sex couples in the nation and is home to the highest concentration of lesbians in America. Oakland has the largest percentage of African American LGBTQ people in the Bay Area. Needless to say, many of our families in Oakland are LGBTQ to one degree or another.
This weekend, Oakland's 2010 LGBTQ Pride Festival is returning with a bang. The festival will happen on Sunday, September 5 during Labor Day weekend. Our inaugural year theme is "We Got the Funk: Diversity in Action." The "funk," for us, is Oakland's uniquely diverse and large LGBTQ community.
This isn't Oakland's first attempt at producing a Pride festival. Back in 1997, East Bay Pride was launched and lasted until 2003. At one point, the event became so popular that the city of Oakland allowed the organization to change the signature necklace of lights around beautiful Lake Merritt from clear to pink. During its seven-year run, it attracted at its height almost 60,000 people. But after years of poor management and lack of funding, East Bay Pride ended. Attempts to revive the festival, called Out in Oakland, led by Oakland's first out gay city council member, Danny Wan, took place in 2004 lasted for only two years.
Oakland elected its second out city council member, and its first lesbian, Rebecca Kaplan, in 2008. Kaplan, representing all of Oakland as the at-large member, immediately revived the LGBT roundtable meetings at City Hall. She started exploring the creation of a LGBT center for Oakland and the revival of Pride. Founded by activists that represent the breadth and depth of LGBTQ multicultural life in Oakland and the East Bay, Oakland Pride was founded in October 2009 with the goal of putting on the festival this year.
Oakland Pride's mission is to celebrate the cultures and diversity of the LGBTQ community in Oakland and the East Bay. We are dedicated to educating the greater community, and promoting equality, civic involvement, and responsibility within Oakland and neighboring communities. Oakland Pride is committed to facilitating leadership and coalition building in the funding and development of the first LGBTQ community center in Oakland for everyone.
Oakland Pride was formed to ensure that Oakland has Pride celebrations for years to come. Pride festivals are opportunities to celebrate the contributions of our communities and to highlight the work that aids the greater community. Pride festivals show gratitude for our allies and their support. Pride festivals honor those in our collective past who have struggled to make such festivals even possible. Pride festivals remember times when LGBTQ people were arrested for just existing and we recognize that more work needs to be done to achieve full equality. Pride celebrations are important because the mere presence of all of us together, congregating to celebrate our lives, inspires us to continue to love and work in our neighborhoods. The magnitude of our numbers lets businesses know that in addition to the cultural talents of our community, we possess a positive economic impact in the development of our city. Our goal is to ensure that Oakland welcomes and celebrates the entire LGBTQ community.
Oakland Pride has other dreams. As noted, we want to help facilitate the development of a LGBTQ community center for everyone in Oakland. We have been blessed to receive a temporary gift of office space from Jack London Square Investors. Oakland Pride wants to help build LGBTQ life in Oakland and collaborate with those partners who are making a difference. Many in our community are elders, youth, HIV-positive, living with disabilities, struggling with poverty, and much more. Our community center can be a space to come together and to build a network of service that helps, particularly the most vulnerable in our community. Oakland Pride is building a movement.
But first, we have Oakland Pride on September 5, a party featuring Chaka Khan; Martha Wash; Caravanserai, a Santana tribute band; God-des and She; Yo-Yo; and over 60 artists on four dynamic stages. We will knock your socks off and it is our privilege to do so.
Joe Hawkins and Amber Todd are co-chairs of the Oakland Pride Board of Directors. For more information about Oakland Pride, please visit http://oaklandpride.org or contact Oakland Pride headquarters at (510) 465-7433.