Motor City Pride

**Norwalk** · June-05-10, 09:22 PM

You go'in?

**DetroitZack** · June-06-10, 07:11 AM

I will pass

DC48080 · June-06-10, 07:14 AM

Originally Posted by Norwalk

You go'in?

Going where? What is it?

**Pam** · June-06-10, 08:07 AM

http://motorcitypride.org/index_test.php

DC48080 · June-06-10, 08:13 AM

Originally Posted by Pam

http://motorcitypride.org/index_test.php

Thanks for the info Pam. I'll have to pass, not my kind of thing as I don't play on that team.

But if you're going I hope you have an enjoyable day.

**MDoyle** · June-06-10, 11:22 AM

FYI you don't have to be gblt to goto a Pride parade. Nor does going to a Pride parade make you gblt

Buy American · June-06-10, 01:19 PM

Motor City is Detroit....this parade is in Ferndale.

**Stinger4me** · June-07-10, 10:28 PM

Maybe they could march to Palmer Park. There was quite a collection of "team players" back in the day.

**terryh** · June-09-10, 11:53 AM

My wife and I went as we live in Ferndale and enjoy the colorful ecclectic crowd that congregates at pride fest.....not as many hetero couples as last year. I realized what a non threatening crowd pridefest draws...didnt feel uptight or concerned about accidently bumping someone and getting an antagonistic reaction from some immature jerk who didnt like how I said excuse me...much mellower crowd than some of the angry small town-suburban-city festivals that I have attended full of fights and open displays of contempt.....

**bailey** · June-09-10, 12:43 PM

Originally Posted by Stinger4me

Maybe they could march to Palmer Park. There was quite a collection of "team players" back in the day.

until they were run out of the city. There is a reason Ferndale is the [[barely) gayborhood for the Metro area.

**fooddood** · June-09-10, 12:52 PM

Buy American, thanks for making that distinction before the lawyers had to get involved. It’s important that municipal lines be identified and defended lest someone think the city and the suburbs were in some kind of cooperative accord.

I didn’t go to the festival but I live nearby. My neighbor had to call the cops on Sunday after a very loud and drunk young man, even after being confronted, walked off with the ‘Slow Zone’ sign from the front of my house in broad daylight. They were there in minutes to waterboard the perpetrator.

Last year, another neighbor was beaten by a group of lesbians. Kind of funny since it wasn’t me. And it’s possible that she had it coming.

I have nothing against the LGBT community, I live in Ferndale. But it seems that too many people get carried away at this thing. In contrast, the DIY fest is in my backyard and, with a weekend full of bands and a huge beer tent, I haven’t seen these problems.

**terryh** · June-09-10, 03:30 PM

lol@foodood! Uhm I think all in all the crows that attends pride is very safe-the police presence required to protect attendees from outside hostility....

ferntruth · June-09-10, 05:40 PM

Originally Posted by bailey

until they were run out of the city. There is a reason Ferndale is the [[barely) gayborhood for the Metro area.

Please stop posting on topics you clearly know NOTHING about, Bailey. Seriously.

**EastsideAl** · June-09-10, 06:11 PM

I used to go to it back when it was in the city, as I had a lot of friends who were involved in the gay community and in organizing the festival and I'm a big supporter of equal rights for all. As a habitue of the now long-gone Bookie's I also used to spend a lot of time in the neighborhood. It's great that it's still going on, but kind of a shame that it's no longer actually in Detroit.

I see, however, that the Black Pride Society will be sponsoring its own march on July 17th and festival on July 24th in Detroit's traditional gay neighborhood of Palmer Park as part of its Hotter Than July event.

**fryar** · June-09-10, 08:34 PM

Sweet dancing silhouettes-wearing-rainbows theme, very ipod.

**DetroiterOnTheWestCoast** · June-09-10, 10:28 PM

How many people of color go the event in Ferndale, and non-blacks to the one in Palmer Park?

**bailey** · June-10-10, 08:22 AM

Originally Posted by ferntruth

Please stop posting on topics you clearly know NOTHING about, Bailey. Seriously.

What exactly did I say that was false? The gays, like many in detroit, were run out by rampant crime and lack of police response. Many will say the lack of police response was, in the case of the Palmer Park/6 mile area, a command decision based on the make up of the residents. So, like everyone else with the means and ability to get out in the 70s and 80s, the businesses migrated out of the area and up Woodard and the people went with them ...or left the area entirely.

What remains of what was [[reportedly) a vibrant gay community is a couple of gay bars shotgunned around town in seedy areas [[a poster who, iirc, was banned from here has a lovely photo tour on the Site That Shall Not Be Named) and a blue collar bedroom community that wasn't entirely hostile to gays living there.

Ferndale..as nice as it is... is a pretty poor excuse for a "gayborhood". a community center and two gay friendly bars, does not make a gay ghetto. And a gay pride that is basically in a parking lot, is a bit sad for a metro area that claims 4.5 million people.

**Johnlodge** · June-10-10, 09:56 AM

This whole thread seems to miss the mark. Oops, it's DY.

Ravine · June-10-10, 10:04 AM

Originally Posted by bailey

What exactly did I say that was false? The gays, like many in detroit, were run out by rampant crime and lack of police response. Many will say the lack of police response was, in the case of the Palmer Park/6 mile area, a command decision based on the make up of the residents. So, like everyone else with the means and ability to get out in the 70s and 80s, the businesses migrated out of the area and up Woodard and the people went with them ...or left the area entirely.

What remains of what was [[reportedly) a vibrant gay community is a couple of gay bars shotgunned around town in seedy areas [[a poster who, iirc, was banned from here has a lovely photo tour on the Site That Shall Not Be Named) and a blue collar bedroom community that wasn't entirely hostile to gays living there.

Ferndale..as nice as it is... is a pretty poor excuse for a "gayborhood". a community center and two gay friendly bars, does not make a gay ghetto. And a gay pride that is basically in a parking lot, is a bit sad for a metro area that claims 4.5 million people.

Why is the adjective "vibrant" always used in this context?

**REL** · June-10-10, 10:48 AM

Originally Posted by bailey

...What remains of what was [[reportedly) a vibrant gay community is a couple of gay bars shotgunned around town in seedy areas...

Ferndale..as nice as it is... is a pretty poor excuse for a "gayborhood". a community center and two gay friendly bars, does not make a gay ghetto. And a gay pride that is basically in a parking lot, is a bit sad for a metro area that claims 4.5 million people.

1) The internet started the demise of gay bars, and the internet goes beyond teeny Ferndale, MI.
2) I didn't realize downtown Royal Oak was a "seedy area" [[Pronto).
3) How many other cities in Michigan have an LGBT community center other than Ferndale? Think about that one for a minute.
4) Motor City Pride was held on 9 Mile, which was shut down for the occasion. 9 Mile Road is hardly a parking lot, unless there's heavy construction.

I'm female, attended with my non-homophobic boyfriend, and we both had a great time celebrating equality for all. I serve a non-profit, and was representing the group at Motor City Pride in order to spread the word about hate crimes and discrimination. I saw many other male/female couples there, and many families [[DetroiterontheWestCoast, there were many people of color. As for Hotter N' July, I think it's overwhelmingly people of color that attend, but of course not 100%).

While we were there, I couldn't help but think of how awesome it was that a scene like that wouldn't have existed just 20 years ago. And yet, still, we marveled that most of the people in the crowd don't have the same rights we do. Brittany Spears can get married and get a divorce 55 hours later on a whim, while my friends Henry & Carl have been together for 60 years and cannot marry. You call that justice?

**bailey** · June-10-10, 12:01 PM

Since the thread is already completely jacked....

1) The internet started the demise of gay bars, and the internet goes beyond teeny Ferndale, MI.

It's not just gay bars that make Dupont Circle, Castro,Halstead, Chelsea...etc. To put it differently, Mexican village is more than just a block of Mexican restaurants.

2) I didn't realize downtown Royal Oak was a "seedy area" [[Pronto).

There are exceptions that make the rule.

3) How many other cities in Michigan have an LGBT community center other than Ferndale? Think about that one for a minute.

First, you think about what that says about the climate for gays in the state's largest city. But you're right, there are none the size of Affirmations elsewhere [[AA and EL have small centers, pretty sure the other college towns have LBGT centers ) But, does the presence of a LGBT center make it a "gayborhood"?

4) Motor City Pride was held on 9 Mile, which was shut down for the occasion. 9 Mile Road is hardly a parking lot, unless there's heavy construction.

I know. I've been. It's quaint. Closing 9 mile for a block on a sunday is not exactly a huge thing. Art fairs use up more space most weekends around here. Detroit claims to be a major city....compare MCP to Prides in Chicago, NY or where ever. heck Market Days in Chicago is 10 times the size of pride here [[and eclipsing Chicago Pride. Halloween in the Castro had to be shut down because it got so huge.

I'm not knocking Ferndale or MCP..they're trying. All I'm saying is that Ferdale is still for the most part a blue collar bedroom community that became Metro Detroit's de facto "gay hub" by the default of not having a real one in the city.

I guess the real question here is; does it matter...or maybe the question is does Detroit need or want gays here?

**REL** · June-10-10, 12:04 PM

Originally Posted by bailey

I guess the real question here is; does it matter...or maybe the question is does Detroit need or want gays here?

Wow... I guess the real question here is, does Detroit/ Detroityes need or want *you* here, Bailey?

**Johnlodge** · June-10-10, 12:14 PM

I guess the real question here is; does it matter...or maybe the question is does Detroit need or want gays here?

Actually, the real question was who was going to Motor City Pride. Then in typical DY fashion, a bunch of blowhards started seeing who could pee farther.

**dtowncitylover** · June-10-10, 12:56 PM

Well I now I know Detroit isn't a major city because it doesn't have a big enough pride parade. And most major cities have Chinatowns, so now there are two reasons why Detroit isn't a major city.

I love learning new things!

**middetres** · June-10-10, 01:50 PM

Bailey, you need to have your gaydar tuned...

Last I checked every bar/restaurant within a mile of 9 Mile and Woodward was gay-friendly. That's about 30-40 of them. True, they don't market themselves as such, but you'd be hard-pressed to find any that aren't more than welcoming to all people.

I don't go to Pride because I don't need one day a year to show pride. I show it every day and everywhere.

And with all those I see out all over the city [[including the suburbs), I'm not the only one.

Gay neighborhoods have been on the decline for years with the increasing acceptance among the general public. The New York Times did an article 3 years ago on the subject:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/30/us/30gay.html

As a counterpoint, also from 3 years ago, Supergay speaks to some of the same issues, although I don't necessarily agree with some of his observations. Maybe because I feel things have gotten better since he first wrote it.

http://supergaydetroit.blogspot.com/...yborhoods.html