SGN Page 11

Friday
July 22, 2005
SGN.org
Volume 33
Issue 29

Sunday, Nov 22, 2009 03:07

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Seattle LGBT Community Center hits a home run in Pride Month

Seattle LGBT Community Center hits a home run in Pride Month
The SGN welcomes your letters to the editor regarding the relocation of Seattle's LGBT Pride celebrations to Seattle Center next year. Email your thoughts to: sgn2@sgn.org - or snail mail to: SGN, 1605 12th Ave., Ste. 31, Seattle, WA, 98122. Please be sure to include your name and contact information for verification. The SGN reserves the right to edit all letters for content, clarity and length. Seattle Pride Committee needs to come clean Dear SGN, This is just a comment on the Seattle Pride Committee's public meeting held Sunday the 17th which was open to hearing concerns on moving the march to Seattle Center. There is a mystery here. First I must mention there were roughly a hundred persons attended the meeting which included spokespersons for half a dozen Gay and Lesbian organizations and business owners and non-profits. The majority were for keeping the march on Capitol Hill. Of the 25 persons who voiced their opinions there were only two to three who were open to having it at either location. Carl Medeiros, the owner of Panache, handed copies of over 8,000 signatures to keep the march on Broadway. Given the overwhelming support for keeping the parade voiced by the public and representative of the Gay community one has to question the mystery of why the Seattle Pride Committee is still considering having it at Seattle Center? The mystery deepens. Why have numerous board members recently resigned? Why aren't any meeting minutes posted since Feb. of 2004? Why doesn't the board have a single Gay or Lesbian organization representative on their board? Why did a board member receive the "Official Guide" status of the parade for the magazine he publishes? Why is this not considered conflict of interest? I've asked for a financial statement of the parade from the treasurer which any person can request but he mentioned it would take some time to prepare. Of the several speakers who mentioned they were former board members one gentleman publicly announced in the two years he had been with the board until recently they never solicited community comments to move the parade to Seattle Center. So why were they lying on their handout stating they had? Their handout stated: "We have been soliciting opinions from the community for the entire history of the Pride celebrations and more specifically the past five years. Most of the feedback has been resoundingly positive for the move." Huh? When I asked for evidence of this solicitation they couldn't answer. (The only thing that would convince me is if there were matching 8,000 signatures supporting a move to Seattle Center.) So far I haven't seen a single name. At the end of the meeting Carl Medeiros made a commitment to the committee that the business community would work with them if they would consider keeping the march on Broadway but he didn't receive any indication of consideration from the committee. A question was asked given the feedback and signatures what they would decide but unfortunately there was no statement or indication they would consider keeping the march on Capitol Hill. On the contrary the only statement they made was they had to check with the "pro supporters" (whoever these mysterious supporters may be). Frankly, one doesn't need to be an investigator to know the meeting was a front to appease any concerns. It was very reflective in their two page handout listing weak excuses why they should have it at Seattle Center - there wasn't a single balanced point on why it should stay on Capitol Hill. I came away disappointed in the committee's lack of openness. I went up later to volunteer but got a lot of defensive remarks as they felt they were being "berated." Perhaps rightfully so as the organization should be interested in what the community has to say - after all they do not own the march, the people do. I think the public should know where their donations dollars are going and seriously consider who they want to support next year. My suggestion is to support your established LGBT organization (and I don't mind saying that includes this newspaper!) until the SPC gets their act together. This mystery may never be solved but my prediction? SPC will try and continue their contract with Seattle Center and will weasel their way out of public accountability. Either way, regardless of what happens that's okay because I have a feeling individuals and organizations will vote with their dollar and support. People will always gather and celebrate on Capitol Hill without the confines of the SPC or any one organization telling them what to do and next year we will see Capitol Hill continue to blossom. Pride Lives! Charlette LeFevre Seattle Museum of the Mysteries Pride Committee does not speak for the community Dear SGN, Over a period of several decades I have watched our community, especially here in Seattle and in San Diego, grow and thrive. On many occasions members have angrily expressed to me their complete rejection of those who personally or by committee have set themselves up to decide by themselves what they believe to be best for the community at large without any input or consultation with anyone else. Why not take a poll or ask for suggestions from the population at large? Why create anger and unhappiness within our community which is unnecessary and totally unjustified? As to the members of the Seattle Pride Committee, please stop and listen to your concerned public and the members of our community. What's the rush to judgement? After all is said and done there's still another eleven months until June 2006! Yours respectfully, R. Henderson