Cincinnati's Fourth of July Gay Pride parade annoys homophobes
Thu. July 1, 2010 11:00 PM by GoPride.com News Staff
Cincinnati, Ohio -
This year, Cincinnati's Gay Pride parade will march through the downtown area on the Fourth of July, and conservative groups are not happy.
"I'm just really disappointed they'd move the parade, the homosexual parade from June to July 4th," Phil Burress of Citizens for Community Values told WKRC.
"We felt like we have an obligation and sent an e-mail to all of our supporters advising them that if they go downtown they might be exposed to deviant behaviors because in the past those homosexual parades have been extremely deviant."
In the past, Cincinnati's parade and festival have been held in two separate parks, but they've outgrown the space. So organizers decided to combine the events and move them downtown.
Conservatives say LGBT groups are "hijacking the holiday."
But Independence Day was not chosen to make a political statement; it was not even the organizers' first choice.
"You look at openings that fit the city's schedule where you have enough officers to fill the details for safety reasons and you get street closures not interfering with other events," said Cincinnati Gay Chamber of Commerce Vice President George Crawford.
"And it was not our first choice weekend. It was the weekend when we could get the most support and resources."
"I'm just really disappointed they'd move the parade, the homosexual parade from June to July 4th," Phil Burress of Citizens for Community Values told WKRC.
"We felt like we have an obligation and sent an e-mail to all of our supporters advising them that if they go downtown they might be exposed to deviant behaviors because in the past those homosexual parades have been extremely deviant."
In the past, Cincinnati's parade and festival have been held in two separate parks, but they've outgrown the space. So organizers decided to combine the events and move them downtown.
Conservatives say LGBT groups are "hijacking the holiday."
But Independence Day was not chosen to make a political statement; it was not even the organizers' first choice.
"You look at openings that fit the city's schedule where you have enough officers to fill the details for safety reasons and you get street closures not interfering with other events," said Cincinnati Gay Chamber of Commerce Vice President George Crawford.
"And it was not our first choice weekend. It was the weekend when we could get the most support and resources."