Pride highlights and challenges Print E-mail
Written by Daniel Smith. Video by Nigel Etherington.   
Thursday, 06 November 2008

From the Pride theatre and film seasons through to the Great Gay & Lesbian Debate, Parade and Party, I thoroughly enjoyed this year's Pride Festival. 

The major events were professionally run, the festival content well programmed and the presentation of both the Committee and its promotional efforts were a significant improvement on last year.

GAYinWA was pleased to bring the Great Gay & Lesbian Debate back for this year's Pride Festival and it was very rewarding to contribute a successful and highly entertaining event to the broader festival.  Our thanks go to Danae Gibson for hosting the event and to each of our marvelous speakers - Brian Greig, Giz Watson, Lisa Baker, Jessica Strutt, Aram Hosie, Sue Fisher Hendry, Bonnie Travers and Mark Woodman.

You can view debate highlights here:

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I might be biased in saying that the debate was the highlight of the festival for me, but it certainly wasn't my only highlight.

Pride's efforts in putting together stellar film and theatre programmes were outstanding.  These festival elements had deteriorated in recent years and the Committee's efforts will have restored confidence in the Pride Festival.  Attendances are likely to swell next year - particularly if the festival guide is released a bit earlier, giving people time to digest its contents.

I managed to take in Butt Boy and Tigger at Pica, which was a delight.  Steven Dawson productions are often a highlight of the Pride Festival and this exploration of the internet dating world was one of his better offerings.

I also managed to take in the ridiculous Another Gay Sequel and the more serious Laramie Project on the last day of the film festival.  The former was silly, a little embarrassing to watch and a hell of a lot of fun, whereas Laramie left you feeling gutted, as it should.

Both films were well attended, with Another Gay Sequel winning the applause of a theatre full of patrons appreciative of the opportunity to watch new and well produced queer film.

For the first time in I don't know how long, I didn't march in the Pride Parade, instead gathering at Rise for a birds eye view of the festivities.

You can view Parade highlights here:

You need to a flashplayer enabled browser to view this YouTube video

The content of the Parade was certainly a vast improvement on recent years, however, it was lucky I didn't head to the bar during the Parade or I may have missed it.  Estimates suggest the Parade took between 11 and 14 minutes to pass most vantage points.  The last time I paid attention to the length of Parade was in 2004, when fireworks were synchonised during the event.  The Parade took 33 minutes that year and it was probably twice that length during its heyday in the mid to late 1990s.

Hopefully this year's improved float standards will inspire additional entries for next year and the long term decline in Parade participation will be reversed.

Something the broader community doesn't fully appreciate about Pride is that nearly everything hinges on the Parade.  Without the Parade, it would be doubtful that the City of Perth would contribute the funding it does to help Pride stage both the Parade and other events.  Without the Parade, the massive crowds enjoyed by all post-Parade party events wouldn't exist either.

Speaking of post-Parade party events, I spent my time in the main room of Connections Nightclub and had a ball.  There was a great sound and a wonderful vibe.  I tried not to venture out of the main room, for fear of not being able to get back in.  Both Connections and The Court had the queuing problems you would expect from attracting really large crowds, but, most reports I heard indicated people had a blast, whichever party they chose to attend.

Following Charles Denham's generous bailout of Pride earlier in the year, this year's Committee began the year with a balanced ledger and appears to have made a healthy profit on the back of the introduction of an entry fee at Fairday and two major fundraising events at Connections Nightclub.

The organisation is now in the strongest financial position it has been in since the end of 2003, when Pride recorded a $25,000 profit and ended the year $20,000 in the black.

Pride's strong financial position and the renewed confidence of the community in the organisation leave it well positioned to tackle some long standing and emerging challenges.

The principle challenge, as indicated earlier, is reversing the long term decline in Parade participation.  If participation continues to decline at the rate it has over the last few years, the lines to the loos at the post-Parade party events might be longer than the Parade itself before too long. This will have a significant impact on both Pride and the businesses that benefit from it.

A second challenge for next year's Committee will be to identify events that appeal to the fast growing number of people in our community with kids.  Whereas once Fairday was a day for everybody, it is now not that attractive to the growing number of people in our community who have kids.  Pride makes a strong argument as to why patrons should not be able to bring their children into the licensed area at Fairday, however this does prevent a large number of people from enjoying the day as they used to and their non-parenting friends still can.  The increase in parenting is possibly the most significant demographic change that has happened within our community in recent years and, if Pride wants to represent our whole community, it needs to find a way to stage, dare I say it, some "family friendly events".

However, whatever the challenges facing Pride, there is no doubt that Pride wouldn't have a hope in facing them if it wasn't for the generosity of Charles Denham earlier this year, the discipline and hard work of this year's Committee and the faith of everyone who attended Pride events, despite the disappointment of last year.

To everybody who contributed to Pride's success this year, we salute you.

You can view, download and e-card Nigel and John's photos from all Pride events, including the Great Gay & Lesbian Debate, Fairday, Pride Parade, Pride Party, Court Street Party and Pride Womyn's Party now in GAYinWA Photos.

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Last Updated ( Friday, 07 November 2008 )
 

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