1,500 celebrate gay pride at downtown festival

July 17, 2016 at 12:07a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

Leaders of THE 2016 Pride Youngstown Festival said the June 12 killing of 49 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando would not keep them from having their event.

And it didn’t.

An estimated 1,500 people attended the eighth annual Youngstown Pride Festival between noon and 9 p.m. Saturday in downtown Youngstown.

“It’s not going to keep us from having a Pride event,” said Carlos Rivera, chairman of the event and a member of the Pride board.

“The Orlando shootings have generated a lot of good will [toward the LBGT community]. We’ll see how long it lasts,” Rivera said.

“This has been a rough month for me,” said Councilman Anita Davis, D-6th, referring to the Orlando killings, the fatal police shootings of black men in Minnesota and Louisiana and the murder of five policemen in Dallas.

“I’m a black, gay female and former policewoman. I’m still processing all of this,” she said.

Orlando was a wake-up call for the country and younger gay people.

“We had to fight to get where we are now, but there are still so many issues. You can still get fired from your job if you are gay,” Davis said.

“Even the gay community has racial issues ... not in Youngstown, but in larger cities,” said Davis, who “came out” on a radio show in 2008.

But Davis and Rivera were pleased with the festival.

There were numerous entertainers, including Ms. Denise Russell, comedian Dana Austin, the Millennial Theater Co. doing songs from “Heathers the Musical.” Bands and other entertainers played throughout the day, and there was a lot of dancing and laughing by a relaxed crowd.

One couple at the festival, Cathy George, 24, of Youngstown, and Kelsi Owen, 24, of Niles, said they wished there were more local events for gay people.

The Youngstown Pride festival is a good first step, said Owen, who also said it would be good to have more places and events for gay people.

“We usually have to go to Akron or Cleveland. I love coming down here and celebrating who I am,” said George, a marketing and political science student at Youngstown State University.

When asked how the Orlando killings impacted her, Owen said: “I think every mass shooting impacts my life.”