Savannah celebrates LGBT equality with annual Pride fest and march

“2011 has been a year of new and positive changes in the name of ‘Equality.’ So we thought what could be more fitting to celebrate,” Byars added.

Savannah Pride is a family-friendly event with plenty of children’s activities. Numerous vendors will be on hand including food, drink and even a dog-washing station. Live entertainment includes performances by drag artists Spykey van Dykey and Liquid Ginger, the Vida DeVoid’s Burlesque Show and a special guest performance by BeBe Zahara Benet, season one winner of “RuPaul’s Drag Race.”

Elke Kennedy, mother of Sean Kennedy, will also be at the fest speaking about the Sean’s Last Wish foundation she formed to remember her gay son, Sean, who died in 2007 after being punched by a man who called him “faggot.”

“Equality should be the sole right that is deserved by anyone just for being human and not based on the color of your skin, sexual orientation, region, economic status, or handicap,” said Byars. “With that first breath we take, we are given the right to life, it should also stand that we should all have the right to equality.”

Savannah Pride is scheduled for 11:30 a.m.-10:30 p.m. at Forsyth Park.

‘March for Equality’

The “March for Equality” organized by activist group Act Out Savannah and an “Equality for Unity” rally was set to take place on Sunday but has been postponed until Sept. 24.

The Facebook page for the “March for Equality” includes a comment from march organizer Cody Patterson saying that “due to conflicts in events and logistics the ‘March for Equality’ has been rescheduled for Saturday, Sept. 24.”

The “March for Equality” will be the second LGBT equality march in Savannah. The historic first “Queer Power March” last year attracted hundreds of people.

A month after last year’s Savannah Pride and Queer Power March, the Savannah City Council voted to approve domestic partner benefits for city employees.

Kevin Clark, chair of the Savannah chapter of Georgia Equality, noted these two events as helping keep pressure on elected officials which he said likely led to a unanimous vote by the council to approve the measure.

“There’s no doubt in my mind if our community had not risen up and showed we are indeed a powerful force … that we are seizing this moment in history to demand equality, this would not have happened,” Clark said after the council approved domestic partner benefits in October 2010. “This community has a lot to celebrate today.”

A rally in Savannah was also held in June 2010 after a gay man was attacked by two U.S. Marines after they allegedly became upset because he winked at one of them. LGBT activists including Georgia Equality urged the attack be considered a hate crime. Authorities however the crime was not a hate crime and only one Marine was charged with a misdemeanor.

 

Top Photo: Last year’s Queer Power March (left) included a speech by gay activist Derrick Martin (top right), the young man from Cochran, Ga., who fought to take his boyfriend to the prom, and complemented Savannah Pride’s live entertainment. (File photos)