Upcoming fests celebrate LGBT life in Athens, Savannah, Valdosta and Columbus
The Liverpool Football Club (soccer for us Americans) will participate in the August 4 Liverpool Pride Festival, making it the first English Premiere League team to be officially represented at a Gay Pride event in the United Kingdom, Liverpool Pride announced this week.
“I am delighted to confirm that some Club employees and members from the Liverpool Ladies squad will be participating in the event on 4th August,” Ian Ayre, Managing Director at Liverpool Football Club, said in a statement.
“The event is certainly a positive talking point around Liverpool and it’s an excellent platform to attract local communities and people from across the country to experience the diverse culture of our fantastic city.”
Over the course of several days last week, hundreds of Athens, Ga., residents turned out for the first Athens Pride to take place in the fall.
“It was always just the picnic before, and I always felt — even though they were nice and you got to mingle — we were still hidden,” said Mike Chadwick, chair of Athens Pride this year. “By doing the events downtown I think we got a lot more participation. I was thrilled at the group there on Friday night at Dragaoke.”
The first annual Athens Pride Weekend spanned Sept. 22-25. In addition to the annual picnic, this year the Pride celebration also included a silent auction to benefit the Georgia Safe Schools Coalition, Dragaoke, a dance, a “Celebration of Commitment” ceremony and other activities.
Hundreds of people packed into the plaza where the new LeBuzz is located for the very first Marietta Rainbow Festival — a celebration of gay Pride in Cobb County where county officials once declared being gay was considered incompatible with community standards.
“We’re having a really good time. We’re really pleased with support from the gay community and the straight community,” said Johnathan Murphy, the president and managing partner of LeBuzz who also heads up the North Georgia Rainbow Coalition, which organized the first Marietta Rainbow Festival on July 24.