First Pride in Canterbury
The Pride Committee | 01.08.2005 13:17 | Gender | Social Struggles | South Coast
Earlier, in June this year, the historic City of Canterbury witnessed its first Gay Pride event.
It was estimated that 500 turned out to parade through the City centre and that at least 1500 people attended the Dane John Gardens, where there were over 30 stalls. DJs Bunny and Christine got the entertainment off to a good start, and after speeches from ex-mayor, Councillor Fred Whitemore and representatives of Kent Constabulary and Unison, amongst others, local entertainer Lee Tracey presented a show that included popular drag artistes, and singers from the Ship Inn, Rochester. The performance by the recently formed City of Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus provided another highlight.
It was estimated that 500 turned out to parade through the City centre and that at least 1500 people attended the Dane John Gardens, where there were over 30 stalls. DJs Bunny and Christine got the entertainment off to a good start, and after speeches from ex-mayor, Councillor Fred Whitemore and representatives of Kent Constabulary and Unison, amongst others, local entertainer Lee Tracey presented a show that included popular drag artistes, and singers from the Ship Inn, Rochester. The performance by the recently formed City of Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus provided another highlight.
Invaluable support for the day from Lee Tracey, the Ship Inn Rochester and the numerous drag artistes who appeared for minimal expenses. Whitstable DJ Ann Day raised over £400 for Pride at one of her occasional "Saturday Outing"evenings at the Horsebridge Community Centre. These nights are an important part of the campaign to raise awareness about gay issues in the local community.
A variety of films from the Lesbian and Gay Film Festival were shown over the weekend at Cinema 3 in the Gulbenkian Theatre part of Kent University. The Canterbury Museum and Art Gallery exhibited David Hockney’s etching “Celia” and Canterbury City Library put on an exhibition of the works of gay and lesbian writers to acknowledge “Picnic in the Park”.We hope that we can build upon this kind of support from a wider range of companies and organisations adding their support for the Gay community in the area. There was only one local business, a travel firm, that provided holidays as a raffle prize, that supported the Pride event.
Most people seem to have thoroughly enjoyed the event, with stallholders and members of the crowd saying “See you next year.” The event was well publicised and reported in the local and wider media.
The committee, who organized the event, were thrilled with the way the day went, but, inevitably, there were problems along the way. There are problems that need to be addressed before Canterbury Pride 2006 can take place. The gay community in Canterbury needs to develop if there is to be a Pride Event next year. The organising committee had only four members this year and managed to pull off a good event, despite the numerous detractors - often gay men. If the event and the gay community is to develop then there needs to be more active involvement in building such a community. A step in the right direction would be the creation of some kind of gay space in the City. A gay bar and coffee bar are desperately needed as focal points for the gay community. In the long term a community centre would be welcomed.
Although the starting point for the creation of a community is always from inside rather than from out, the support of the wider gay community was lacking in this case. Many celebrities who have built well paid careers on the back of the gay community are typically happy to appear and be photographed at well-publicised events; but it is the small and initial events that are in more demand and in need of their time and support. Other gay rights organisations were felt to be similarly lacking in their support of this particular event and other small scale events like this one. Stonewall and Terence Higgins Trust, do excellent work but they do not seem to recognise the need and importance of their sending speakers to support these important first events. This is short sighted, as they constantly need financial help from LGBT communities in all areas, and would, without doubt,
receive much more if they helped to establish thriving new LGBT communities.
From the beginning, one of the aims of Pride in Canterbury has been to bring about a dynamic, visible LGBT community to facilitate greater co-operation and communication with organisations such as the NHS. The minimal support we received from the local NHS service was therefore very disappointing. The head of Health Promotion failed to see the importance of sending a speaker to the event and we did not receive the courtesy of replies to our emails requesting one. The Men’s Health Worker (there has not been a specifically Gay Men’s Health Worker in the area for nearly 3 years) turned up alone and had to go out to buy a paste table to use as a stall. The Head of Health Promotion felt that we should have been satisfied with this.
A meeting is being held for all those interested in playing an active part in the organisation of a Gay Pride event in Canterbury in 2006, at the Environment Centre in Canterbury on Thursday 15th September at 7.30 for 8.00pm. People are requested to email or phone (01227- 265950) if they are planning to attend. This and other information will be found on our website- www.prideincanterbury.org.uk.
A variety of films from the Lesbian and Gay Film Festival were shown over the weekend at Cinema 3 in the Gulbenkian Theatre part of Kent University. The Canterbury Museum and Art Gallery exhibited David Hockney’s etching “Celia” and Canterbury City Library put on an exhibition of the works of gay and lesbian writers to acknowledge “Picnic in the Park”.We hope that we can build upon this kind of support from a wider range of companies and organisations adding their support for the Gay community in the area. There was only one local business, a travel firm, that provided holidays as a raffle prize, that supported the Pride event.
Most people seem to have thoroughly enjoyed the event, with stallholders and members of the crowd saying “See you next year.” The event was well publicised and reported in the local and wider media.
The committee, who organized the event, were thrilled with the way the day went, but, inevitably, there were problems along the way. There are problems that need to be addressed before Canterbury Pride 2006 can take place. The gay community in Canterbury needs to develop if there is to be a Pride Event next year. The organising committee had only four members this year and managed to pull off a good event, despite the numerous detractors - often gay men. If the event and the gay community is to develop then there needs to be more active involvement in building such a community. A step in the right direction would be the creation of some kind of gay space in the City. A gay bar and coffee bar are desperately needed as focal points for the gay community. In the long term a community centre would be welcomed.
Although the starting point for the creation of a community is always from inside rather than from out, the support of the wider gay community was lacking in this case. Many celebrities who have built well paid careers on the back of the gay community are typically happy to appear and be photographed at well-publicised events; but it is the small and initial events that are in more demand and in need of their time and support. Other gay rights organisations were felt to be similarly lacking in their support of this particular event and other small scale events like this one. Stonewall and Terence Higgins Trust, do excellent work but they do not seem to recognise the need and importance of their sending speakers to support these important first events. This is short sighted, as they constantly need financial help from LGBT communities in all areas, and would, without doubt,
receive much more if they helped to establish thriving new LGBT communities.
From the beginning, one of the aims of Pride in Canterbury has been to bring about a dynamic, visible LGBT community to facilitate greater co-operation and communication with organisations such as the NHS. The minimal support we received from the local NHS service was therefore very disappointing. The head of Health Promotion failed to see the importance of sending a speaker to the event and we did not receive the courtesy of replies to our emails requesting one. The Men’s Health Worker (there has not been a specifically Gay Men’s Health Worker in the area for nearly 3 years) turned up alone and had to go out to buy a paste table to use as a stall. The Head of Health Promotion felt that we should have been satisfied with this.
A meeting is being held for all those interested in playing an active part in the organisation of a Gay Pride event in Canterbury in 2006, at the Environment Centre in Canterbury on Thursday 15th September at 7.30 for 8.00pm. People are requested to email or phone (01227- 265950) if they are planning to attend. This and other information will be found on our website- www.prideincanterbury.org.uk.
The Pride Committee
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