Ithaca celebrating Pride beyond June

By Jamie Swinnerton
Tompkins Weekly

 

For LGBTQA individuals across the United Sates, and beyond, the month of June is often reserved as Pride month. In 1969, the gay pride movement, which would expand to include numerous other gender and sexual orientations, was sparked by what are now known as the Stonewall Riots in New York City. Here in Tompkins County, very little has been done to celebrate Pride month, and the events that were organized have come from the LGBTQ community itself and the local organizations that stand with it. This past weekend a Pride Family Picnic was organized by Finger Lakes Pulse, an LGBTQA group created just last year and named in honor of the Pulse Nightclub, a gay club in Florida that was attacked by a gunman in 2016.

But the attitude of Planned Parenthood of the Finger Lakes (PPSFL) and several local groups and organizations that support the LGBTQA community is that Pride doesn’t, and shouldn’t, be relegated to just one month a year. So, on Saturday July 7, the entire community is invited to a Pride Block Party hosted by PPSFL, with entertainment from Ithaca’s own drag troupe The House of Merlot, Circus Culture, and the Ithaca league of Women Rollers, among others.

The party will be centered in the PPSFL parking lot on West Seneca street starting at 3 and ending at 8 p.m. But the party isn’t over then, at least not for those 21 years old and older, because just down the street at The Rhine House the celebration will continue with karaoke. A percentage of proceeds from the karaoke event will go towards Planned Parenthood’s Transgender Health Fund, which helps transgender patients at PPSFL pay for their health care visits.

“Being in the position where we have space and the resources we were really excited to be able to reach out to our neighbors – Alternatives Federal credit Union and the Rhine House – and say let’s do a block party,” said Devon Ritz, senior educator and transgender patient navigator for PPSFL. “Over the course of a few weeks so many different groups showed interest and wanted to do this and it’s just gotten bigger and bigger.”

The event, Ritz said, is about coming together to support one another and spread information about local resources.

“Existing as an LGBTQ person and coming together and gathering tends to be political and an activist event in and of itself when we share space altogether and celebrate,” Ritz said.
PPSFL already has a good working relationship with both the Alternatives Federal Credit Union and The Rhine House, both of which became natural partners in putting on an event like this. Members of the House of Merlot have worked with PPFSL in the past in several capacities, including holding fundraisers for the health care center. As one of the most visible LGBTQA friendly groups in the area the troupe quickly got on board. Entertainer and booking agent for the troupe, Kat Von Riesling, said hosting a Pride event like this has been a dream in the making.
“We’re going to have an Ithaca Pride every year, I assure you that,” Riesling said.

At the time of this writing 134 people have indicated on the event’s Facebook page that they will be attending, and over 700 more are interested. If event attendance reflects these numbers, Riesling said there is no reason the event won’t become an annual tradition.