We have pride in Madison

The rumors about the death of Pride in Madison have been greatly exaggerated.

While most cities celebrate Gay Pride in June, Madison (perhaps unsurprisingly) likes to march to the beat of its own, unique drummer and get their festivities on in July. Specifically, this weekend. There has been much said of the major tumble taken by the Madison Pride organization, wherein their now former bookkeeper did a not-so-legit job of keeping said books. Because of that debacle, this year's events hosted by the group have been scaled back considerably.

Still, I have to give kudos to them for sticking with it and making something happen despite the trouble. Madison Pride has done a good job of providing the more family and politically oriented GLBTQ celebrations of years past, and I'm hopeful that they'll see their way through the mess and grow bigger and better in the future.

It's definitely worth noting, however, that this door closing has lead to an impressively opened window. Liz Tymus of indie Queer fame, plus a gaggle of other dedicated folks, have put together an awesome weekend of Pride festivities that may very well foreshadow the future of this high holiday of queerness in Madison. While it's important to maintain the more traditional celebrations, it's great to see that a new generation of queer and queer-friendly people are continuing to carry the banner, creating newer and more diverse celebrations that help to elevate every corner of the community. After what seemed like a long dry spell for gay friendly events and organizations around Madison, the last couple of years have seen a welcome upswing--from Patrick Farabaugh and the founding of Our Lives Magazine, to the rise of indie Queer, to the opening of Woof's, and the Majestic being so accomodating to queer events, things are looking up.

So while getting your Pride on is much less confined to just one weekend these days, it's good to know that the big celebration will never die. In fact, it seems to be growing up and branching out, which is most welcome.

Happy Pride!

P.S. Yours truly is also doing her best to contribute by throwing what promises to be one of the coolest events of the summer. Find out more by clicking on that fancy banner to the right of this text, and then come out to the Majestic next Saturday! Seriously, it'll be worth it if for nothing else than to see me freaking right the fuck out over organizing and producing something of this magnitude, pretty much all on my own.

Things to do when you're (un)dead in Madison

Perhaps in an effort to keep thoughts of impending snow and ice from our heads, Madison hosts a flurry of activity during the shortened autumn days. A lot of that is due to our annual celebration of the Greatest of Holidays: Halloween. But there are all number of events happening, and I'd like to recommend three specifically, two of which are going down tonight and the last will happen Saturday:

First off, you'll find me at the closing night party for "Emerge" at the Forza Gallery tonight. From the press release:

As humans, we are constantly pushing forward, examining ourselves, others, and the world around us. Constantly striving for that next step, the next ring on the ladder. Five local emerging artists examine the concept of "EMERGE". Is it emerging light orbs? Conversations emerging through wooded boxes? Or a face emerging from a reflection or the paint? Danielle Hartman-Semtry, Paul Hendrickson, Melanie Kehoss, Aaron Wilbers, and Auriel Willette explore these ideas and more through the month of October at Forza Gallery located at 825 E. Johnson St. There will be a closing reception on Friday, October 26th from 6pm-9pm.

One of the artists is a friend of mine, so I have a somewhat biased reason for going, but really, a chance to see good art and talk with good people should never be passed up.

If fundraising for good causes is more your thing, though, might I recommend the shindig to benefit the Tenant Resource Center tonight at the Brink Lounge? Brenda Konkel has a good explanation of why raising money for the center is so important, especially now that much of their funding has been cut. TRC has done a great deal of fabulous and very vital work for our community, so it's important to give a little something back. A lot of great businesses have donated items for a silent auction, including Budget Bicycle, A Room of One's Own and the Willy St. Co-op, just to name a few.

Saturday night offers up a whole slew of possible activities, but one in particular stands out to me as being your best bet for an excellent evening, and that's HallowQueen at the Majestic. Instead of freezing your butt off out on State Street, why not get warm with Indie Queer's night of be-costumed decadence and top-notch DJs? Starts at 9pm and would be a good opportunity to check out the newly re-opened theatre if you haven't already.

But whatever you choose to do this weekend and beyond, have fun, stay safe, and for God's sake, don't smash any pumpkins!