PRIDE Parade | Dayton937

The annual Pride Festival that celebrates the diversity of the LGBTQ culture in Dayton, recognized as the “Queersest City in the Nation” by The Advocate, kicks off Friday, June 5^th with a brand new event. The Affair on the Square will kick off at 5pm and features the infamous and ever colorful Rubi Girls on the PNC stage. Guests can enjoy food from Zombie Dogz, Hunger Paynes, Jimmies StrEATery and Go Cupckae as well as beverages from the Bud Light Beer Truck.

Title Sponsor PNC’s Dave Mellon, Dayton Market Regional President will officially open the PRIDE festivities with remarks on why fostering an inclusive work environment is a business advantage e and improves staff morale for PNC. The Greater Dayton LGBT Center will then honor local businesses that are Champions of Equality.

This is a weekend you will not want to miss! “The LGBT community is made up of many individuals from all walks of life, so come out and show your PRIDE in being an individual,” states Randy Phillips, President of the Greater Dayton LGBT Center. “The goal of Pride is for every individual to have freedom to be who they are. That is not the case in Russia, among other places,” Phillips said. The average attendance over the past several years has been 3000 for the parade and festival.

Saturday, June 6^th kicks off with a Pride Breakfast at MJ’s on Jefferson at 9am (suggested donation $5), followed by the PRIDE Parade, which steps off at noon from Cooper Park and ends at Courthouse Square. Grand Marshall’s Michelle Kay of PNC and Bella Harlow, Miss Diva US of A 2015, will lead over 30 participants including local businesses, organizations, churches, drill teams, and other LGBTQ supporters.

Mayor Nan Whaley will officiate at the annual commitment ceremony that the Greater Dayton LGBT Center has presented each year, until marriage equality is honored for all citizens in Ohio. Pride will continue on the PNC Stage with entertainment featuring the best in live vocals and local celebrity entertainment in a family friendly setting. The Festival plaza is sold out again with over 50 vendors including LGBTQ organizations, local businesses and variety of food, will l be on hand until 4pm.

At 8pm the Dayton Gay Men’s Chorus will perform along with Tonya and Grammy winning superstar Jennifer Holliday at the Victoria Theatre in a Broadway Revue.

Wheat Penny Oven and Bar will host a special, once-a-year Sunday Brunch on Sunday, June 7 from 10am -2pm. Breakfast Pizzas, Egg and Sausage Poorboys, Liz’s famous Fried Chicken and Waffles with Spicy Rosemary Honey, Cocktails galore and who knows what else! Can’t wait to see everybody! Proceeds benefit the Greater Dayton LGBT Center.

Volunteers are still needed to help with PRIDE, you can sign up to help online here.

The Greater Dayton LGBT Center is celebrating Dayton’s 25th PRIDE weekend with the annual PRIDE Dinner this Friday night at Sinclair’s Pontiz Center followed by a Parade and an expo on Courthouse Square on Saturday. Friday’s 80’s themed festivities begin at 5:30pm with a cocktail hour and business expo highlighting many gay friendly business in the area. In a bold move of support, LexisNexis,a leading global provider of content-enabled workflow solutions designed specifically for professionals in the legal, risk management, corporate, government, law enforcement, accounting, and academic markets. has signed on as the 2012 Pride Presenting sponsor. Earlier this year, LexisNexis was recognized by The Human Rights Campaign with The Corporate Equality Award, which recognizes a company each year for outstanding efforts in promoting equality for LGBT people in the workplace.

Alyce Clark, Vice-President of Human Resources at LexisNexis and PRIDE President, stated, “Reed Elsevier and LexisNexis Executive leadership strongly support all LexisNexis Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), including our PRIDE group which was established in 2010. This is a key reflection of the company’s commitment to build a culture that embraces diversity and fosters an inclusive environment in which all employees can contribute to their fullest potential in the workplace and in their communities.”

Kevin Mabrey at the Pride booth on Courthouse Square

For LN Pride Community Outreach Chair, Kevin Mabrey, the Pride Celebration is all about “allowing me to be who I am, because I spent so many of my early years hiding who I was. I’m glad I can finally be who God made me! To have the support of my employer and know that we’ll have over 50 co-workers and their families walking in the parade is powerful.” Mabrey shared that the LexisNexis Pride ERG has members in New York City, Atlanta, North Carolina, Amsterdam and is continuing to grow. As a company LexisNexis has offered domestic partner benefits for years and the open arms they’ve given the Pride ERG has been encouraging and makes Kevin want to help recruit his other gay friends to work in an openly inclusive environment. Their presence at Dayton’s Pride will be the first time the company has officially participated in a Pride parade. Kevin credits their ERG sponsor, Doreen Tyburski from their New York corporate headquarters as the executive that is helping their group gain visibility.

Mabrey also shared that LexisNexis has declared June pride month at the company and will present educational messages and seminars throughout the month. On June 21th LexisNexis will present a bullying conference, that will help educate their employees on the effects of bullying, how to tell if your children are being bullied or if they are the bully.
This was especially exciting to Kevin, as he shared he was that kid who was thrown against the lockers in school and made fun of for being gay. He’s proud to be part of company that is working to prevent that for future generations.

Kris Jackson

Kris Jackson, Development Director for the Greater Datyon LGBT Pride committee says ,” the whole focus of the Pride weekend is to celebrate our lives in an open atmosphere. Corporate sponsors like LexisNexis and American Family Insurance prove we’ve come along way. Dayton unanimously approving the domestic partnership registry is another big win we’ll be celebrating. We’ve worked through so much adversity in the past 25 years that we can finally celebrate in an open, family friendly atmosphere. On Friday night we’ll be honoring Sue Spiegel with our Frontier Award for outstanding support for our community. As the ARC Ohio RED Gala chair in 2010 and 2012, she’s helped to raise over $875,000 for education and prevention of HIV/AIDS and support of those infected or affected by the disease.” Jackson also shared that other awards will include the Impact Award which will go to City of Dayton employee Kery Gray, a Lifetime Achievement award to local historian and former Gay Center Board Member, Leon Bey and the Celebrating 25 years award to John Zimmerman.

Parade Grand Marshall, Sue Spiegel

On Saturday Sue Spiegel of Dayton Bag and Burlap, will be the Grand Marshall of the Pride Parade, which steps off at noon lfrom the Natalie Clifford Barney Historical Marker in Cooper Park on Saint Clair Street and travels through the streets to end with a celebration at Courthouse Square for a fabulous festival of entertainment, food, and frivolity. Food, beer, and craft vendors alike will be on hand until the festivities end at 5:30pm. Which allows you just enough time to go home and freshen up before the Dayton Gay Men’s Chorus big show at 8pm at the Victoria featuring the music of Abba.

With so much to celebrate this year, be sure to show your Dayton PRIDE this weekend!

Dayton Celebrates PRIDE At Courthouse Square

Greater Dayton LGBT Center Celebrates 25 Years of PRIDE