Jersey City’s 10th Annual Pride Week Gets Rolling
By Jon Whiten • Aug 23rd, 2010 • Category: Arts, Blog, News
Jersey City Lesbian + Gay Outreach‘s (JCLGO) 10th annual LGBT Pride Week kicked off this weekend with parties Saturday and Sunday night, and plenty more events are scheduled this week, all leading up to Saturday’s Pride Festival at Exchange Place.
This year’s festival is themed “Standing Strong: Equality for All,” and it will for the first time be preceded by a rally on the steps of City Hall and a march down Montgomery Street. The rally and march’s goal — “to highlight the importance of LGBT equality and legal protections not afforded to all members of our society” — is fitting in a year that saw New Jersey’s state Senate vote against a marriage equality bill, prolonging local advocates’ long fight for full marriage rights in the Garden State.
“The Pride week and annual Pride festival are important in the lives of LGBT people living in our community,” JCLGO co-founder and co-chair Paul Mendoza says. “Each year at every pride festival and pride event there is always someone for whom this is their first experience being out at an LGBT event and for some it is their first ever experience publicly coming out and admitting they are a lesbian, gay man, or transgender or bisexual individual.”
The rainbow flag will be flying high over both the Hudson County Courthouse and City Hall, with the former hosting a flag raising ceremony today at 6 pm and the latter hosting its own tomorrow at 6 pm. After tonight’s ceremony, the Hudson Pride Connections Center (32 Jones St.) will host a reception that’s free and open to the public.
After the City Hall flag raising, there will be a free screening of the Oscar-winning documentary, The Times of Harvey Milk, in City Council chambers (280 Grove St.). The screening, which begins at 7 pm, is sponsored by Jersey City’s own “mostly LGBT” film series, Chillfest.
On Wednesday night, The Cage in Hoboken (32 Newark St.) hosts a “Women’s Night of Pride” party with DJ Skittlez, and Friday night Gayborhood Jersey City has put together a party at Star Bar (34 Wayne St.).
Saturday is the big day, with the City Hall rally beginning at noon and the march down Montgomery Street beginning at 12:30 pm. Meanwhile, the festival will run from noon to 8 pm at Exchange Place; JCLGO is asking attendees to chip in a $5 donation to help defray the costs of producing the festival, however the donation is only suggested, not mandatory. The festival co-hosts this year are drag comedy personality Lady Clover Honey and Tina Turner impersonator Ron B., while live entertainment will be provided by amberRose Marie, Athena Reich, JFortino, Jason Antone, The Lesbian & Gay Big Apple Corps, Lovari, Margaret Leone, Mykel, Plastiq Passion, Scottie Gage, Shorty Roc, Tania Marissa and DJ Fred Pierce, a Jersey city native.
The official JCLGO Pride After Party and block party is at Hard Grove Cafe (319 Grove St.) beginning at 8 pm; a $10 donation covers a Latin buffet, three beers and tunes spun by a live DJ. Meanwhile, right around the corner, Star Bar will host a no-cover party, beginning at 4 pm, with drink specials and a live VJ.
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Jon Whiten is the founding editor of the Jersey City Independent; he now works for a public-policy nonprofit in Trenton.
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