Nine days of Pride

By Becca Mellem
Contributing Writer

Spanning nine days with 12 events ranging from the LGBT Film Festival to the Pride Parade and lots of other good stuff in between, FM Pride 2009 will be another of the best rural Pride celebrations in the country.
The range of venues in the Fargo-Moorhead allows FM Pride 2009 to be a community celebration for all ages and all people by reaching beyond events for only the 21+ crowd. Pride brings together GLBTQ people and allies to celebrate and raise awareness of the GLBTQ community within the larger community.

FM Pride 2009 kicks off with the Fargo-Moorhead LGBT Film Festival on Friday, June 12, and Saturday, June 13. The free Film Festival showcases 15 films in celebration of LGBT experiences on local, regional and global levels. LGBT Film Festival is sponsored by the MSUM Film Studies Department, Women’s Studies Program, Safe Zone, and the Ten Percent Society and co-sponsored by the NDSU Department of Art and Architecture.
The LGBT Film Festival is followed by an event new to the Pride festivities. On Monday, June 15, the first ever Pride Bingo Night will take place from 6pm-11pm at the I-Beam in Moorhead. This 21+ event is free of charge and offers the opportunity to win fabulous prizes. 

The first of many of family-friendly events for Pride, FM Pride Roller Skating is not to be missed. From 7pm to 10pm on Tuesday, June 16, stop out to Skateland with your loved ones and enjoy skating and fun music for all ages. 

From 6pm to Midnight on Wednesday, June 17, at the All Star Bowl in Moorhead, community members of all ages are welcome for an evening of family-friendly bowling and karaoke. Whether singing or striking is your style, this is a great mid-week event.

Get ready for the weekend on Thursday, June 18, with the FM Pride 2009 Weekend Pre-Party. The event starts at 5pm and is open to all ages until 10pm. Enjoy music by local favorite, Lucy Black on the patio at Usher’s House from 8pm-10pm.
FM Pride 2009 starts the weekend right with Janessa J. Champagne and company performing at the I-Beam in Moorhead for Friday Night’s Drag Show and Dance. 

Saturday, June 20, is Pride in the Park from 1pm-5pm at Lindenwood Park in Fargo.  This free event will feature local vendors and supporters, along with a “Drag Race.” Of special interest is the Variety Show, “At the Corner of Broadway and Soul!” featuring music from Broadway musicals performed by Ellery Tofte, Katherine Paynter, Mitchell Lee Skajewski and Samuel L. Krauth. This concert to benefit “Broadway Cares; Equity Fights AIDS” will happen around 1:30 during Pride in the Park. 

The second annual Main Event at the Plains Art Museum follows the afternoon in the park. The free, all-ages extravaganza will feature an array of entertainment including an amateur drag competition, a drag show, an art exhibit with work by Frank Big Bear, music and a dance. 

On Sunday morning, June 21, at 11, the Unitarian Universalist Church is sponsoring an Inter-faith Service at the Island Park Gazebo. The service is welcoming of all people and beliefs. 

Sunday afternoon has the Pride Parade and Rally in store. The Pride Parade starts at 2pm at Island Park Cycles on North Broadway in Fargo. The FM Pride Parade Grand Marshalls are Senator Tom Fiebiger and Representative Kathy Hawken for their work on North Dakota Senate Bill 2278, a bill that would have added sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of protected classes in North Dakota.
Immediately following the Parade is the Rally at the Island Park Gazebo The Rally will look at the successes and challenges of the LGBTQ community in the region over the past year and focus on how to turn the celebration of FM Pride 2009 into action for the upcoming year. 

The final event is the After Party at Usher’s House, beginning after the Parade and Rally around 3pm and lasting until close. The After Party will feature karaoke from 4:30-7:30. The After Party will wrap up and wind down FM Pride 2009, nine days and 12 events celebrating and uniting GLBTQ people and allies in the Fargo-Moorhead community.