Pride Cincinnati 2011

Another Pride Sunday come and gone. It was so hot! So much so that, initially I had to push myself out the door.  Surprising, since usually, in the past, I had to be at death's door before even thinking about missing a Pride Celebration.

Must be a product of age, I guess.

Pride celebrations are often pretty quiet. There is only one marching band in Cincinnati and this year, they were at the end of the parade. Go figure.

A couple of floats had music, but otherwise it was a pretty quiet affair as parades go.  Never the usual messy, noisy, naked fun that I've seen in other cities.  Cincinnati, quiet and dignified as always. Never really lets her hair down.  Must be all the marching church brigades.

Also missing on the grand scale were politicians who understand the power of the LGBT voting block.

Mayor Mark Mallory led off the parade for the second straight year and we thank him for that, riding in a convertible sporting  a dapper summer chapeau to protect his balding head from sunburn.

Council wannabes Yvette Simpson, Chris Seelbach, and Nick Hollan marched surrounded by supporters passing out campaign literature telling us about them. Thank you for coming.

I was extremely happy to see Councilmember Wendell Young. He was the only sitting councilmember in the parade. The others, I would guess, figure they have the gay vote locked up or something...Maybe they don't think they need it. I don't know.

What I do know is that the only people who will ever get my vote are those who respect me and mine. Pretending the Pride Parade doesn't exist or not worth marching in while knocking down people in order  to march in every neighborhood  block parade that comes down the pike on the west side is no way to govern or get my vote.

So thank you Wendell Young, Yvette Simpson, Chris Seelbach, Nick Hollan and Denise Driehaus for recognizing our equality.

Cecil, Roxanne, Charlie, Amy, Neil and whomever....c ya!  I'm done...yes Roxanne, I'm talking to you, too. It is time for Cincinnati to grow up and come into the 21st century. An hour downtown shaking hands during Pride Sunday, never hurt any political campaign.

Glad handing also never hurt the Fire Department or the Police Department or the Cincinnati Bengals or any number of major Cincinnati Corporations. Parades are a cheap and easy way to widen your sphere of influence and good feeling...hint...hint...

One thing to note....Why was Walgreens not open? On Pride Sunday?...on Fourth Street...It was closed...big ass white burglar bars in place for all to see....So what...they afraid of queer money? Better ask Jeff Ruby how closing establishments or taking inventory when minorities are downtown, worked for him... Think I just changed drug stores...CVS, here I come....

Thank you Macy's, Procter and Gamble, Delta, and US Bank for showing up. Time to move my money where my mouth is.

One absence of note...The CCV, or Citizens for Community Values...didn't see em. They sent out a letter on Friday warning "perversion" erupting on Fountain Square this past weekend.

I figure CCV didn't show because there wasn't any porn being passed out. Or maybe they finally have begun to realize that nobody buys into their bigotry anymore.

Cincinnati Roller girls in the house!

Cincinnati's Backward Progress

On open letter to the Mayor and City Council

Dear Mr. Mayor,

On Monday, Council's finance committee is expected to vote on an 11 million dollar allocation to help the 3CDC corporation and park district renovate Washington Park in Over the Rhine and I am troubled by this as well as by other moves made by 3CDC. If I were voting, the vote to allocate funds would be an emphatic "no."

3CDC started with the take over of the building across from the park in 2006. That building will be turned into high end condos overlooking the newly renovated park. The tenants were forced out, but compensated with $70 to help them relocate.

A whole $70. You can buy a metro pass for that amount, but little else. Certainly can't rent a place to live, pay the utilities and feed a family for more than half a week. The arrogance of 3CDC is palpitating, and was apparently done with the approval of the City of Cincinnati.

When corporations like 3CDC decide to do something like the Washington Park makeover, you can bet that it is not with the people in mind. Their move is with the interests of the people who will move into the area once the old, lifelong residents have been moved out.

Why else would 3CDC put forth a plan 3 years later, that eliminates an historic swimming pool and basketball courts, to be replaced by a dog park? Who is looking out for the residents of Over the Rhine? Certainly not the city.

Question: Is a rich man's dog more important than a poor man's kids? Seems so based on this plan.

3CDC operates with an air of impunity that is only matched by the likes of corporations such as Kroger, which offers 4 bus tokens to people who used to shop at their neighborhood Roselawn store until unceremoniously shuttered by the Kroger Company. The bus tokens get them 2 round trips to the Norwood Surrey Square Kroger.

Imagine your mother or some other senior citizen trying to negotiate a bus, even a kneeling one..with $100 in groceries in a rickety cart. Not a pretty picture and going on as we speak.

The silence of the city is deafening when it comes to protecting the people.

Where is the initiative to incorporate all kinds of housing, businesses and people in all neighborhoods to promote diversity and inclusion? Why is it that the poor must always make way for the lifestyles and hobbies of the well off and not necessarily famous except in their own minds.

The job of city government is to speak for those who can't speak for themselves. Yet there has been not even a whisper from the city.

Don't get me wrong, I am in favor of progress and moving forward. However 3CDC moves harken back to the days of gentrification without diversification, the days when Cincinnati was for the well off and white. 3CDC caters to all those people who deserted the city for the suburbs except for when the professional teams play.

Shortly after the condo take over by 3CDC there was an article on the company pointing out it's internal diversity. That may be the case, however it doesn't reflect diversity in it's development plans for the city. And as we all know these days, it's more of a class thing than a racial thing.

The days of a Riverfront Stadium with no banners and signs allowed are over. The days of a city refusing to recognize it's gay, lesbian and transgender population are over. The days of downtown businesses doing inventory during the music festival or Black Family Reunion weekends are over.

Downtown parks without a basketball hoop or a swimming pool sends the wrong message.

3CDC needs to be made to understand this, by you Mr. Mayor.

All of the people voted for you, Mr. Mayor, including me. We expect you to stand up for us. I hear an awful lot about your trips. I am an avid supporter of the street car initiative. I applaud your efforts to end the violence in the neighborhoods.

However, I am concerned about the plans put forth by 3CDC and its blatant disregard of the people who live in the neighborhoods they want to take over.

Making the renovation plans for Washington Park more neighborhood friendly would be a start in the right direction. A finance committe "no" vote would get their attention.