Local Briefs
13 Organizations join Whitman-Walker in Capital Pride planning; DC Cowboys donate calendar proceeds; 'Scarlet's Bake Sale' raises over $20,000
Whitman-Walker Clinic welcomes Capital Pride partners
Thirteen local organizations have partnered with Whitman-Walker Clinic to organize and plan this year’s Capital Pride celebration, scheduled for June 9-10.
The clinic announced that each of the 13 organizations has made a written commitment of participation, in addition to committing more than $1,000 toward the event.
They include the Human Rights Campaign, the D.C. Center, the National Youth Advocacy Coalition, Capital Area Interweave, D.C. Black Pride, Dignity Washington, the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, the Mautner Project, Metro D.C. PFLAG, Northern Virginia AIDS Ministry, One in Ten, the Radical Faeries and the Westminster Presbyterian Church.
In January, organizers met with local GLBT organizations to propose partnerships with the clinic in organizing Capital Pride, and suggested donations between $1,000 and $50,000 in addition to offering free slots on the Capital Pride planning committee.
Capital Pride organizers asked groups to join in an effort to increase the focus and spectrum of the event to accurately reflect the wide range of diversity within the GLBT community.
”Our plan to increase community involvement in the production of Capital Pride is showing the first signs of success,” Capital Pride Director David Mallory said in the press release announcement. ”We believe that the commitment of our community partners will help to make this year’s Capital Pride enjoyable and memorable for everyone.”
The deadline for organizations to submit written commitments to join passed on Jan. 31, but organizers say groups can still join in.
Cowboys give to Clinic
The D.C Cowboys, an all-male gay local dance company, donated a portion of its 2007 calendar proceeds to the Whitman-Walker Clinic last Friday, Feb. 16, during its weekly hoedown party at Remington’s.
Representatives from the group presented Chip Lewis and Paul Murphy of the clinic with a check for $11,000, representing half the money made from the calendar, according to Cowboys founder Kevin Platte. The donation is targeted to the clinic’s HIV/AIDS prevention programs. Platte, who is also the executive and artistic director of the DC Cowboys, says it is ”part of our mission” to support the community.
”We thought we’d go an extra step and work on this project and use the proceeds toward [an] important program.”
The D.C. Cowboys sold all 1,000 copies of the 2007 calendar, which included a DVD featuring behind-the-scenes footage of the photo shoots. Although they’ve been doing a calendar for the past three years, Platte says he doesn’t think there will be a D.C. Cowboys calendar in 2008.
”We can’t do a calendar every year,” he says. ”It takes too much time and energy.”
Instead, inspired by the calendar’s bonus DVD, Platte says the group is working on a new DVD, which will include performances, interviews and candid moments with the dancers. The cowboys will begin filming next week during a weeklong cruise from Fort Lauderdale to the Caribbean, Platte says.
”Cowboys on the beach, in the water — it’s going to be in color and it’s going to have a different look and feel than just being at a bar,” Platte says. ”The dancers are baring it all in a different venue.”
Bake Sale Raises Funds
The Scarlet Foundation raised $20,159 during Scarlet’s 36th Annual Bake Sale on Saturday, Feb. 10, at the D.C. Eagle in Northwest.
Neil Alexander, who serves on the board of directors at the Scarlet Foundation, says the money raised will benefit Joseph’s House and Miriam’s House, two residential facilities for homeless people who are terminally ill or living with HIV/AIDS in Washington.
”I was gratified by the amount of money we raised,” Alexander says. ”This was probably the second highest amount we’ve every raised in the history of the bake sale.
”Last year we did [about] $10,000 and this year we did twice that amount. I think it’s because of the generosity of the people involved.”
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