Madison Pride 2006

It was another LGBT pride celebration in Madison, Wisconsin. The lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, trans-gender and gay-friendly people celebrated this event on July 8th and 9th. Although excitement ran rapid through the streets of Madison this week-end for the LGBT people, this year’s theme for this celebration was on their families. As a result of this, this week-end celebration was toned down some. The floats at the parade were fewer and the participants on them wore less gaudy and scandalous costumes, but the marchers in the parade were many. And the events at the pride picnic celebration were more centered around activities for the LGBT’s children and more entertainment was provided for women. But there was still a drag show for the men on Saturday.

This year’s celebration was consumed by Wisconsin’s upcoming ballot that states only a marriage between one man and one woman would be recognized…The response to this was echoed through the parade, the rally and the entertainers that performed under the tent pavilion. The children of the LGBT community marched and carried signs in support for civil rights for their families, the political speakers rallied this community to get out to show their visibility in their community whether to donate to causes like AIDS or their time to get people out to vote “NO” for this ballot. The entertainers protested against this conservative climate by a singer and song writer, Tret Fure, singing a rant against George W. Bush and comedian, Susan Westenhoefer, poking fun at the only two protesters that showed up at the parade-one carrying a sign that said, “God hates sins!”

Although the parade atmosphere wasn’t has colorful as usual, the cohesiveness of the crowd was powerful. Part of this was due to the organization that organized this pride celebration, part of it was the strong, democratic candidates but most of it was due to the LGBT community setting aside any of their individual differences and putting forth their energy to focus on their families and their pride.

Madison Pride was a splendid event! My partner and I went on Sunday, July 9, 2006. We attended the parade and the rally. And we also enjoyed the entertainment that was provided on that day. We walked away from this LGBT Pride Event with empowerment and enjoyment.

Quick Tips:

I have four suggestions if you are interested in attending the Madison Pride event. One, come early to find a parking spot near Brittingham Park in Madison. This is where the event is located. Two, bring extra money with you to purchase both food and any CDs from the artists that are performing. There are also other vendors such as the ones selling rainbow clothes (gay pride). Three, dress for the hot, Midwest weather. Lastly, wear comfortable shoes if you want to watch the parade.

Best Way To Get Around:

The best way to get around at the Madison Pride event is walking. You need to walk to see the parade and to walk the grounds of Brittingham Park where the event is held.

This year the parade had a different parade route. It was shortened. The procession was not down State Street this year. As an alternative, the parade followed Proudfit St. North to W. Main St. , Right on W. Main to N. Bedford St., Left on N. Bedford to W. Washington Ave., and Left on W. Washington to Brittingham Park. This is because in the past, the LGBT community marching had trouble keeping the parade together. And people complained it was too long of a route, and thus weren’t marching. In addition, the political rally was not held on the steps of the Capital building. Instead, it was held at Brittingham Park. It was done this way for two reasons. One was because this pride celebration had to be moved to another date because of the gay games in Chicago (so people could attend both) and the other conflict was another activity was going on near the Capital called Art Fair on the Square.

As aforementioned in the overview, this pride parade was toned down. The floats at the parade were fewer and the participants on them wore less gaudy and scandalous costumes, but the marchers in the parade were many. This is all due to what the theme was for this year’s pride celebration. The theme was “For Families and Rights, We Unite!” This theme is response to the constitutional amendment that is in front of the voters of WI this fall. This amendment will say, “Only a marriage between a one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state. A legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried individuals shall not be valid or recognized in this state.”

The LGBT community wanted to show the constituents of WI that they have families. And all they desire to have the same civil rights as they have . They want to be able to marry and have benefits such as health insurance for their partners and children. As a result of this, this community had the parents and their children at the head of the parade, after the Dykes on Bikes (lesbian biker enthusiasts) started the procession. I saw signs that the LGBT people carried that noted how many years committed couples were together. And I saw some lesbians pulling their very young children in wagons, while the parade was in progress. There was also chanting for civil rights from these people.

After the LGBT families headed the parade, numerous groups of marchers with their banners and signs filled the streets. There was the PFLAG group (Parents and Friends of Lesbian and Gay) in support of this community. They gleefully marched and showed off their banner. Besides this group, there were the numerous churches in support of the LGBT community who marched and carried their signs/banners. Some of these are the following: delegations from many United Church of Christ and Unitarian-Universalist congregations, First Baptist Church, Unity of Madison, Shaarei Shamayim Jewish congregation, etc. Lastly, there was lesbian congresswoman, Tammy Baldwin whom also marched to offer support against the proposed Wisconsin State amendment to ban gay marriages and civil unions. She waved to the parade crowd with supporters holding her red banner that said “Tammy Baldwin for Congress”.

Concerning the floats this year, I remember seeing very few of them and none to me stood out. This is because none were over the top like last year. Only one float captivated me, it had a couple of well-dressed drag queens in conservative formal wear with dancing young men on it with them. And this year the parade marshal was lesbian comic, Susan Westenhoefer. She rode in a convertible which had its top down and she was waving to the crowd.

The parade ended when it arrived at Brittingham Park. The Madison Pride celebration continued. This is where the political rally began and entertainment followed.

Madison Pride Celebration this year was on July 8th and 9th.
The entry fee on Saturday was $5.00 but on Sunday there was no fee charged. However, you could donate that day!

Madison Pride was held at Brittingham Park in Madison, WI. The address of the park is 401 West Short Drive, Madison, WI . If you are interested attending next year’s Madison pride event here is the web address of this organization:http://www.madisonpride.org and its e-mail: info@madisonpride.org .

The political rally this year was not held on the historical Capital Building’s steps like last year. However, it didn’t take away from the spirit and the excitement that the LGBT community and its speakers had. There were six speakers that spoke at this event. These people were the following: Mark Pocan, 78th District State Representative, Kathleen Falk, Dane County Executive, Lucia Nunez, Director of EOC, Barbara Lawton, Lieutenant Governor, Peg Lautenschlager, WI Attorney General and Tammy Baldwin, WI, U.S. Congresswoman.

Each of the speakers echoed the same theme, “Be visible in the community and vote "NO" to the November ballot .” Although this was the focal theme of the rally, each speaker had his/her distinctive one-liner or distinct presence during his/her speech. For instance, Mark Pocan, the 78th District State representative asked the LGBT audience how they were going to vote on the upcoming ballot concerning marriage (basically, only a man and a woman marriage will be valid and recognized according to this proposed amendment that will be in front of the constituents of WI in November). Everyone (hundreds of people)said they were voting "NO" except one person. And Pocan replied that he could see how that person was mixed up because the beer tents had been open for quite awhile!

Before exiting the stage, Pocan said that Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin was a national treasure and let her keep her occupation and vote in November!

After Pocan left the podium, Kathleen Falk, Dane County Executive took stage. As soon as she took stage she gave her condolences to her friend and Madison’s local TV anchorman, Mike McKinney’s family. He had died that morning. For years, he had colon cancer but no cause of death was reported at this time. Falk was adorned in a T-shirt from the 2003 AIDS ride in respect to MCKinney.

Besides being a local TV personality, this beloved man of this community had given so much of himself to it. According to Falk, “He was just a wonderful person.” She continued with, “He was always willing to help any community cause and when he did, he put himself into it totally. When he took his first Aids ride he lost 40 pounds in the process.”

After Falk’s tribute to McKinney, Falk talked about how WI will be the first state of the union to stand up to this amendment.

At the podium , Director of EOC, Lucia Nunez, talked about the many battles ahead the LGBT community had. Basically, she said if the amendment passes who will be next to be discriminated against. And she rallied the crowd to show there will be equal justice for all in this county/country.

Barbara Lawton, Lieutenant Governor, delivered one of the best speeches that day. She rallied the LGBT community by commenting it was not just a political force to be reckon with but also an economic one. She also talk about how Governor Doyle and her are poised to have leadership for gay marriages/civil rights…and would be there with this community and lead the way.

Peg Lautenschlager, WI Attorney General , whom I consider a little more boisterous and radical, received her fifteen-minutes of fame when she said, “If you’re a lesbian and you marry Osama bib Laden, tomorrow he will qualify for health insurance right away as your partner”. This is response to that same-sex partners often do not qualify for spousal health insurance.

Ms. Lautenschlager commented that if this amendment is passed in WI that it would be the first time in Wisconsin’s history to take people's rights away instead of giving them to them… She also brought her daughter in the mix. Lautenschlager said that her daughter told her it was her first civil rights amendment for her generation;and her daughter continued with that it was time to stop this discrimination.

Lesbian Congresswoman, Tammy Baldwin, was the crowd’s favorite and mine too! She received a standing ovation both before and after her speech. The audience listen to her more attentively than the other speakers. She owned the stage and she knew it!

Dressed in a tan vest and olive slacks, she stood tall and proud on that stage! She commented on how the LGBT community and its supporters elected the 1st out lesbian for Congress, eight years ago (referring to herself). And how now this same community has that chance and obligation to say “No” to hatred…and say "Yes" to hope and to show all fifty states to send the hate mogurals and bigots home once in for all. She proceeded with in order to defeat this amendment it would take a lot of money and effort…and the LGBT community and its supporters have to organize and educate and be visible…

She closed her speech telling the crowd it made history when she was elected and she continued with “Lets make history again, by defeating this amendment !”

Madison Pride Celebration this year was on July 8th and 9th.
The entry fee on Saturday was $5.00 but on Sunday there was no fee charged. However, you could donate money that day!

Madison Pride was held at Brittingham Park in Madison, WI. The address of the park is 401 West Short Drive, Madison, WI . If you are interested attending next year’s Madison pride event, here is the web address of this organization:http://www.madisonpride.org and its e-mail: info@madisonpride.org .

This lesbian comic will make you laugh until the cows come home, at least if you are at the dairy land state of Wisconsin. Ms. Westenhoefer is a well-known lesbian comic who has worked various venues such as theatres, clubs, colleges, large fundraisers and social events in the United States and Canada. Along with this, she currently performs over 100 live comedy shows a year.

Besides performing at various venues, she has also appeared on programs like Evening at the Improv, Caroline’s Comedy Hour, Comedy Central and Politically Incorrect. She also did a HBO comedy special which was considered to be the first done by an openly gay comic. For this, she was nominated for a Cable Ace award. A couple of her CDS has won her recognition too. For example, Westenhoefer’s CD called “Nothing In My Closet But My Clothes” won the GLAMA award (Gay and Lesbian American Music Award) for best comedy CD in 1999. Also, her CD entitled “I’m Not Cindy Brady” was selected as best comedy CD of the year (2000) by the same organization. This lady can also act. She has acted in Independent films. One of these films is called “A Family Affair”.

Ms. Westenhoefer is currently on the Game Show Network Show called “I've Got a Secret”. There she is one of three of celebrity panelists whom try to guess the secret that a guess has on the show.

My partner and I were lucky enough to see this comic perform at Madison Pride. Concerning that day, some her comedy script consisted of comedy made up as she went, her past experiences at the prior Gay Pride Parades and commentaries about people she met and a cable TV show she made fun of.

As aforementioned, some of Ms. Westenhoefer’s comedy is comedy that is made up as she goes. This was evident with the comedy she did at Madison Pride. It was based on her experience that day at this pride event. For instance, she poked fun at the protesters at this celebration because only two were present. She said on stage something like, “What was up with that? A guy must have woke up this morning and said to his brother lets go protest and you hold the protest sign.” She also mentioned that the Dykes on Bikes always open the LGBT Pride Parades because they are there to scare the protesters off with their a--less leather chaps, their big leather jackets, their Harley Davidson Bikes, etc. And she added, that these parades never start with having fags at the beginning of them because no one would be afraid of them. She also mentioned how to get to a protester and that was to have a gay guy run go over to them and have a picture taken with them and then they can say a fag touched and kissed me!

The other comedy she did that day was her speaking about her appearances at other LGBT Pride Parades. She talked about attending the Jackson , Mississippi Gay Pride Event. She said it was pretty much like others she attended before, except after the Rally they had dragged straight people behind the floats. And when she said she went to Salt Lake City’s Gay Pride that someone needs to tell these gay people they can leave this city. She said we needed to get buses for these Queers to let them go. And this was the only place where you don’t have to stand in line for Starbucks! She also spoke about her being at the New York Gay Pride Celebration . She said at that time, it was raining out …and there was then wet drag queens and they were pi--ed!

Ms. Westenhoefer also poked fun at a woman who was running once for Congress. This woman had made a statement to the press comparing homosexuality to cannibalism, bestiality and incest. Westenhoefer said she would give her the comparison of cannibalism but the other two is just too mean!

This comic also sarcastically spoke about the lesbian drama TV show on cable called “L Word”. It is about a group of lesbian friends who live in Los Angles. This show has some odd characters on it. Westenhoefer said that the characters in it such as a woman who is a cutter (a person who cuts herself/himself) and the woman whom wants a sex change so she can sleep with men really mirrors her life! And the character who is the cutter, named Jenny, is a psychotic freak and when she is on this show that is when it is the pee break at her house... She said this character makes you miss Anne Heche (who was Ellen Degeneres's unique partner at one time). She said she rather have ten Anne Heche than one Jenny. She also said she would love to be on that show. She would even step over her own Mom to be on it. She said she would love to kill Jenny on the show!

The above is just a small sample of her comedy (and its not word for word ) that Ms. Westenhoefer performed that day. She was an enormous hit among the LGBT community and its supporters. She was a trooper as well. She mentioned she had hurt her back and she was in pain. However, this wonderful lady was still Madison Pride’s Parade Marshall and comic.

After the show, she even stood around and had us fans take pictures with her. Concerning this, we had a “special” case since the nice lady that my partner handed our digital camera to didn’t know how to take a picture with it. She tried like three times and couldn’t get all of us in the picture and at that point, Ms. Westenhoefer said it made her want to laugh! And then she said that is what happens when you give a camera to a femme ( a slang word for a feminine female in the gay lifestyle). Finally, a gay guy took the picture of the three of us, and it turned out great!

I highly recommend you seeing this comic. She will make you laugh every second she performs. And she will give her all even when she doesn’t feel up to par. Lastly, she loves her fans! If you are interested in knowing more about her or booking her for an event here is her web address: http://www.suzannew.com/

Ms. Fure is a singer-songwriter, music producer, instrumentalist and engineer. She has made it big nationally. She has played numerous venues which includes the National Women’s Festival and Olivia Cruise Lines. Her music consists of folk, jazz and blues.

She hails from the Midwest. Ms. Fure made her first self-titled solo album in 1973 on MCA records. However, later she became the first staff producer and engineer for Olivia Records which was a women’s music label. She also assisted Chris Williamson (her lover at that time) by engineering a children’s record for her. Together these ladies had both a business and personal relationship. They recorded a few records and did a lot of concerts together.

Fairly recently,(2004) Ms. Fure was the Winner of the 2004 South Florida Folk Festival Singer/Songwriter Competition, Best Up-Tempo and Best Overall. She was also the 2004 Winner of the Phyllis Schliessman Award for Outstanding Contributions to Women's Music.

Today, Fure continues to record her music on her own label called Tomboy girl Records and have concert tours. Along with this, she and her current partner, Jane Weldon, own a retail store in Madison, WI, produce a series called Music & Comedy in Madison and host the festival, Tomboy girl Fest . Fure has also published a cookbook called Tret’s Kitchen. Besides this, she is the Vice President on the executive board of the Local 1000 traveling Musicians Association (a union that helps traveling musicians discover security and longevity).

My partner and I was fortunate enough to see her perform at Madison Pride. The day my partner and I saw Ms. Fure, it was like seeing a little firecracker explode. She would jump around occasionally on stage with her guitar in hand; and at times bellowing out her lyrics to a few of her songs.

What I liked about this artist is that she would introduce her songs by telling the audience where she was and how the lyrics came to her. For instance, the song called “When the Wind Blows” came to her when she was traveling on a subway from Brooklyn ,New York to Manhattan, New York. She was captivated at what she saw during her time on the subway. As a result of this, she wrote this song. The lyrics talked about the various signs of destruction in the city such as graffiti on the rooftops of buildings and buildings boarded up and the different kind of people she would see. And how each person has a story to tell and how sometimes we fail to reach out to someone because we are scared of our surroundings or we live so far away from it. And that we should give others a chance, and be friendly to them.

She sang numerous songs that were in the contemporary circle. Many addressed to what was going on around us. One was in her own words, “ A rant against George W. Bush” and it was entitled, “Eyes of God”. Part of the lyrics of this song is the following:

“So we march in boot and loud command
That this country could demand the fate of all
That a president could dictate
What is absolute and wrong
That everything is fixable
And everyone is strong”

What seemed to be one of Fure’s favorite song among the lesbian crowd (probably because many whom attended this event was over 40 years of age) was the song entitled “Anytime, Anywhere”. Fure wrote this song because a young entertainer (in her 20’s) that was playing at the same venue that she was asked her how old she was at that time. Fure, retorted she was 52 . And the young woman made a comment that she couldn’t believe that she was that age because she was “hot”. She said she took that as an insult because that meant she can’t be both 52 and “hot”. Consequently, according to Fure, she wrote this song in response to that statement. Part of the lyrics to that song is the following:

“I’m an older woman now
Doesn’t mean that I am dead
More than anything it means
I’m more alive inside my head
I’m not talking ethereal
We’re physically bred
I can talk you in circles
And I can talk you into bed”

I highly recommend you see this artist. The day we saw her she had a drummer and a bass guitarist accompany her. She gives her heart and soul in both her lyrics and her singing. After seeing her perform that day, my partner and I met her and purchased her latest CD called “Anytime, Anywhere”. This is of course, named after her song entitled the same. What dominates this album is its acoustic guitars and various percussion instruments. Along with this, her lyrics and vocals are strong and you can experience her love for life in them.

For bookings and publicity, Tret Fure can be reached at the following telephone numbers: 608-242-1887 (office) or 608-469-4007 (direct) or by email tret@tretfure.com. You can also order her Cds , clothing and cookbook by going to www.tomboygirl.com