Organizers for
Seattle's gay pride events have decided to scrap the
festival but keep the parade. Seattle Out and Proud, which
is $102,000 in debt to the city, originally voted to
cancel the entire celebration, file for bankruptcy,
and dissolve, the Seattle Times reported
Wednesday.
The announcement
to keep the parade came after a vote on Tuesday, hours
after the decision was announced to shelve the entire
observance. According to the report, board member Troy
Campbell said that community support persuaded the
board to go ahead with the parade.
"We feel the
parade should go on as planned," he told the Times.
"It is something that has always turned a profit and
that will allow us to chip away at the debt and not
walk away from it."
Out and Proud's
staff consists of a dozen volunteers, with no paid
employees, and the group rents an office for storage.
Seattle has had
an annual pride celebration since 1975. It was originally
held in Seattle's Volunteer Park, with a parade along
Broadway in the city's predominately gay neighborhood,
Capitol Hill. The festivities were moved to Seattle
Center and the parade to the downtown area to increase
exposure. Last year an estimated 200,000 people attended the
events. (The Advocate)
