One Community, One Pride: Austin Pride is This Weekend

Austin Pride
Saturday, June 6
Downtown Austin(Republic Square Park)
4:00pm festival, 8:30pm parade, $5 festival entrance
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Every summer, an event takes place that is so gay that it escapes even the radar of bachelorette parties. It's a time when the gays, lesbians, and transgendered boys and girls of Austin put aside their differences and embrace each other as one community—as such, "One Community, One Pride" is a fitting theme for this year’s Austin Pride, which takes place this weekend.

In previous years, Equality Texas handled the Pride Festival while the Austin Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce handled the Pride Parade. But, in 2008, the two groups worked together to host the events on the same day. Further proving the efficiency of the gay community, this year’s combined event was organized by the community via the Pride Coalition, an AGLCC program that includes seven representative LGBT organizations.

The event begins with a festival at Republic Square Park, followed by a parade through Downtown Austin, and ends with an after-parade party back at Republic Square Park. The grand marshals for the parade will be Lee Manford, the executive director of AIDS Services of Austin, and Meghan Stabler, a Global Strategic Marketing Executive for BMC Software.

While you’re out this weekend, there will also be a host of other Pride oriented events going on like allgo’s Pride Dance, the Paramount Theatre’s Majestic Party, and Project Transition’s 14th Annual Texas Swing. Several 2nd Street district shops will also be offering discounts the day of the festival, (including free wine at BoConcept).

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