OH...Say Can You see! PRIDEFEST '03
Key West, FL -Presented by the Gay and Lesbian Community Center, the festival promotes tolerance and understanding, while providing participants an opportunity to enjoy sun-drenched days and tropical nights in a place where CLOSETS are only for clothes! AMEN! Scheduled for Saturday through Sunday, June 7-15, PRIDEFEST KEY WET honors diversity, openness and freedom in the city that is consistently recognized as one of the world's top gay and lesbian vacation destinations!
The 2003 PrideFest schedule kicks off with the eagerly anticipated "Pride Follies," a lively entertainment extravaganza set for June 7, 8:00 pm at the Tennessee Williams Theater...glitter, glitz and many surprises showcasing the diversity of talent in Key West's performing arts community: members of the fabulous Key West Symphony, Key West Pops, Florida Keys Chorale, Island Opera Company...801 Bourbon "Girls" and the multi-talented crews at La Te Da and the Atlantic Shores Resort...not to mention the Key West Art & Historical Society and the Florida Keys Council Of the Art. Now, "That's Entertainment!" Purchase tickets at www.keystix.com
Subsequent events include a 25th anniversary gala for the Key West Business Guild, the oldest gay and lesbian professional and business association in the United States, held at the Island House on Wednesday, June 11, 6:00 pm. The "southernmost drag beauty pageant," a promenade of pulchritude will feature diva-like dresses, perfectly coiffed hair and startingly HIGH heels at the Bourbon Street Pub...don't miss the champagne reception at 7:00 with the contest following at 8:00, Thursday, June 12.
Aqua will host "Key West's lesbian answer to Miss America" on the same night and to ensure that gay men don't think they've been forgotten in the pageantry, a Mr. PrideFest competition is set for Friday evening, June 13 at the Bourbon Street Pub.
Feel like getting married during PrideFest? A mass commitment ceremony for gay and lesbian couples wishing to exchange vows and formalize their unions will be held at the Southernmost Mansion overlooking the Atlantic Ocean at 2:00 pm on Friday, June 13. From 6-11 pm everyone, newlyweds included, can enjoy the "Other Side of Sunset," a gala at the Key West Lighthouse Museum with entertainment and a street carnival flair!
Saturday and Sunday is the Key West 2003 Street Fair...an open-air bazaar on the 700-800 blocks of the famous Duval Street-if you can't walk, it's always permissable to do the "Duval Crawl!" The PrideFest Parade is scheduled for Saturday evening, featuring cast members from the Showtime hit, "Queer as Folk"...they should fit right in. Floats, individual marchers and marching groups will assemble in the courthouse parking lot before proceeding down Duval. The undisputed focal point of PrideFest, however, is expected to be the unfurling of the 1.25 mile long rainbow flag on Sunday, June 15. the extraordinarily long banner is being constructed at a Key West workshop by Gilbert Baker, creator of the original rainbow flag that has been the internationally recognized pride symbol for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered community. The Key West flag, composed of nearly 18,000 linear yards of fabric and weighing some three tons, commemorates the 25th anniversary of the original flag's debut. It also recreates Baker's original eight-color design, adding back the pink and turquoise that were removed for logistical reasons.
The "sea-to-shining sea" flag was commissioned by Rainbow 25, an organization founded in 2002 to chronicle the history of the flag. It's construction is being underwritten by Absolut Vodka...just what is the correlation? Some 3,000 people are expected to gather on June 15 at 11:00 am to unfurl the gigantic pride symbol along Duval Street from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean. Following the Key West debut, Rainbow 25 will donate sections of it to pride organizations in more than 100 cities for display in their pride celebrations.
Following the unfurling, everyone who's a part of Key West's "Human Family" is invited to participate in the One Human Family Reunion Picnic beginning at 1:00 pm. The picnic takes its name from the official Key West motto that expresses the island city's inclusiveness and will be held at the end of Duval on South Beach...admission is free and the event traditionally appeals to picnickers ranging from gay to straight and children to grandparents. Yes, Rodney....sometimes we really can ALL get along!
Sunday Tea by the Sea at Atlantic Shores
Resort is a long-time Key West tradition and features dancing on the
resort's pool deck overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Handsome men, beautiful
women all dancing with abandon under a star-studded tropical sky...it's
enough to make you realize you're in paradise...be thankful, live your
life with grace and have PRIDE in who you are! 
