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FOOD BANK SHELVES ARE EMPTY AND GAY PRIDE GETS $25,000 ,GO FIGURE.

"Daniel MacKay" <daniel@bonmot.ca> wrote in message
news:daniel-079A30.08095104062009@[74.223.185.199.nw.nuvox.net]...
> (another article about this on page A12 of the Halifax Herald)
>
> Halifax, Nova Scotia -- Pride Festival Wins Hallmark Status in Council
> Vote
>
> Halifax Regional Council voted last night to make the Halifax Pride
> Festival (July 18 - 26) a Hallmark Event and awarded the Pride Committee
> $25,000 towards this year's celebration. This was a recommendation from
> HRM?s Special Events Advisory Committee (SEAC) and was put before
> Council by SEAC Chair, Councillor Brad Johns. Councillors Dawn Sloane
> and Jennifer Watts spoke in favor of the motion, noting the hard work of
> the Pride Committee and that Halifax had become a truly welcoming place
> for the gay community; no councillors spoke against. "This is an
> extraordinary moment," said Halifax Pride Chair Hugo Dann. "This places
> Halifax Pride in the same category as HRM's signature cultural events
> like the Jazz Festival, the Film Festival, and Scotia Festival of Music."
>
> In 1988, 75 brave men and women marched down Spring Garden Road and into
> history as the first Pride Parade in Halifax. With no human rights
> protections in place, many of the marchers had to conceal their
> identities behind paper masks. It was only in recent years, under Mayor
> Peter Kelly, that Halifax Pride Week was officially proclaimed and the
> Pride Flag flown at Halifax City Hall.
>
> "This year's theme is Breaking Down Walls; Building Bridges, which is
> kind of appropriate, when you think of it," said Dann. "There are some
> municipalities in Nova Scotia that have recently gone to extraordinary
> lengths not to fly the Rainbow Flag. Halifax Regional Council
> recognizing Pride as a Hallmark Festival is a major symbolic victory for
> our whole community," said Dann. I guess you could say that in our 21st
> year, we've come of age."
>
> Halifax Pride is the largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender & queer
> (LGBTQ) cultural event in Atlantic Canada, and the 4th largest Pride
> Festival in the country. As many as 75,000 people now take part in
> Halifax Pride events. It's estimated that $2,000,000 is generated for
> the local economy during Halifax Pride Week.
>
> This year's festival takes place from July 18 -- 26th, with the Pride
> Parade on Saturday, July 25.
>
> Halifax Pride Week
> July 18 - 26, 2009
> http://www.halifaxpride.ca/