Oakland Pride Still Has No Funds for Center

Organizers of the Oakland LGBTQ Pride parade and festival are set to hold their annual celebration and parade Sunday, September 11.

But after years of throwing the party, they have little to show toward their original goal of building a fund for an LGBTQ community center.

Asked last week whether any money's been put aside, Pride Co-Chair Carlos Uribe delayed answering directly by saying there's been "a lot of speculation around is Pride putting money toward a center," among other comments.

But when he was asked again, he finally acknowledged that after the six celebrations that have happened since the festival was rebooted in 2010, no money's been put aside for a center.

"That never was an intention or a goal of Oakland Pride, to raise funds for a center, but that is something we are going to be taking on and tackling," Uribe said.

However, his statement contradicted what Pride officials have previously said.

Uribe himself told the Bay Area Reporter last September, "In the beginning an optimistic goal they had was we can use this festival to raise funds for a center."

Pride's own mission statement says that it's "committed to facilitating leadership and coalition building for the funding and development of the first LGBTQ community center in Oakland for everyone."

But as Uribe said in 2015, "The reality is the festival has been either cost neutral or, some years, it's put us into debt, which is unfortunately a pretty common thing with most LGBT festivals across the country, as we are coming to learn."

Pressed on the issue last week, he said, "I think there was maybe some naivete ... in thinking a festival could be a fundraiser for a center."

Pride has "run a deficit" for "essentially every year," Uribe said, but "we're recovering from that. ... We're working to close those gaps every year."

The deficit from 2015 has been closed, he said, and "we are projecting to come within about $5,000 of our break-even point" this year.

About 42,000 people attended last year's Oakland Pride events. Organizers are hoping to have more than 50,000 this year.

The budget is $250,000 to $270,000. Approximately $80,000 to $90,000 has been raised so far, mainly through sponsorships. The remainder will come from ticket and beverage sales, and other income. (General admission for the festival is $10. Children under 12 get in for $5.)

Some of the proceeds are shared with community partners.

"The long story short in terms of the center is we are building toward that. ... We're starting to build momentum," Uribe said. Among others, Pride officials have been talking to Councilmembers Rebecca Kaplan and Abel Guillen's offices.

"They have been very supportive," he said.

Neither councilmember responded to an emailed request for comment.

Uribe said Pride organizers have worked with others to ensure that LGBT organizations would be funded through the Oakland Fund for Children and Youth.

If a community center is established, "whatever organization that center is founded under will be applying for OFCY funding," he said.

He also said Pride will host a series of town halls in 2017 to solicit from people what they need in a community center.

Security

After Omar Mateen, 29, fatally shot 49 people and wounded 53 others at Orlando, Florida's gay Pulse nightclub in June, questions were raised about safety at LGBT Pride festivals.

A couple weeks after the massacre, for the first time, San Francisco's LGBT Pride Celebration Committee implemented bag checks and metal detectors at its celebration after years of fighting such changes.

Uribe said Oakland Pride organizers wouldn't be making major changes.

"Our security is going to be the same as it is every year," he said, but "we will be a little stricter on the bag checks."

Security guards at the gates will have metal detector wands "for any suspicious activity," as they have in the past. He didn't know of specific situations in which guards might use the devices.

"We're still going to have the same number of officers from Oakland Police Department required on our permit, but we are definitely not going to be in any way militarizing our Pride festival," he added.

Sunday's events, which will be held on the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, will include a commemoration for first responders, with agencies such as the Oakland police and fire departments participating.

"Our goal is much the same every year," Uribe said. "We want to provide the safest, most inclusive, diverse festival that we can that represents all the communities we have" within the East Bay's LGBTQ community.

This year, he said, "We're coming off a lot of strong emotions that have come up with Orlando and some rhetoric that's been in the media lately," from elected officials and others who are "trying to push back hard because of the wins we've had in the last few years. Personally, I just want to make sure Oakland Pride stays a space where folks can come out and celebrate who they are and they're community and Oakland and everything that makes our city and the entire East Bay great."

The parade starts 10:30 a.m. at Broadway and 14th streets.

The main entrance for the festival, which runs from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., is at Broadway and 20th streets.

Visit http://www.oaklandpride.org for more information.

Oakland Pride Breakfast

The East Bay Stonewall Democratic Club will hold its annual Pride breakfast from 8 to 9:30 a.m. Sunday at Comcast Xfinity Pavilion, near the Pride festival. A continental breakfast and refreshments will be provided.

Gay comedian Sampson will emcee the event. For more information, go to http://www.eastbaystonewalldemocrats.org