by Mel Frizzell, Special Collections Assistant
Like many events this summer, the Hampton Roads LGBT PrideFest has been postponed due to the coronavirus. The event has been held for the last decade at Town Point Park in Norfolk with crowd sizes reaching upwards of 25,000 people. This includes LGBT folks along with their family, friends, and allies. Well known headliners in recent years have included the Village People, Martha Wash of the Weather Girls, Jussie Smollet, and JoJo. There have been additional entertainers, as well as food and beer tents, vendors, and organization booths. Related events include a boat parade along the Elizabeth River, a block party at the Norfolk Scope, and a week’s worth of Pride events and activities. These events are hosted by Hampton Roads Pride and their partners, but additional events are held by other groups and organizations throughout the month of June which is LGBT Pride Month.
While there have been Pride month events held in Norfolk since at least 1986, the first event officially connected with the Hampton Roads PrideFest was a small picnic held at Shelter #1 of Northside Community Park in Norfolk on July 15, 1989 by a Gay and Lesbian social group known as the Mandamus Society. Approximately 200 people attended this first event. The picnic was a potluck, and no alcohol was allowed in the city park. Leaders of local LGBT organizations made short speeches. Activities of the day included volleyball, kickball, frisbee, kite flying, and people watching. For many attending, this was their first time spent among a large diverse group of LGBT folks.
The 2nd Annual “Out in the Park” picnic was held again at Northside Park on June 24, 1990. This time over 1,000 people attended. The event was hosted and organized by the newly formed Hampton Roads Pride Committee – later renamed the Hampton Roads Lesbian and Gay Pride Coalition and eventually Hampton Roads Pride. The event included food, entertainment, games, and guest speakers. Larger name speakers were included this year including Robert Bray, director of public information at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and Sam Garrison, a gay activist and former commonwealth’s attorney and a former aide to Vice President Spiro Agnew.
For most of the early 1990s, crowd sizes averaged around 1,000 attendees at the picnic jumping up to 2,000 and even 2,500 people in the later 1990s. In 1991, the picnic moved to Mt. Trashmore in Virginia Beach. It was co-hosted by the ODU Gay and Lesbian Student Union and held on the lawn in front of Webb Center at Old Dominion University in 1992. In 1991 and 1992, there were related marches on the Norfolk Naval Base in support of Gay and Lesbian folks serving in the military and against the ban on gays in the military. From 1993 to 1996, “Out in the Park” returned annually to Mount Trashmore. The event moved back to Norfolk in 1997 to a new location at Lakewood Park. Many folks expressed appreciation for the abundant shade at Lakewood Park which was severely lacking at Mt. Trashmore.
For many years throughout the 1990s, food such as hamburgers, hot dogs, and baked beans were provided by the Hershee Lounge, a Norfolk Lesbian bar. Free sodas were also available. Some years, there was even a dessert contest. Later on, the event moved toward a food vendor format offering more variety, but cost out of pocket for picnic goers.
Entertainment during those years was mostly local though sometimes artists were brought in from other places. Musicians and bands included Pamela Stanley; Julie Clark, Sandy Law, Melissa Reeves and Strange Brew; Mermaids in the Basement; Romanovsky & Phillips; Tom Weinberg and the Ten Percent Review; Martin Swinger; The Hampton Roads Men’s Chorus; and a variety of other acoustic, alternative rock, and dance performers. Larger name entertainers became more common in later years when sponsors helped bring in these acts. Sometimes these larger performances were held as special concerts outside the main picnic for fundraising purposes. Admission to the Pride picnic and the later PrideFest has always been free. In addition to musicians, comedians and dance troupes were sometimes brought in. Drag Queens frequently emceed the picnic and took part in the entertainment.
During the 1990s, most speakers were local, but some years featured headline speakers. These included Miriam Ben-Shalom, national chair of the Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Veterans of America; and Perry Watkins, Sgt. First Class, U.S. Army retired. Given Hampton Roads close association with the military, speakers often spoke out against the military ban on gay service members.
Picnic activities during the 1990s included volleyball, drag races where folks would race in high heels and wigs, and local community awards. One year, picnic goers formed a huge human rainbow triangle on the face of Mt. Trashmore. For many years, a wine and cheese fundraiser preceded the picnic to help cover picnic costs.
How the Pride picnic evolved and grew into the annual PrideFest beyond 1990s is largely beyond the scope of this article as primary research comes from Our Own Community Press which shut down in 1998. I can tell you that the annual Pride Picnic moved to Chesapeake City Park for most of the 2000s. The PrideFest as we currently know it came to Town Point Park in Norfolk in 2011. It is currently the second largest event held in Norfolk with HarborFest being the largest.
To learn more about the history of Pride in Hampton Roads, visit Our Own Community Press Digital Collection: https://dc.lib.odu.edu/digital/collection/ourown/
Images are from the Our Own Community Press Digital Collection, courtesy of ODU Libraries: https://dc.lib.odu.edu/digital/collection/ourown/
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