PGHIMC - Pittsburgh Independent Media Center

Pittsburgh PrideFest 2005
by gwen Sunday, Jun. 19, 2005 at 9:17 AM

On Saturday, June 18th, Pittsburgh PrideFest 2005 was tremendous. Thousands marched in beautiful weather, and plentiful colors.

The weather was partly cloudy and warm (but not too hot) for the PrideFest on Saturday. Thousands marched from Fifth and Ross to Riverfront Park starting before noon. The festival continued after for hours in the park, with booths, food, and mingling.

The march was scheduled to start at 11:30am, but it started late to accomodate the crowd still waiting for the shuttles to arrive from Riverfront Park. One organizer explained to the waiting line, "It's a blessing that we have so many to join us, but it does mean that we do not have enough buses to accomodate everyone."

The parade finally started when the last bus filled with people arrived, and continued through Downtown. The parade started with the main banner carriers, and a small motorcade of motorcycles. Behind them, several groups were represented, most colorfully attired. There were also several floats, and a few independent vehicles with banners. All in all, the parade stretched for quite a distance, filling at least half of the route by the end.

Unfortunately police did not block off the intersections well, and many cars passed through. There were rumours that one man was arrested when he asked one car to respect the parade, and the plain clothed detective inside the car arrested him for directing traffic without the authority to do so. Some of the motorcycles at the front of the parade eventually turned back to block intersections so that people in the parade could remain safe.

At the end of the parade, the Resyst group burned an effigy of Santorum, the Senator who has made disparaging remarks about homosexuals. Meanwhile the rest of the parade filtered into Riverfront park to visit the booths and mingle.

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